Create Proxies on another system?

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Level 1

30 points

Create Proxies on another system?

I want to work with proxy files, but generating them takes so long and means I have to stop editing in order for FCPX to generate the proxies, otherwise the proxy generation pauses. This is a major PITA.

Is there any way for FCPX to delegate the proxy creation to another system (via compressor cluster maybe?) so that another idle machine can generate the proxies for this one while I continue to edit?

I can't be the only one with this problem!

How do you get around this? I mainly need the proxies for large multicam edits.

Posted on Sep 7, 2012 3:27 PM

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Answer 1

andynick

Level 5

4,955 points

Sep 8, 2012 1:35 AM in response to Dave_E_P

The idea is that you keep working while the proxy files are being generated - but as you say, the process pauses while you edit.

It works OK if you generate proxy files as you import them, but it's not practical if you have a lot of media and later decide to go for Proxy. This is the situation I'm in at the moment.

Fortunately, there's lots of work needed for my project other than editing, so I'm using a combination of spending as much time away from FCP X as possible during the day - so that it can work uninterrupted - and allowing the process to continue throughout the night.

This way, progress is good - but it would be nice to have the option to hurry the generation of proxy files using the full processor power of the Mac, rather than dribbling along the way it does.

Another option is to switch back (temporarily) to working in full resolution, while your proxy files are being processed in the background.

Andy

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Answer 2

Dave_E_P Author

Level 1

30 points

Sep 8, 2012 2:46 PM in response to andynick

Thanks for the reply. But..... while there are lots of other editing tasks I need to do before working on the multicam (which is why I want the proxies), doing so pauses the 'background task', which means it's not really background.

Also, FCP X creating proxies is SLOW compared even with compressor on the same system, using only a fraction of the CPU time.

Is there some setting I forgot to make to have FCP X transcoding use all the cores?

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