Proxies can be enabled and disabled for individual clips, regardless of whether default proxy generation was enabled at project creation.
The Proxy Quality workflow allows you to reduce the amount of data being calculated in complex setups, without the need to have proxies stored on disk, by simply changing the quality.
However, as overall interactivity and performance is defined by the slowest link in the chain, if reading the source media is what is causing the performance loss for large setups, users can now optionally generate proxies on disk.
Under the Proxy Settings tab, aside from the proxy size, quality setting and conditional setting, you can also enable the Generate Proxies By Default button. Because all projects are proxy-capable, what this button does is enable a sub-set of preferences, in relevant parts of the application, causing proxies to be generated on disc, by default. This includes importing media from the MediaHub and rendering media from Batch or Batch FX, the Timeline, the Modules, etc.
When you import media from the MediaHub, you have a Generate Proxies button. If you enabled the Generate Proxies By Default option when creating your project, the button will also be enabled by default in the MediaHub and proxy media will be generated on import. You are free to disable and re-enable it, at any point, to change the proxy generation behavior for specific media.
Since proxy media is optional, there are preferences to define whether or not to write proxy media during rendering. These preferences affect the Timeline, Batch or Batch FX, Generators and the Modules.
You can do this at any point, regardless of whether or not you enabled proxy generation by default when you created your project.
This can be done to an individual clip, to a Reel or a Library.