You can find me here asking about whether to buy a 4K or a 6K.

Since 6K is so system intensive, we might transcode our footage into something more convenient (smaller / faster) for editing. Let's say we transcode it to 1920x1080 with some compression or other. As an editor, I'm staring at this 2k compressed footage. Okay. Now my system is working great. Fast and responsive.

But what if I want to do highlight recovery, for example saving details from blown out clouds? Now I can't do that because I'm not working in braw, I'm working in compressed 2k. ???

But let's say we had that option, now I'm fixing a 2k compressed clip. I'm not seeing the 6K braw footage. How can I know what I'm doing? The 2K footage looks great, but how does the 6K footage look?

I can understand how useful transcoding is when we're cutting the film, because it's about a different kind of content (timing, continuity). But when we're grading or coloring the clips, I can't figure out how transcoding helps. It seems like it must hurt.

So how is this supposed to work?

If we can't grade 6K footage with intermediaries, then how can we grade it?
1. Do we grade the clips using optimization, then apply the grading to the 6K clips, then transcode the 6K to 2K as intermediaries, cut with that, and then render from the 6K to a 4K master? That seems insane. Or...
2. Do we transcode from 6K to 2K, cut the film, render from 6K to 4K, then grade the 4K, then render to a 4K master?

Thanks.

Noob Guessing at what 6K Editing Workflow Might be Like

Edit: A relevant article: Editing Pocket 6K Files in Resolve with a Low-Performing Computer

With both methods, you’ll need to import the proxy files back into Resolve. Then, before color grading and/or delivery, relink/replace the proxy clips with the 6K raw files, and you’d have sidestepped a lot of stuttered playbacks and huffing.

This suggests that they are saying we should cut the film, then grade it. Can we render 4K braw from 6K braw? If so, then the workflow might look like this (noob guess):

Step 1: Transcode 6K to 2K intermediary.
Step 2: Cut the project.
Step 3: Render 6K to a 4K braw master.
Step 4: Grade (coloring, highlight recovery etc) 4K braw master.
Step 5: Render to 4K or 2K for delivery

If it works this way, we can do our grading in 4K raw.

Opinions?

Edit: Some more information on Proxies from the r/videoediting sub: How can I speed up video playback on my computer?