Proxies and Disk Space

I've finally decided I need to be working from proxy media on my current project. I'm on a 2013 Macbook, scrubbing and logging 4k footage was doable, but once I start putting lots of clips on the timeline playback lags to the point of only showing a couple frames per second. Hardware update is not an option.

My FCP Library, all footage and other assets are on a 4TB USB 3.0 hard drive with 1.85TB of free space. I've got 1.53TB of 4k/1080 XAVC footage in this library.



I've already got all this footage imported, keyworded and favorited, so as far as I can tell, the way to transcode it is: Select all clips > right click > Transcode Media > Create Proxy Media. When I make this selection my machine grinds away for a while then I get a warning that there's not enough disk space and it cancels the process:

Questions:
1. How could the proxy files for 1.5TB of footage take up more space than the original footage?
2. Is there some way I could transcode to proxies then take my originals offline until the final render?
3. Is there any way to find out the total disk space I'll need for the proxies?
3. Any other solutions?

Thanks!

Hi,

XAVC is a highly compressed codec. So it is possible that the resulting ProRes Proxies are bigger than your original files.
Editing with them would still be easier on your hardware.
Though I think it´s unlikely I haven´t seen less than 50 MBit/s
Which camera is it? And you are writing XAVC 4k/1080. I assume it is 4k ?! So the resulting proxies will be +- 1080
What is the total running time of the footage? ProRes Proxy in 1080p/25 will have a bitrate of 38MBit/s (for video).

Sometimes FCPX seems to miscalculate the total file size for Proxies. It could help to transcode in smaller chunks.
And if the proxies are really too big, you can make them smaller yourself. There was an article about that on the homepage.

Basically you have to transcode to Proxy within FCPX first (in chunks in your case). Then batch transcode the originals or the proxies to a filesize of your liking where
A: the aspect ratio is the same
B: the audio is the same7
C: Codec is ProRes , you should stay ProRes Proxy
and replace the files transcoded by FCPX with your own files.

The article stated that they found it to be faulty when the proxies are in an external folder.
It worked for me but I didn´t do extensive testing.

I forgot:
And yes you can take your original files offline. I have to do it all the time.
I have the Master Clips and the Library+Proxies on different drives though.
That makes it easier.


An backup your library before you start!

Hey, thanks for the reply. The footage is from an A7sII, so its a mix of 4k 30fps and 1080 120fps. My final output and working timelines are all in 1080. According to the info bar at the bottom of the events browser I have about 35.5 hours of video in the library.

I was looking into the file size of some of the proxies already created and it seemed like they were about 50% the size of my original files. Good to know that miscalculation on the part of FCPX might be the problem. I'll try some smaller chunks and let it run tonight.

I'm guessing this is the post you're talking about: www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/articles/1794-b...with-final-cut-pro-x I'll read through that now. Thanks again and I'll repost with my progress.

Alright looks like selecting chunks of footage at a time did the trick. FCP transcoded 647GB of video overnight and I've now got proxies for all the files in my project. Now idea how it transcoded the footage that fast with the system I have, pretty amazing really.

Playback looks to be smooth as silk now.

One small issue: several of my events are now marked with a yellow warning symbol. I can't find any missing clips (originals or proxies) in these events, and I'm not sure how to clear out this warning.

david.bryan wrote: ...I'm on a 2013 Macbook, scrubbing and logging 4k footage was doable, but once I start putting lots of clips on the timeline playback lags to the point of only showing a couple frames per second. Hardware update is not an option...My FCP Library, all footage and other assets are on a 4TB USB 3.0 hard drive with 1.85TB of free space. I've got 1.53TB of 4k/1080 XAVC footage in this library....Select all clips > right click > Transcode Media > Create Proxy Media. When I make this selection my machine grinds away for a while then I get a warning that there's not enough disk space and it cancels the process:...

I shoot a lot of XAVC-S 4k material using an A7RII. Even on a top-spec 2015 iMac 27 with a Thunderbolt drive array, it is useful to use proxy for the fastest editing performance. The proxy files are very roughly about 1/2 the original file size, 2.5GB proxy for a 5GB camera file. However I don't know if any temp space is used during the generation of those proxies.

So it is conceivable there's a total space consumption "high water mark" during proxy generation which is more than the final proxy file size. I am just speculating, but in general with software you must assume such things happen.

Even if that proxy generation temp space was zero, the moment you start editing, additional temp space is needed for render files, optical flow files, etc. The exact amount is not predictable, but it's considerable.

Final Cut Library Manager is an inexpensive, easy to use utility that helps keep track of space consumption and prune unneeded files: www.arcticwhiteness.com/finalcutlibrarymanager/ If you use this you will be amazed at how much space is often needed.

1.53TB (35 hrs) of 4k material is a lot. For a 30 minute final product that is a 70:1 shooting ratio, only feasible from a cost standpoint because of digital capture. It's amazing this is so easy nowadays but it does require providing the disk space.

Your best approach is just get more disk space. This is not that expensive. A 4TB Seagate Backup Plus Fast is about $180, and is one of the fastest USB 3.0 bus-powered drives: amzn.com/B00HXAV0X6

You could leave your original content on your current drive and put the library (which contains the proxies and temp files) on the Seagate, or just put the temp/cache/proxy files there. Obviously your work should be backed up, but you don't need to back up any temp or proxy files.

I sometimes get the warning icon on an event even after something has been relinked. I usually quit and reopen FCPX or eject the event and open it again (or both). That usually resolves the icon issue for me. It's probably a bug or something isn't getting refreshed automatically that causes it to show in the first place.