Skipping the intro, no time to waste. If your footage is choppy or Final Cut is struggling to edit it, the fix is usually transcoding, and picking the right option matters.
Optimized media (if your computer's fast)
Clicking Optimize Media transcodes your footage into ProRes files that look great and are easy to edit, but they're large. If you've got a fast computer and plenty of storage, this works fine for you.
My go-to: ProRes Proxy at 50%
If you've got a slower computer, or you just want to keep your file sizes down, transcode to ProRes Proxy instead. I've found ProRes Proxy at 50% gives really solid editing performance compared to editing native camera footage, and it saves a ton of space versus those big optimized files. Select your clips, right-click, hit Transcode Media, and create proxy media, then switch your view to Proxy to edit.
The trade-off (and why it doesn't matter)
The catch is image quality while editing, your footage might not look as sharp as it should. But remember, these are just copies of your originals. Switch back to Original or Optimized media before you export (which you should always do) and your full quality is right there. And if your computer's still struggling, transcode to a lower-quality ProRes Proxy, playback will look rougher, but your file sizes shrink even more and you'll be able to edit with ease.
Edit faster with my custom shortcuts
Grab my free Final Cut Pro keyboard shortcuts cheat sheet. It's the exact custom setup I use to edit every video, and it'll shave time off every session.
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