Trying to edit Sony A7S XAVC S footage in FCP 7? Follow our tips to make video editing with Sony A7S XAVC S MP4 footage go as smoothly as possible.
Is there a third party app that allows Sony A7S XAVC-S to be transcoded to ProRes?
“Hi, guys, I shot with a new Sony A7S camera which records footage using XAVC-S codec. I tried to ‘Log & Transfer’ them to FCP 7 for editing, but that did not work. A message popped up and said unsupported media. Is there a third party app that allows A7S XAVC-S footage to be transcoded to Apple ProRes so that it works in FCP 7? Any suggestions? I would really appreciate any advice. Thanks a lot in advance.”
Working with Sony A7S XAVC S footage (which is XAVC S footage in an .MP4 wrapper) in FCP 7 is not quite straight forward as using MXF files in FCP 7 through a free plugin. To be able to import Sony A7S XAVC S files to FCP 7 for further editing, you must convert them to ProRes before editing. In the guide below, we will present a step-by-step guide talking about how to transcode A7S XAVC S MP4 to ProRes for FCP 7 editing with optimum performance. You can check it out below.
How to encode A7S XAVC S footage to ProRes for FCP 7?
What to do if FCP 7 can not open Sony A7S XAVC S footage? Transcoding in a 3rd party app like HD Video Converter for Mac is a feasible workaround.
First of all, download a demo of HD Video Converter for Mac
Then follow these steps:
Step 1: Run HD Video Converter for Mac as a professional XAVC S to ProRes Converter. When its main interface comes up, click ‘Add File’ to load source video to it.
Step 2: Select ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as output format for opening with FCP 7
From the ‘Profile’ list, move to ‘Final Cut Pro’ catalogue, and select ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as target format. Apple ProRes is the best suited editing codec for FCP 7 and its latest version FCP X. When loading them into FCP 7/X, you needn’t wait for a long time for rendering.
Apple ProRes 422 – Higher quality than Apple ProRes 422 (LT);
Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) – Keep original video quality for editing in FCP;
Apple ProRes 422 (LT) – Get a smaller file sizes than Apple ProRes 422;
Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy) – SD levels – 480i/p and 576i/p. Used in offline workflows.
Apple ProRes 4444 – Edit and finish 4:4:4 material.
Important: If you’ve loaded a number of video clips to do batch conversion, please do remember ticking off ‘Apply to All’ option before you start.
Step 3: Adjust video and audio settings (for advanced users)
If necessary, you can click ‘Settings’ button and go to ‘Profiles Settings’ panel to modify video and audio settings like video encoder, resolution, video bit rate, frame rate, aspect ratio, audio encoder, sample rate, audio bit rate, and audio channels. 3D settings are also available.
Step 4: Click ‘Convert’ to start A7S XAVC S video to ProRes MOV conversion.
Step 5: Click ‘Open Folder’ to get generated ProRes 422 QuickTime files for transferring and editing in Final Cut Pro 7 with optimum performance.
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