So when creating ProRes444 proxies there is virtually no loss of quality or flexibility, as you can see here. This was rendered from the proxy in AE, and I bent the shit out of this image and gave it a massively oversaturated, bleach bypass "Domino" look (In honor of the departed Tony Scott) and it holds up beautifully. (I had to zoom in 400% to see a infinitesimal amount of pixel blur vs. the DNG). So a proxy based workflow is a definite, and viable option.
Shian Storm got a reaction from nahua in Lossless Blackmagic Cinema DNG 2.5k workflow for Adobe Premiere CS5.5 with smooth playback and editing