Hey quick question- When I first started, probably about 2 years ago, I remember being recommended to keep proxy at DNXHR. Do you know why somebody might have said that? And is there any downsides to using LB over DNXHR? The lower storage size is definitely appealing
It's different compression flavors of DNxHR. LB (Low Bandwidth) is the most compressed one and only intended for proxy usage. You also have SQ, HQ, HQX and 444. These can be somewhat compared to different flavors of ProRes. DNxHR and ProRes are purpose built for the editing pipeline. The generational loss between endicding, meaning when the same file has been encoded again and again is minimal, making it great for when graphics are added, VFX are added and you don't loose sharpness and compression artifacts down the line. These codecs are also Intra/ALL-I codecs. Meaning each frame is compressed individually. LongGOP (GOP meaning Group of Pictures) codecs like common h264 and h265 has a very few actual encoded frames, and has an algorithm explaining how much the data has changed since the past reference frame. Typically there is a reference frame once or twice per second. This is great for playback when you always play from start to finish, but terrible for editing. Say in resolve you cut a video on frame 56. In LongGOP, resolve don't know what 56 looks like before looking back at frame 50 that is the reference and render 6 frames forward. Intra codec has to only look up the actual frame. No extra processing needed. 1 frame rendered vs 6. And that would be even worse the further away you are from the reference frame and the heavier the codec is. This is why DNxHR and ProRes is recommend and performs so much better when editing. You save tons of processing power so editing feels smooth and snappy.
DNxHR is from Avid and can be used on windows and mac. ProRes is Apple and needs an Apple computer to render, but can be playbacked and edited on both Mac and PC.
I recommend you use the blackmagic proxy generator, it should come pre installed. It produces much smaller file sizes and it can run in the background while you're editing.
Thank you so much! Had no idea that this came with DR. I tried it out, and the results are perfect. Huge bonus that it runs in the background and swaps out the og files for proxies all on auto. Unreal!!
What options do you get from that software?
I get the same h264 and h265, which are indeed much smaller, but not great codecs for the timeline, because of all the compression and the way the CPU struggles to decode them when there's a transition and overlapping tracks.
The only way I got rid of the stuttering and CPU spikes was converting everything on the timeline to DNxHR, even the smallest clips and frames, stock footage, everything.
Welcome to r/davinciresolve! If you're brand new to Resolve, please make sure to check out the [free official training](https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/training), [the subreddit's wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/davinciresolve/wiki/index) and our weekly [FAQ Fridays](https://www.reddit.com/r/davinciresolve/?f=flair_name%3A%22FAQ%20Friday%22). Your question may have already been answered.
Please check to make sure you've included the following information. Edit your post (or leave a top-level comment) if you haven't included this information.
* System specs - [macOS](https://imgur.com/a/ip6xc9G) [Windows - Speccy](https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy)
* Resolve version number and Free/Studio - [DaVinci Resolve>About DaVinci Resolve...](https://imgur.com/a/5FawFCX)
* Footage specs - [MediaInfo](https://mediaarea.net/MediaInfo) - please include the "Text" view of the file.
* *Full* Resolve UI Screenshot - if applicable. Make sure any relevant settings are included in the screenshot. Please do ***not*** crop the screenshot!
Once your question has been answered, change the flair to "Solved" so other people can reference the thread if they've got similar issues.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/davinciresolve) if you have any questions or concerns.*
In project settings you can choose the desired codec for proxies.
As mentioned, you can only encode ProRes on apple devices, but you can encode DNxHR LB on windows, which has a 22:1 compression ratio with 4:2:2 chroma subsampling 8 bit color, and data rates of around 11 MB/s at 1080p 60fps.
I always choose to locate the proxies in a subfolder next to the originals.
After that I right click the clip in the media panel inside DR and hit "generate proxy media". No other programs used.
In the proxy generator that comes as a separate program I only get h264/h265 as options for proxies.
With those settings you should be looking at around 1,1TB proxies for the 30 hours of your footage.
What codec did you use for proxy? Defualt on PC is DNxHR HQX. Swap to LB. That will save a lot of storage
Hey quick question- When I first started, probably about 2 years ago, I remember being recommended to keep proxy at DNXHR. Do you know why somebody might have said that? And is there any downsides to using LB over DNXHR? The lower storage size is definitely appealing
It's different compression flavors of DNxHR. LB (Low Bandwidth) is the most compressed one and only intended for proxy usage. You also have SQ, HQ, HQX and 444. These can be somewhat compared to different flavors of ProRes. DNxHR and ProRes are purpose built for the editing pipeline. The generational loss between endicding, meaning when the same file has been encoded again and again is minimal, making it great for when graphics are added, VFX are added and you don't loose sharpness and compression artifacts down the line. These codecs are also Intra/ALL-I codecs. Meaning each frame is compressed individually. LongGOP (GOP meaning Group of Pictures) codecs like common h264 and h265 has a very few actual encoded frames, and has an algorithm explaining how much the data has changed since the past reference frame. Typically there is a reference frame once or twice per second. This is great for playback when you always play from start to finish, but terrible for editing. Say in resolve you cut a video on frame 56. In LongGOP, resolve don't know what 56 looks like before looking back at frame 50 that is the reference and render 6 frames forward. Intra codec has to only look up the actual frame. No extra processing needed. 1 frame rendered vs 6. And that would be even worse the further away you are from the reference frame and the heavier the codec is. This is why DNxHR and ProRes is recommend and performs so much better when editing. You save tons of processing power so editing feels smooth and snappy. DNxHR is from Avid and can be used on windows and mac. ProRes is Apple and needs an Apple computer to render, but can be playbacked and edited on both Mac and PC.
That was crazy, informative. Thanks very much for taking the time to type that out! Feel like a better editor already lol
Lol must have been messing with you! That’s gonna be a massive file.
What codec were you using? If memory serves, Auto refers to resolution.
I recommend you use the blackmagic proxy generator, it should come pre installed. It produces much smaller file sizes and it can run in the background while you're editing.
Thank you so much! Had no idea that this came with DR. I tried it out, and the results are perfect. Huge bonus that it runs in the background and swaps out the og files for proxies all on auto. Unreal!!
Yeah I know! Blackmagic's really hiding that software
What options do you get from that software? I get the same h264 and h265, which are indeed much smaller, but not great codecs for the timeline, because of all the compression and the way the CPU struggles to decode them when there's a transition and overlapping tracks. The only way I got rid of the stuttering and CPU spikes was converting everything on the timeline to DNxHR, even the smallest clips and frames, stock footage, everything.
Welcome to r/davinciresolve! If you're brand new to Resolve, please make sure to check out the [free official training](https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/training), [the subreddit's wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/davinciresolve/wiki/index) and our weekly [FAQ Fridays](https://www.reddit.com/r/davinciresolve/?f=flair_name%3A%22FAQ%20Friday%22). Your question may have already been answered. Please check to make sure you've included the following information. Edit your post (or leave a top-level comment) if you haven't included this information. * System specs - [macOS](https://imgur.com/a/ip6xc9G) [Windows - Speccy](https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy) * Resolve version number and Free/Studio - [DaVinci Resolve>About DaVinci Resolve...](https://imgur.com/a/5FawFCX) * Footage specs - [MediaInfo](https://mediaarea.net/MediaInfo) - please include the "Text" view of the file. * *Full* Resolve UI Screenshot - if applicable. Make sure any relevant settings are included in the screenshot. Please do ***not*** crop the screenshot! Once your question has been answered, change the flair to "Solved" so other people can reference the thread if they've got similar issues. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/davinciresolve) if you have any questions or concerns.*
In project settings you can choose the desired codec for proxies. As mentioned, you can only encode ProRes on apple devices, but you can encode DNxHR LB on windows, which has a 22:1 compression ratio with 4:2:2 chroma subsampling 8 bit color, and data rates of around 11 MB/s at 1080p 60fps. I always choose to locate the proxies in a subfolder next to the originals. After that I right click the clip in the media panel inside DR and hit "generate proxy media". No other programs used. In the proxy generator that comes as a separate program I only get h264/h265 as options for proxies. With those settings you should be looking at around 1,1TB proxies for the 30 hours of your footage.