Effortless 4K Proxy Video Editing: The Best Apps and Tools

Top 8 Video Editing Apps for 4K Proxy Video Editing

Max Wales

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Shooting videos in high resolutions can help you create visually impressive content your followers on social media are going to adore. The only trouble is that the size of 4K videos can slow you down during the video editing process if your computer doesn’t have enough RAM memory or processing power. Additionally, quite a few inexpensive or free video editing apps don’t allow their users to create low-resolution proxy files that make the process of editing 4K videos much faster. That’s why in this article we are going to take you through the best 8 video editors you can use for 4K proxy video editing.

The Best Video Editing Apps for Proxy Editing in 2020

Some of the video editing apps we featured in this article can only run on computers that already have the advanced hardware setups. However, even if you have a computer setup that can easily support processing of the 4K video files, proxy editing can still be useful as it can reduce the amount of time you will have to spend on performing complex video editing tasks. Let’s take a look at some of the best video editors that support proxy editing.

1. Filmora

Price: Free version available, subscription plans start at $49.99 per year

Compatibility: macOS, Windows

The wide range of video editing options, support for nearly all popular video file formats or quick and simple exporting process are only a few reasons why Filmora is one of the best video editors you can use this year. Creating proxy files in Filmora is not a difficult task, because the software generates them automatically for you. You just have to choose between the 1280x720p or 1920x1080p resolutions and Filmora will create proxies for all media files that are larger than the resolution you’ve selected. However, the amount of time Filmora is going to need to create proxies depends on your computer’s processing power, but also on the size and the number of the RAW files you imported into a project.

2. Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Price: $20,99 per month, different subscription plans available

Compatibility: Windows, macOS

This is probably one of the best, if not the best non-linear video editing software ever created, so it is hardly surprising that you can easily create proxy files for all videos you use in a project you create in Adobe Premiere Pro. So, to create proxy files you just need to open the folder that contains those files from the Media Browser and then click on the Ingest button. You should then click on the wrench tool and pick the Create Proxies option from the drop-down menu located next to the Ingest option. Afterward, you should select one of the available resolution presets and proceed to import the footage into the project. However, before you can start editing with proxies you have to click on the Toggle Proxy button.

3. Final Cut Pro X

Price: Free trial available, $299,99

Compatibility: macOS

Transcoding media with FCPX doesn’t require too much effort, as the software offers a couple of options that make the editing process faster. You can opt to generate optimized media files by transcoding the original video clips into Apple ProRes 422 codec format that shortens the amount of time needed for rendering and provides excellent quality of color that is required for compositing. The proxy media files will also be created by transcoding the videos to Apple ProRes 422 codec format that retains original aspect ratio and frame rate of the video clips you transcoded. It is also worth noting that FCPX transcodes all mp3 files you import into a project to MOV audio files.

4. Vegas Pro

Price: Subscription plans start from $249,00

Compatibility: Windows

This video editor is often overlooked in conversations about the most powerful video editing apps, but the tools it offers are powerful enough to enable you to edit videos at a professional level. Creating proxy files in Vegas Pro is remarkably easy, as you just have to import the files into a new project, select each file you want to transcode and then choose the Create Video Proxy option from the right-click menu. Just keep in mind that you must create proxy files before you do any actual editing because otherwise, the transcoding process is not going work.

5. Blender

Price: Free

Compatibility: Linux, macOS, Windows

Blender is a 3D modeling and VFX software that lets you track objects or use 3D painting tools among numerous other options. Even though creating proxies with this app is not a particularly complicated process, you still have to be familiar with Blender in order to make full use of its transcoding options. The software allows you to generate proxy files whose size is only 25% of the video’s original size, although you can also create proxies that have 50% and 75% of the video’s original size. After you’ve adjusted the transcoding settings you should simply click on the Rebuild Proxy and Timecode Indices button.

6. Shotcut

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows, macOS, Linux

Despite the fact that this cross-platform video editor supports 4K and ProRes files that can cause it to lag at times, creating proxies in Shotcut is a highly technical process. In case you decide to make a proxy file by yourself, you will have to export a version of the file that is two or four times smaller than the original. You must also remember that you have to go through the entire process of creating proxies before you make any edits. The trick to creating proxies in Shotcut is to make a project file with the larger version of the video, then replace the larger version of the file with a smaller version of that same video file, before you actually start editing. Once you’ve completed the editing process, you can then once again add the larger source file to the project and export your video in high resolution.

7. Lightworks

Price: Free trial available, subscription plans start at $24,99 per month

Compatibility: Linux, macOS, Windows

The process of creating proxies in Lightworks is rather simple since you just have to import the video files you’d like to edit into the software and make sure they are selected before you right-click on them. Once the right-click menu appears on the screen you should click on the Media submenu and select the Make Proxies option. The amount of time Lightworks is going to need to generate the proxy files depends on the number of the source files and their size. You can then proceed to add the proxies to the timeline, edit them and Lightworks will automatically use the source files instead of proxies during the rendering process.

8. HitFilm Express

Price: Free

Compatibility: macOS, Windows

Once you create a new project and import all video clips you want to use in that project into the editor you should just go to the Assets menu that is located in the Media panel and click on the Make Proxy option. You will be able to continue editing while the transcoding process is still in progress, and after the source files are transcoded they will be replaced by proxies. However, making adjustments to a proxy version of a composite shot will invalidate that proxy file, which is why it is important to make all edits on that shot before you create its proxy.

Conclusion

Reducing the size of video clips you use in your projects is going to save you a lot of time during the video editing process. Each video editing software we featured in this article allows its users to generate proxy files effortlessly. Which video editor are you going to be using for proxy video editing? Leave a comment below and let us know.

Max Wales

Max Wales is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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