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787Final Cut Pro User Guide
Delete optimized or proxy files
You can delete optimized or proxy media files at any time, no matter where they’re stored.
Original media files are not deleted, so you can always regenerate optimized and proxy files
from the original media.
1. In Final Cut Pro, do one of the following:
• Delete optimized or proxy files for one or more clips: In the browser or the timeline,
select one or more clips.
• Delete optimized or proxy files for one or more projects: In the browser, select one
or more projects.
• Delete optimized or proxy files for one or more events: In the Libraries sidebar,
select one or more events in the same library.
• Delete optimized or proxy files for a library: Select a library in the Libraries sidebar.
2. Choose File > Delete Generated [item] Files.
3. In the window that appears, select any of the following:
• Delete Optimized Media
• Delete Proxy Media
4. Click OK.
The selected files are deleted from your storage device.
Note: Unlike other media management commands in Final Cut Pro, the Delete Generated
Library Files and Delete Generated Clip Files commands affect external media as well as
managed media (in the library).
To control whether Final Cut Pro displays optimized, proxy, or original media in the
viewer, and whether video playback is optimized for quality or performance, choose the
corresponding options from the View pop-up menu in the upper-right corner of the viewer.
See
Control playback quality in Final Cut Pro.
Important: If you use proxy media for playback, make sure to switch back to optimized/
original media before sharing your project. This ensures the highest quality in the exported
file. See
Intro to sharing projects in Final Cut Pro.
Create a proxy-only project in Final Cut Pro
You can create proxy-only versions of your projects, events, and libraries for portability
and performance. The proxy-only versions contain only proxy media files, along with file
types that don’t support proxy media, such as audio, video with an alpha channel, and still
images.
Proxy-only projects are useful for offline editing. Video proxy files use considerably less
storage space, often enough to allow you to work on a portable computer instead of a
desktop computer with significantly more memory and processing power.
The following instructions are for making a proxy-only version of a project, but they apply
equally to making proxy-only events and proxy-only libraries.