I notice there is a new "make a proxy" tab in the HD-Link preferences. I understand that this is to make proxies for formats that are difficult for editing software to handle directly (like 4k 3d). I have an underpowered core2duo system that struggles sometimes with regular hd files, especially if I try to use First Light. How do I make use of the proxy feature?

First convert your source to CineForm at the highest quality you need. Then re-import those CineForm clips in HDlink, and set Make Proxy, Fast Scale and set the "Resize Video" resolution to "Proxy 960..." or similar. Set the quality to medium or similar (experiment to find the size and data rate you like best.) Click start. They will be made very quickly, as fast as you drive will go on many system (the CPU many show a low amount as the disk is the bottleneck.) Proxy generation on modern PCs can be well over 200+ fps is the disk is fast. This proxy can be corrected with FirstLight and the resulting image will be the same on the masters. File naming is identical to help NLE proxy to online swap-outs.

So then the actual swapping between media files and proxies would be done as a separate process? Would I need to use a proxy swapping script for instance if I'm in Sony Vegas?

OK, I found what I believe is the best solution. On the following link, there is a script called "Batch Replace":

Free Scripts For Sony Vegas (http://sony.vegas.1.free.fr/)

This will let you choose a new location for your media files and replace all the files once. Very cool!