Proxy First Workflows ...

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As video moves from HD to 4K Ultra HD, the files sizes of raw footage get larger and larger and so become even harder to manage, proxy first workflows will become increasingly important.

For the uninitiated, a proxy first workflow means using a lower res, compressed version of your original footage for reviewing and editing your footage offline. Once you finish the edit, the cut version is married up in your non-linear editing software (NLE) with the original footage, in a process known as conforming, to output the final, high quality version of the video.

There are two main advantages to this approach. Firstly: faster workflows. The compressed files are smaller so take up less disk space, they are easier to move and quicker to render meaning you spend less time watching progress bars slowly chug across the screen while your computer strains to deal with massive uncompressed files of your original footage.

Secondly, it creates a version of your footage that can be easily distributed to your production's keys and anyone who needs to see the dailies.

Proxies can be generated in the NLE from the original footage but you still have to get your footage to the edit suite and ingested into the NLE, which then needs to transcode a proxy version,before you can do anything with it - all very time-consuming and slow.

A quicker solution arrived when camera manufacturers developed the technology to create proxies in the camera as you film. Every time the camera is started, it simultaneously generates a second, lightweight lower resolution data file of the same video, audio and timecode. These proxies can then be downloaded straight from the camera to a laptop for review and distribution.

You can also dispatch it easily to the edit suit for work to begin on the edit and the great thing is, this can be taking place while the raw footage makes its way slowly by courier or FTP.

In fact camera proxies are now standard for cameras from the likes of RED, Sony, Blackmagic and the rest. The limitation in the past with proxies was that the pay-off for this small file was a drop in quality, both in terms of visual and audio quality. However, that has recently changed. Panasonic recently launched a range of cameras using a codec called AVC-Proxy (a codec is the method used to compress video into smaller files sizes. You can read more about that in our previous blog The Ultimate Guide to Video Formats).

Firstly, AVC-Proxy video retains great image quality despite the compression. Secondly, and most crucially, at its highest quality level, it also retains perfect, uncompressed sound. The proxies are of such good quality that, for uses such as news and sport, they could be sent straight to air, removing the need to do anything with the original footage and providing an accelerated workflow - unlike anything content producers have been able to achieve in the past.

As part of our partnership with Panasonic, we've developed a workflow with these new cameras letting producers massively speed up their production schedule by utilising the full power of the cloud.

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LINK:	http://aframe.com/blog/2013/05/the-ultimate-fix-for-video-upload-issue...
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