I’m redoing a Star Wars fan documentary in HD, and I’m having trouble figuring out how to use the Proxy system in Blender’s VSE.
So, I have the huge HD video - 1920 x 816. This is way too huge for me to do any scrubbing or quick cutting in the VSE on, because it takes so darn long to display in the preview window (I have a pretty slow computer, on top of the video’s huge size).
So far, I:
A) Imported the HD video into the VSE B) Adjusted the settings for the proxy image sequence in the video’s “N” bar on the right hand side of the VSE window. (NOTE: I actually originally used a separate video conversion program to create a duplicate, low-def copy of the HD video, because I assumed that the user could designate to Blender what the proxy file could be, but apparently Blender itself has to generate the proxy sequence.) C) Used Space Bar > “Proxies” to then order Blender to generate the proxy Image Sequence (I couldn’t find where the command was to generate this in the display, so that’s why I used the search function).
Here’s where I believe I’m going astray. After generating the proxy Image Sequence, I
D) Just imported the Image Sequence normally. (In the VSE window, I went Add > Image > (select all the image files).)
So, the issue then is that, when I make a change to the Image Sequence strip, it doesn’t effect the actual Proxy strip the way it would if I were doing things properly. For instance, if I simply make a cut in the proxy strip, the HD strip isn’t affected at all.
The main question then is, How do you bring in the generated Proxy Image Sequence such that the other HD or high-quality video is slaved to it?
Thanks as always. I’ll make sure to mark the thread as “Solved” as soon as the solution arrives.
David maybe it’s just me (cos it’s too late around here) but all this sounds like it is really complicated, which I’m sure it is not.
I don’t know how you handled your source footage, how you recoded it to a lowres version etc.
The bottom line is that it doesn’t work (probably because of incorrect strip naming) so here’s how proxies work out of the box:
#1. load footage #2. select strip, press N for properties panel, check proxy/timecode and then set the desired proxy size (say 25%) && timecode index (say free run) #3. then go to the VSE window header, select Strip, choose Rebuild proxy and timecode indices and wait for it to finish building them #4. when done, go to the image preview window, press N for properties panel and select the display proxy size (25% in our case). This should immediately result in the substitution of your source strip with the proxy one and the degrade in visual quality should be noticeable too.
From now on proceed as usual with the cutting and effect strips and everything. When you’re all done and ready to render, go back to the image preview window and change the value of the proxy set in step #4 above to No proxy full render. This will substitute the proxy strip with the source one.
Then, you can render out your video. All your editing actions will be preserved but will be performed on the source footage, not on the proxy one.
It’s also weird because, when I initially built up the proxies, it was an Image Sequence. But now, no matter what, the proxy is a .AVI. (But I can’t get it to show up in the VSE window, anyhow, but it’s still just weird that it switched formats for apparently no reason.)
The thing of it is, after generating the Proxy sequence, for some reason I have to close the program up and then reopen it before it’s visible in the VSE preview window. I don’t know why this is, but I’ve tried it several times and that’s the way it is. (Maybe I should file a Bug report?)
So thanks, Blendercomp. (If possible, if you - or anybody else - could explain the “Timecode Index” in the Proxy thing, I’d appreciate it, because I don’t know what that means.)
I see. Was that part of the original problem or is it a new issue that surfaced after following these instructions?
Btw, what version are you using? These instructions were based on r44117 which I built yesterday. Maybe trying a more recent build?
This thread is marked as “Solved”, but I do still have two questions:
How do you customize the proxy video type? Originally, it was an Image Sequence. Now, it switched to a .AVI. I don’t know why it changed or how to change it back
What do the “Timecode” settings mean in the Proxy bar in the N window there? What’s the difference between, for instance, “Record Run” or “Free Run”?
I confirm that after the new proxies were available Blender always creates avis and not image sequences. Or I have not figured out how to create image sequences.
Don’t exactly recall how it worked in the pre 2.5x era but I think it was possible to select images or avis.
I don’t really mind because proxies work really well
Ah, thanks. But I swear it did an Image Sequence a couple of days ago when I first tried it! I don’t know how or why, but it did.
But, yeah, I don’t think it really matters. The whole point is that it’s just supposed to be a fast and sloppy video, so, at this point, it doesn’t much matter what format it is, I don’t think.
What about this: 2) What do the “Timecode” settings mean in the Proxy bar in the N window there? What’s the difference between, for instance, “Record Run” or “Free Run”?
How about trying a more recent version? Or hitting the refresh sequencer button on the VSE window toolbar?
So thanks, Blendercomp. (If possible, if you - or anybody else - could explain the “Timecode Index” in the Proxy thing, I’d appreciate it, because I don’t know what that means.)
I would if I had a clue! :0
But I’ve been unable to find any documentation about those options really. Empirical tests did not lead to any conclusions: all options seem to work and I’m unable to tell the difference between them!
I tried everything I could think of. Believe me, I did NOT want to go through the time and effort of submitting a bug report! Perhaps it was just a weird thing which doesn’t replicate elsewhere. But I tried it many times, and the same pattern repeated, every time.
Okay, thanks for this. At least now I can be confident that it doesn’t really matter.
Yeah, it’s coming up as .AVIs for me every time now, too.
Well, if and when it ever comes up again, I’ll make sure to let you know. And I agree with you that it’s not too significant, whichever format it takes.
It seems logical to me that proxies can’t be image sequences unless they are re-generated as very-low-quality JPEGS or some similar lossy RGB format, and that might not even allow them to be used for fast real-time playback. The advantage of an AVI proxy is substantial image compression, which does allow for the real-time full-speed playback that you expect from a proxy strip.
(If possible, if you - or anybody else - could explain the “Timecode Index” in the Proxy thing, I’d appreciate it, because I don’t know what that means.)
In theory, and assuming your original footage includes SMPTE timecodes, those settings are supposed to work like this:
“Record run” strings everything together in the order they were recorded, without gaps for missing time (camera operator hit Stop or Pause).
“Free run” accounts for gaps in the timecode by adding black frames for the missing time.
I haven’t tried it myself. Until your thread, I assumed proxies still weren’t working!
That’s interesting. Does the proxy I.S. incorporate all the meta-strip properties, sort of like a low-Q rendering of the metastrip? Or is it a “proxy-meta” that you can tab into like a normal meta-strip?
