Proximate monitors source folders for new media files, distributes encoding jobs across multiple encoder instances and watchfolders, and automates the renaming and delivery of the output.
Professional camera formats — RED, Blackmagic, Canon, Nikon, and Sony RAW — require specialized software to decode and transcode; FFmpeg does not support them. Adobe Media Encoder and Blackmagic Proxy Generator handle these codecs, but are designed to run as single instances on a single machine.
Proximate addresses this by routing files from multiple source folders to multiple encoder watchfolders running on any combination of machines. Encoding jobs are distributed automatically as files arrive, without requiring new hardware or additional software licenses.
Automation tab — two source folders feeding three Adobe Media Encoder instances, with destination configuration and live path preview.
Monitor source directories for new camera files and distribute them across multiple encoder watchfolders. Proximate creates symlinks in each encoder's watch folder. Originals stay put, no storage consumed during transcoding.
Monitors for BRAW, Canon RAW Light (.crm), R3D, and NEV camera formats. File extensions are configurable per encoder so different camera types can route to different encoder presets.
Place proxies alongside source media, mirror the source tree under an alternate root, or collect everything into a single output folder. Configure proxy suffixes and subfolders to match your NLE's expectations.
Content-based hashing identifies the same file across multiple locations — even with different filenames. Choose to skip duplicates, create copies, or create symlinks to save space.
Configurable settle intervals prevent encoding from starting before a file copy or card ingest is complete. Proximate watches for stable file sizes before handing work to an encoder.
Every source discovery, encoder submission, and proxy delivery is logged with timestamps. The Assets tab tracks all processed media with codec details, file sizes, locations, and proxy status.
Assets tab — activity log showing real-time processing events, and asset database with file details, locations, and proxy status.
Proximate fills the gap between one editor running Adobe Media Encoder and a dedicated hardware transcode farm. If you have multiple seats of AME, multiple workstations, or multiple encoder applications, Proximate lets you run them as a coordinated pool instead of isolated silos.
There's no other Mac tool that does this. Dedicated transcode servers solve the problem at 10–100x the cost. Proximate solves it with software you already own.
Proximate is free while we gather early feedback. If you find it useful, contributions help fund continued development.
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