ProRes proxy workflow
ProRes 422 / 4444 in the cloud, ProRes Proxy locally, full-quality conform at export.
ProRes 422 HQ is too heavy for multiple projects
ProRes is an intra-frame codec: every frame is whole, so it scrubs and decodes beautifully, but the files are large. Apple's own published targets at 1920x1080 29.97 run about 220 Mbps for ProRes 422 HQ and about 330 Mbps for 4444, and 4K multiplies that roughly fourfold. Across three concurrent projects a 2 TB SSD fills fast, and 4444 masters double the load again. The quality that makes ProRes great for colour and mastering is exactly what makes it heavy to keep on local disk.
You do not need 422 HQ or 4444 on the SSD to cut, though. You need a light proxy, and the heavy ProRes only at the conform and master.
ProRes 422/4444 cloud, ProRes Proxy local
Sanbila keeps the ProRes 422, 422 HQ or 4444 intact in the cloud with an automatic backup copy, never transcoded, so the colour, grain and mastering quality are preserved. The proxy is ProRes Proxy, Apple's own editorial tier at about 45 Mbps at 1080p, roughly a fifth of 422 HQ at the same resolution and far less once the proxy is 1080p against a 4K master, encoded on the Sanbila cloud and cached on your SSD. Final Cut Pro reads ProRes Proxy natively on macOS, and Premiere and Resolve read it on both macOS and Windows.
You cut on the proxy, and at the finish Smart Relink reads the timeline (FCPXML, Premiere XML, EDL or AAF) and streams only the ProRes clips you used back from the cloud over a virtual drive, switching the timeline clips to the full-quality originals for the master. Three 4K ProRes projects no longer fight over one SSD; the archive lives in the cloud, and the Studio plan holds 10 TB of it.
ProRes intact
The original 422, 422 HQ or 4444 is kept in the cloud with an automatic backup copy, never transcoded, so colour, grain and mastering quality survive.
ProRes Proxy on your SSD
Apple's own editorial tier, about 45 Mbps at 1080p, encoded on the Sanbila cloud and read natively by FCP, Premiere and Resolve.
Master on the originals
Smart Relink switches the timeline clips to the full-quality ProRes streamed from the cloud for the final master.
10 TB of ProRes
Three concurrent 4K ProRes projects no longer fill one SSD; the archive lives in the cloud and the Studio plan holds 10 TB.
Sanbila by the numbers
Real specs from the live Sanbila product, not marketing claims.
Frequently asked questions
Why is ProRes so large if it compresses well?+
ProRes is intra-frame, so every frame is stored whole for clean scrubbing and grading. That is great for mastering but heavy on disk: 422 HQ is about 220 Mbps at 1080p and roughly four times that at 4K.
Does ProRes Proxy keep Final Cut happy?+
Yes. ProRes Proxy is Apple's own editorial tier, so Final Cut Pro reads it natively, and so do Premiere and Resolve on macOS and Windows. You cut on it and conform to the real ProRes at the finish.
Do I lose mastering quality by editing on proxies?+
No. The 422 HQ or 4444 is uploaded intact and never transcoded. Smart Relink streams the real ProRes back at the finish, so the master is built on the original, not the proxy.
Can I run several ProRes projects without a huge SSD?+
Yes. The ProRes archive lives in the cloud with an automatic backup copy, and only the light ProRes Proxy sits on your SSD. The Studio plan holds 10 TB, so three 4K projects no longer compete for local space.
Cut ProRes without 4x the disk space
Free plan includes 5 GB. Studio covers 10 TB of ProRes archive.
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