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In FCPX, the total storage space for all the videos for my library is about 82 Gigs. The Optimized media takes up 220 Gigs of storage. It seems like there's no point in using Optimized media as the file sizes are so much larger. Should I just use Proxy media instead and get rid of the Optimized media?
All the video was recorded on an iPhone, if that makes any difference.
iMac Line (2012 and Later)
Here's the deal:
Final Cut is designed to use ProRes media without having to render it — ProRes is Optimized for performance efficiency. It's still compressed, but considered "virtually" lossless. (It's also a better codec than Uncompressed video... go figure... better chroma support.)
Almost all other media is highly compressed. The compression algorithm is very complex. It takes a huge amount of processing power to calculate changes of video data frame to frame.
The trade-off is larger video sizes for mostly uncompressed video that has high performance, or smaller sizes for highly compressed video that is very taxing for video editors to deal with and slowing down performance immensely.
Proxy Media IS ProRes 422, just one quarter the resolution (a 1080 project uses 960x540 frame sizes). Proxy media is annoying to me... it has a "soft" appearance. Some people can deal with it... I can't.
FCPX provides a way to deal with these larger files when you're done editing your project (after you've exported the finished work). Simply select the Project in the Event Browser and select File > Delete Generated Project Files and delete all the Optimized (and/or Proxy) files you created.
Never delete your originals! You should keep these when cleaning up projects.
BTW, sharing/exporting a project in H.264 out of FCPX is of usually exceptional quality (somewhere around 40-50Mbits/sec) and I would recommend keeping that as an archive rather than a ProRes version.
HTH
Here's the deal:
Final Cut is designed to use ProRes media without having to render it — ProRes is Optimized for performance efficiency. It's still compressed, but considered "virtually" lossless. (It's also a better codec than Uncompressed video... go figure... better chroma support.)
Almost all other media is highly compressed. The compression algorithm is very complex. It takes a huge amount of processing power to calculate changes of video data frame to frame.
The trade-off is larger video sizes for mostly uncompressed video that has high performance, or smaller sizes for highly compressed video that is very taxing for video editors to deal with and slowing down performance immensely.
Proxy Media IS ProRes 422, just one quarter the resolution (a 1080 project uses 960x540 frame sizes). Proxy media is annoying to me... it has a "soft" appearance. Some people can deal with it... I can't.
FCPX provides a way to deal with these larger files when you're done editing your project (after you've exported the finished work). Simply select the Project in the Event Browser and select File > Delete Generated Project Files and delete all the Optimized (and/or Proxy) files you created.
Never delete your originals! You should keep these when cleaning up projects.
BTW, sharing/exporting a project in H.264 out of FCPX is of usually exceptional quality (somewhere around 40-50Mbits/sec) and I would recommend keeping that as an archive rather than a ProRes version.
HTH
Optimized media takes a humongous amount of space and can be easily recreated, so it is pointless to keep it in the long term.
When you are finished with a production don’t forget to delete the generated files to keep your disk space usage under control.
iPhone footage usually needs to be Optimised for best playback performance.
Only use Proxy if you don't mind using the lower resolution.
So, yes use Optimised.
Al
Thank you so much, very helpful!
Thank you! I've optimized all my media.
Optimized Media Larger than Original: Is it needed?
