Summary: Is it possible to edit Sony FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S MP4 files in NLEs like iMovie, Avid, FCP, and DaVinci Resolve natively? If you have troubles to do so, you may need to convert FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S MP4 to an intermediate codec that is well compatible with your editing programs.
As the bigger version of the Sony FDR-AX100, the Sony FDR-AX1 4K handycam which announced in September of 2013 is introduced as Sony’s first professional-class consumer 4K video camera. That means whether you are a semi-professional or an advanced amateur content producer, you can easily use this camera to capture stunning 4K/HD movies. The FDR-AX1 4K camcorder records footage in the XAVC-S recording format. As mentioned of the XAVC-S, it is developed for consumer usage based on the professional XAVC 4K/HD format, which uses linear PCM for audio and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Long GOP for video compression, while saving files in an MP4 container.
Is it possible to edit Sony FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S MP4 files in NLEs like iMovie, Avid, FCP, and DaVinci Resolve natively?
Yes, it is.Video from the AX1 can be easily edited on FCP X just like any 1080p video. Indeed in our understanding, most NLE applications such as Avid, FCP, and DaVinci Resolve should have native support for Sony XAVC-S MP4. But for some reason, to make the editing process much smoother, people still need to use third party software to convert FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S MP4 to an intermediate codec for editing programs. For instance, you can convert FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S MP4 to AIC for editing in iMovie, transcode FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S MP4 to DNxHD for working with Avid systems, and encode FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S MP4 to Apple ProRes for using with FCP and DaVinci Resolve.
To transcode 4K XAVC-S MP4 to a format that is best suited for your NLEs, we would recommend HD Video Converter. You can free download a trial version to see if it works for you.
How to convert Sony FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S MP4 to iMovie, Avid, FCP, and DaVinci Resolve preferred file type?
Step 1: Run HD Video Converter as a Sony FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S Video Converter. When the main interface pops up, click ‘Add File’ button to import XAVC-S MP4 shootings captured by the FDR-AX1 camera.
Step 2: Select output format for iMovie, Avid, FCP, and DaVinci Resolve
In order to edit Sony FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S shootings in iMovie, from the Format bar, choose ‘Apple InterMediateCodec (AIC) (*.mov) as output format from ‘iMovie and Final Cut Express’ catalogue.
To be able to convert Sony FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S MP4 for Avid MC, from the ‘Format’ bar, choose ‘Avid Media Composer’ > ‘Avid DNxHD (*.mov)’ as output format.
For the purpose of transcoding Sony FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S MP4 for working with FCP X or the former version FCP 6 and 7, as well as DaVinci Resolve, from the Format bar, navigate to ‘Final Cut Pro’ catalogue, and select ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as target format. Apple ProRes is the best suited editing codec for FCP and Resolve, so when loading them into your NLEs, you needn’t wait for a long time for the rendering process.
Step 3: Custom video and audio settings (optional)
If you want to adjust video and audio settings in your own way, you can click ‘Setting’ button and go to ‘Profile Settings’ panel to do so, if not, simply skip this step.
Step 4: When ready, click the ‘Convert’ button to start converting Sony FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S MP4 footage to a mezzanine codec that is well accepted by your editing program.
Tips: You can tick off ‘Shut down computer when conversion completed’ checkbox, and go away to do other things instead of waiting around in front of the computer for the entire conversion process.
Step 5: When the conversion finished, click ‘Open Folder’ button to find the generated QuickTime MOV files for editing with iMovie, Avid, FCP, and DaVinci Resolve.
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