Fcpx 10.4.8 vs file 4k convert.

Hi, I have mojave and fcpx 10.4.8. I have to edit the files of the GH4 in 4K at 8 bits, in MOV container and also in MP4, my mac can't work the files fluently, so I have to convert to PRORES but my doubt is, I convert to prores 422HQ or prores 4444?
I want to edit in 4K and at the highest quality, thanks.

You need not transcode the material to ProRes optimized media. Simply create proxies and use that. Creation is much faster and takes about 1/6th of the space. This will make no difference in quality or color of the final exported product, since you will export with the viewer in orig. media mode, not proxy mode.

joema wrote: You need not transcode the material to ProRes optimized media. Simply create proxies and use that. Creation is much faster and takes about 1/6th of the space. This will make no difference in quality or color of the final exported product, since you will export with the viewer in orig. media mode, not proxy mode.

Thanks then I will use the proxy system, but out of curiosity what would be the best system for 4k files, prores 422 hq or prores 4444?
I'm curious to know the difference because some friends say that it's okay for Pro Hers 417 because the 4k files are 8-bit and not 10-bit.
thanks

In general image quality is determined by the input files, not your intermediate codec or export codec. If your input files are 8 bit 4:2:0, you cannot ever recover more image quality by encoding that any other way.

FCPX edits are metadata recorded in a SQL database - there is no "generational loss" during editing or color correction. The main reasons to export as ProRes are (1) In the hope that subsequent processing (e.g, Youtube encoding, etc) would somehow handle it better, or (2) If downstream people like colorists need to work on it.

Under the covers, the FCPX internal render format is by default ProRes 422 which is usually sufficient. You can override this in the project characteristics and pick other encodings. If your input files were, say, ProRes 4444HQ from an Arri Alexa camera, that might be a reason.

I edit GH4 4K clips daily, often multicams, and never had issues with the MP4 files. Don't shoot the AVC format, it's problematic and a waste of time. What are your Mac specs?

If you do transcode, ProRes 422 is all you need, anything above that is overkill.

thank you I will follow your advice.