A proxy is a low-resolution copy of a high-resolution image. There can be one proxy for each frame in a clip. Proxies are used to provide real-time playback of processed results and to supply low-resolution clips so that composites can be quickly created. When importing files as clips with unmanaged media, use proxies when the connection speed to your media storage location is not fast enough to support real-time streaming of the full-resolution media. When proxy generation is enabled, proxies are generated upon import of media, of high-resolution media, or imported for DPX or Cineon media.

You can specify how and when proxies are generated for clips in the project settings. See Setting Proxy Management Options. If you enabled proxies for the project or media resolution, then only the proxies reside in Autodesk storage.

When creating DPX or Cineon images, a film scanner generates full-resolution scans that are often complemented by lower resolution proxy scans. These proxy scans can also be used in Smoke. You can import the existing proxies or generate new proxies when recapturing or importing DPX or Cineon images.

Generated proxies take the longest to create but provide guaranteed performance since the proxies reside in Autodesk storage.

Imported proxies are already created, can be imported quickly, and have the same performance attributes as generated proxies.