Premiere Pro proxy workflow without filling your SSD
Keep proxies local, originals in the cloud, export at full quality.
Why Premiere editors run out of space
A standard Premiere Pro project quickly grows past what a 1 TB or 2 TB SSD can hold. Four hours of 6K footage from an FX6 eats 300 GB. Add two more shoots and the drive is full, Premiere freezes, and you spend the afternoon deleting old rushes instead of editing.
The built-in proxy generator inside Premiere helps with playback, but it still requires the original files to be local at export time. So you end up with duplicates: full-resolution rushes plus proxies, both taking space on the same disk.
How Sanbila fixes the Premiere proxy workflow
Sanbila uploads your originals to Cloudflare R2 the moment you import them. Proxies are generated on our servers (no CPU cost on your machine) in H.264, ProRes Proxy, or DNxHR LB, then streamed back to your SSD. You get a Virtual Folder of symlinks that Premiere sees as native files.
When your edit is done, Smart Relink analyses the XML of your timeline and streams only the clips you actually used via a local WebDAV mount. Premiere sees them as local files, exports at full quality, and zero originals ever touch your SSD.
Native Premiere integration
Virtual Folders look like regular media folders to Premiere. No plugin to install.
Server-side proxy encoding
FFmpeg runs on our servers with 7 presets from 540p H.264 to 1080p ProRes Proxy.
Smart Relink via XML
Sanbila parses your Premiere XML export and streams only the clips you used.
Auto SSD cleanup
LRU eviction frees space automatically when your cache reaches its limit.
Zero egress fees
Streaming originals from R2 costs nothing. No surprise invoice at month-end.
Sanbila by the numbers
Real specs from the live Sanbila product, not marketing claims.
Frequently asked questions
How is Sanbila different from the proxy generator built into my NLE?+
Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro and Avid all generate proxies locally, but they keep the original full-resolution files on the same SSD — so the disk fills up twice. Sanbila stores the originals in the cloud (Cloudflare R2) and keeps only the lightweight proxies on your machine. At export, Smart Relink streams the originals back via a local WebDAV mount, so you finish at full quality without ever downloading the source files.
Does Sanbila work offline?+
Yes for editing — once a proxy is cached on your SSD, you can cut, trim, color and arrange your timeline without an internet connection. You only need network access for the initial import (uploading originals to the cloud) and for the final export (streaming originals back via WebDAV).
How much cloud storage does the free plan include?+
The free plan includes 5 GB of cloud storage and one project, with no credit card required. Paid plans start at $49 per month for 2 TB and 50 projects, going up to 25 TB on the Enterprise plan with overage billing for teams that need more.
What upload speed do I need to use Sanbila?+
Any broadband connection works for the initial upload — Sanbila chunks files into 50 MB parts and uploads in parallel, so a typical 100 Mbps fiber line uploads 1 hour of 4K H.264 footage in about 6 minutes. After upload, day-to-day editing happens on local proxies, so your connection speed only matters again at export time when originals are streamed.
Which video formats does Sanbila support?+
Sanbila handles 22+ formats out of the box: MP4, MOV, MXF, R3D (RED RAW), BRAW (Blackmagic RAW), ARRI proxies, ProRes, DNxHR, DNxHD, H.264, H.265, plus WAV and AAC for audio. Both 4K and 8K sources are supported up to 200 GB per single file (URL imports have no size limit).
Start editing Premiere without the disk-full alert
Free plan, no credit card. Install in under 2 minutes on Windows or macOS.
Download freeRelated solutions
SSD full in the middle of a Premiere Pro edit?
Move originals to the cloud, keep lightweight proxies locally, and reclaim space on demand.
Edit 4K offline in Premiere Pro
Proxies run locally on your SSD, no Wi-Fi required during the edit.
Team collaboration on Premiere Pro projects
Share rushes, proxies, and timelines with your team without shipping a 4 TB drive.