Introduction
Professional post-production operates on three distinct media tiers, each serving a different function and requiring different amounts of storage. The first tier is camera originals: everything captured on set at full acquisition quality, stored on fast drives and backed up immediately. This is your production insurance and your master source. The second tier is proxy media: low-resolution, low-bitrate transcodes of the originals that allow offline editing on any hardware including laptops. The third tier is online media: the high-quality intermediate format used for color grading, finishing, and creating the deliverable masters. Understanding how much storage each tier requires, and budgeting for all three simultaneously, is fundamental to post-production planning.
What This Tool Calculates
The economic case for proxy workflows is compelling. Camera originals from modern cinema cameras range from 150 Mbps for compressed RAW formats to 2.7 Gbps for uncompressed RAW. Editing directly from these files requires expensive high-performance storage arrays, fast workstations, and real-time playback hardware that represents a significant investment. A proxy workflow breaks this dependency. Offline editing using H.264 at 8 to 25 Mbps or ProRes Proxy at 45 Mbps allows any editor with a capable laptop to cut the film without touching the original media. The editorial team can work anywhere, deliver cuts for review without complex infrastructure, and iterate faster because the software is not struggling with massive files. The online conform, where the cut is re-linked to the original high-quality media, happens once at the end of the editorial process.
The Formula and How It Works
Example one: a 10-day feature film shoot with a Sony VENICE 2 at 6K X-OCN. The camera generates approximately 8 TB of acquisition data per day. With 2 backup copies, camera storage totals 240 TB. H.264 proxy media for the same footage totals approximately 2.5 TB. Online media for the 90-minute finished film in ProRes 422 HQ totals approximately 25 GB. Total three-tier storage: approximately 267 TB. Example two: a 3-day commercial shoot with BRAW 12:1 at 6K. Camera media runs roughly 2.8 TB with 2 copies. ProRes Proxy transcodes total approximately 350 GB. Online media in ProRes 4444 for the 5-minute spot totals approximately 12 GB. Total: roughly 6 TB. Example three: a 20-day documentary with a Sony FX9 recording XAVC-I at 4K. Camera media with 2 copies totals approximately 28 TB. H.264 proxy transcodes total approximately 3.5 TB. Online media for a 90-minute cut in ProRes 422 totals approximately 18 GB.
Real-World Examples
Shooting Ratio and Its Impact on Storage
Shooting ratio describes how much footage is captured relative to the finished runtime. A 5:1 ratio means 5 minutes of footage is shot for every 1 minute in the final cut. Documentary productions often run 20:1 to 50:1 or higher. Narrative features typically target 10:1 to 20:1. Commercials with tightly controlled shoots might achieve 3:1 to 8:1. The shooting ratio has a direct impact on camera and proxy storage but does not affect online storage, which is based on finished runtime only. A production with a 30:1 ratio and a 90-minute cut needs to store 45 hours of camera footage but only 90 minutes of online grade media. This asymmetry is why online storage is always a small fraction of total post-production storage requirements.
The 3-2-1 Backup Rule for Camera Media
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Camera media is irreplaceable. | |
| Any system that stores camera originals on a single drive is one drive failure away from catastrophic loss. | |
| The 3-2-1 backup rule is the industry minimum standard: three copies of the data, on two different storage media types, with one copy stored offsite. | |
| In practice for film production, this means: one copy on the primary DIT drive array on set, one copy on a separate drive set that travels with a different crew member or vehicle, and one copy offsite via LTO tape or cloud upload. | |
| This tool calculates camera storage using your specified backup copy count, so you can see the total storage cost of meeting the 3-2-1 standard versus running with fewer copies.. |
Pro Tips and Common Mistakes
Pro Tips
- Use dedicated drives for each tier.
- Mixing camera originals, proxy media, and project files on the same drive creates performance bottlenecks and makes it harder to track storage usage per tier.
- Label drives clearly with tier, date, and project identifiers so any crew member can locate specific media quickly.
- Offload camera media to at least two drives before ejecting cards or magazines from the camera.
Common Mistakes
- The most common mistake is underestimating camera storage.
- Productions routinely purchase drives based on a conservative shooting day estimate, then discover midway through production that the actual data volume exceeds projections.
- Always add 25 percent contingency to camera storage estimates.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I use ProRes Proxy versus H.264 as my offline codec?
Use ProRes Proxy when your editorial team works on Apple hardware, particularly Mac laptops and Mac Pro systems. ProRes Proxy decodes natively using Apple Silicon media engines with near-zero CPU load, allowing smooth playback of complex timelines. Use H.264 proxy when your editorial team works cross-platform or when storage cost is the primary constraint. H.264 at 25 Mbps provides adequate image quality for editorial decisions at a fraction of the storage cost.
Does the proxy codec affect the final output quality?
No. The proxy is used only for offline editing. During the online conform, your NLE or finishing application re-links all sequences to the original camera media and ignores the proxy entirely. The final grade and deliverable are generated from the camera originals at full resolution and bit depth.
What is the difference between offline and online editing?
Offline editing is the creative editorial process where story, pacing, and performance decisions are made using low-resolution proxy media. Online editing is the technical finishing process where the offline cut is conformed against original high-quality media for color grading, effects finishing, VFX integration, and master deliverable creation.
How much extra storage should I budget beyond the calculated totals?
Add a minimum of 20 percent to the calculated total for project files, cache, render files, exports, and administrative overhead. For productions with complex VFX or heavy color grade node structures, add 30 to 40 percent. Storage is cheap relative to any other production cost. Running out of storage mid-production is never acceptable.
Start Calculating
Enter your shoot parameters above and select camera format, proxy codec, and online format. The calculator generates a tier-by-tier breakdown showing camera original storage, proxy media storage, and online grade storage as separate line items with a visual representation of the proportion each represents. Use these numbers to plan your storage procurement before the first day of principal photography.
