ProRes 422 workflow in Premiere Pro
ProRes 422 is the codec broadcast and corporate teams pick when they need a clean intermediate without going RAW. A Sony FX6 in UHD at 25p writes around 250 GB per hour at ProRes 422 HQ. Premiere Pro reads ProRes natively on macOS and Windows, but the disk fills fast. Sanbila stores the originals on Cloudflare R2, generates a lighter proxy on your machine and lets Premiere stream the ProRes back for the final export.
The ProRes footprint problem on Premiere
A two-camera FX6 corporate shoot in UHD ProRes 422 HQ produces roughly half a terabyte per camera per day. After a week of pre-production interviews you are already past three terabytes, and the editor still wants room for graphics renders. Premiere Pro generates proxies fine, but the proxy preset that ships with Premiere uses H.264, which the GPU on a laptop fights with on multi-track timelines. The other option is to render full-rate ProRes proxies, which roughly doubles the footprint and removes the point of using proxies in the first place.
Lighter proxy locally, original on R2
Sanbila uploads the camera ProRes files directly from the SxS card or the offload drive. The Sanbila virtual folder exposes a 1080p H.264 proxy at around 30 GB per hour through symlinks that Premiere reads as native files. Toggling Premiere into proxy mode is the same checkbox you already know. Cutting in proxy stays smooth on a laptop with a discrete GPU, even with three concurrent multicam tracks. When the editor needs to colour grade or master the export, Smart Relink switches the timeline back to the ProRes originals streamed through WebDAV, and Premiere sees them at full resolution from R2 with no download.
ProRes 422 / HQ · Adobe Premiere Pro
For ProRes 422 in Premiere Pro, the recommended Sanbila preset is 1080p H.264 in .mp4. Premiere uses Apple Silicon and Intel Quick Sync to decode H.264 in hardware, so the proxy plays back full rate with no GPU saturation. Stay around 8 Mbps for the proxy bitrate. For a broadcast edit that wants the ProRes look in offline, use the 1080p ProRes Proxy preset instead, knowing it sits closer to 30 GB per hour.
From H.264 proxy back to ProRes original
Sanbila reads the Premiere XML or XMEML export and walks every clip used on the timeline. Smart Relink toggles those clips to stream mode, mounts the WebDAV volume, and Premiere shifts from the H.264 proxy to the ProRes 422 original served from R2. The export from Premiere Media Encoder reads the ProRes bytes on demand, so the final master comes out at full broadcast quality. The proxy folder stays on disk in case the client circles back with notes.
Five steps for the broadcast edit
- 1
Mount the SxS card or the offload drive. Sanbila scans, hashes every .mov, and uploads to R2 in parallel with multipart upload above 100 MB.
- 2
Open the Sanbila virtual folder for the project. The 1080p H.264 proxy files are linked through symlinks Premiere sees as local files.
- 3
Toggle Premiere into proxy mode. Cut the news package or corporate piece in offline at full rate on the laptop.
- 4
Export the timeline as XML and run Sanbila Smart Relink. Used clips switch to stream mode, the WebDAV volume mounts and Premiere sees the ProRes 422 originals at full resolution.
- 5
Send to Media Encoder for the broadcast master. The export reads ProRes from R2 over WebDAV. Nothing extra lands on the SSD.
Sanbila by the numbers
Real specs from the live Sanbila product, not marketing claims.
Common questions about ProRes 422 in Premiere Pro
Does the H.264 proxy preset preserve Premiere's timecode metadata?
Yes. The proxy keeps the source timecode from the ProRes original and the audio sync stays frame-accurate. Premiere matches the proxy to the original on filename and metadata, so the toggle to stream is silent for the editor.
Can a freelance editor at home open a Sanbila project a broadcast suite started?
Yes. The freelance editor logs into Sanbila on their machine and opens the same virtual folder. They generate their own proxies locally for the scenes they want to work offline. Premiere reads the project XML and the symlinks resolve to local proxies or to the WebDAV mount depending on which scenes were preloaded.
How does Sanbila handle audio sync from a separate sound recorder?
The production sound files upload alongside the camera files and sit in the same virtual folder. Premiere reads the audio as native files, so the sync workflow with the BWF timecode stays exactly as it would on a local mount. The synced multicam clip uses proxies until export.
Will the ProRes export from Premiere over WebDAV match a local export bit for bit?
Yes. The Media Encoder reads the same ProRes bytes from R2 that it would read from a local drive. The hash on the export matches a local control export. The only difference is network read time, which Sanbila absorbs with the block-level cache.
Is there a benefit to the 1080p ProRes Proxy preset over H.264 for an FX9 edit?
For a colourist who wants to evaluate the look in offline, ProRes Proxy keeps the colour science closer to the original. For a news package or a corporate piece where the offline is purely about pacing, the H.264 proxy is half the size and frees up the laptop GPU.
Related workflows
RED RAW (R3D) editing workflow in DaVinci Resolve
RED Komodo, V-Raptor and V-Raptor XL produce R3D files at 300 to 700 GB per hour in 6K and 8K. DaVinci Resolve handles R3D natively, but the bandwidth still bottlenecks at the disk. Sanbila keeps the originals in cloud storage and lets Resolve open lightweight proxies during the offline cut, then switches each clip back to the original through a WebDAV mount when the colorist needs the raw debayer.
Blackmagic RAW workflow in DaVinci Resolve
BRAW is the codec DaVinci Resolve grew up with. Decoding is fast, debayer is clean, and the metadata roundtrip is the most mature in the industry. The catch is the disk. A URSA Mini Pro 12K at 8:1 still writes around 250 GB per hour, and the Pocket 6K stack on a documentary shoot fills a 2 TB drive in a week. Sanbila keeps the BRAW originals on Cloudflare R2 and serves a 1080p ProRes Proxy on your machine so Resolve plays back instantly, then streams the BRAW over WebDAV when you grade.
H.264 workflow in Final Cut Pro
H.264 is the codec almost every prosumer camera writes by default. Sony A7S III, Canon R5, DJI Mavic, GoPro Hero, iPhone 17 Pro: they all ship H.264 or HEVC variants. Final Cut Pro reads H.264 natively on Apple Silicon, but a long-form documentary cut from 40 hours of source still puts pressure on the SSD. Sanbila stores the H.264 originals on Cloudflare R2 and uses Final Cut's optimized media or a Sanbila ProRes Proxy on the local SSD to keep the magnetic timeline responsive.