Working with Sony A77 II XAVC-S files in FCP 7


If you are looking for an easy and direct workflow guide between Sony A77 II XAVC S footage and FCP 7, you are in the right place. This post shows how to convert Sony A77 II XAVC S files to Apple ProRes codec for use in FCP 7 with optimum performance.

Sony Alpha 77 II has always been a good choice for video. It can capture 1920 x 1080 full-HD video at 60 fps in the AVCHD format, and a recent firmware version 2.00 update also adds Sony’s new proprietary high bit rate XAVC-S video format for even better quality. If you want to film in XAVC-S format, though, you’ll need a Class 10 (or more) SDXC memory card. Using the XAVC-S format on your Alpha 77 II, you’ll be able to film in 50p/25p (PAL mode) and 60p/30p/24p (NTSC mode) at 50 Mbps. And that’s on top of the AVCHD and MP4 formats that you already had.
Sony A77 II XAVC S footage and FCP 7
You can shoot high quality videos in XAVC-S format with Sony A77 II, but the XAVC-S footage also brings incompatibility issues to users who want to edit them in Final Cut Pro 7. That’s because FCP 7 is a discontinued editing program, which will not support the quite new XAVC-S format. However, there are still a lot of people using Final Cut Pro 7 several years after the release of FCP X. If you still use FCP 7 and want to edit XAVC-S footage shot on a Sony A77 II, you will need a third party converter to transcode Sony A77 II XAVC-S material into another format for editing, such as Apple ProRes .mov, FCP’s favorite editing codec, which FCP 7 will recognize and handle well without extra rendering. HD Video Converter for Mac will do the trick for you.
convert Sony A77 II XAVC S files to Apple ProRes codec

A quick guide on how to convert Sony A77 II XAVC-S XAVC S to ProRes for FCP 7 editing

Follow these steps:
Step 1: Run HD Video Converter for Mac as a professional Sony A77 II XAVC-S to ProRes Converter. When its main interface comes up, click ‘Add File’ to load source video to it.
Sony A77 II XAVC-S to ProRes Converter

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 most recent version FCP X. When loading them into FCP (X), you needn’t wait for a long time for rendering.
Sony A77 II XAVC-S to ProRes MOV conversion
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 Sony A77 II XAVC-S to ProRes MOV conversion.

Step 5: Click ‘Open Folder’ to get generated ProRes 422 QuickTime files for editing in Final Cut Pro 7 with optimum performance.

Related posts
FCP 7 not recognizing my MXF file – convert MXF to ProRes
Sony a5100 and FCP X – convert a5100 video files to ProRes
Nikon D5300 to FCP X Converter – encode D5300 MOV to ProRes
Import Sony HDR-AS100V 1080/60p XAVC S MP4 to iMovie/FCP X
How to import Sony F55/F5 CineAlta 4K XAVC to FCP without plugin?