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87Final Cut Pro User Guide
Choose the type of playback media
• In Final Cut Pro, click the View pop-up menu in the upper-right corner of the viewer,
then choose an option in the Media Playback section:
• Optimized/Original: Choose this option to edit with optimized media (in the Apple
ProRes 422 format) for playback. If optimized media is not available, Final Cut Pro
uses the original media for playback.
• Proxy Preferred: Choose this option to edit with proxy media for playback. If proxy
representations aren’t available, Final Cut Pro uses optimized or original media for
playback.
• Proxy Only: Choose this option to edit with proxy media rather than full-resolution
media for playback. Choosing this option increases playback performance but lowers
the video quality. In Final Cut Pro, proxy media is in either the Apple ProRes 422
Proxy or H.264 format. For details about proxy media format and frame size options,
see
Import preferences in Final Cut Pro and Create optimized and proxy files in
Final Cut Pro.
You can use the Info inspector to determine whether optimized or proxy media files exist
for a given clip. See
View a clip’s information in Final Cut Pro. If you choose Proxy Only
in the View pop-up menu and no proxy media file exists, a Missing Proxy File alert icon
appears in the viewer.
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.
Show overlays in the Final Cut Pro viewer
You can add video overlays to the viewer to guide you when placing text and graphics or
cropping an image.
Title-safe and action-safe overlays show you the boundaries your graphics and text need
to stay within so they’ll appear when the program is played on television.
You can also create custom overlays tailored to the needs of your project. For example, you
can reserve an area of the screen for a logo or graphic that hasn’t been produced yet.
Note: Overlays appear only in the viewer. Output media files are not affected.