Workflow guide for Sony A7S XAVC S footage and FCP 7


If you are having issues importing Sony A7S XAVC S footage to FCP 7 for post production, you may wish to read this post. It explains a way of converting Sony A7S XAVC S MP4 files to ProRes 422 for use in FCP 7 smoothly with optimum performance.
issues importing Sony A7S XAVC S footage to FCP 7
How can I load A7S XAVC S files to FCP7 for editing?
“Hi, there, I recently bought an Alpha A7S camera from Sony. I can shoot video with AVCHD but wanted to check the better encoder XAVC-S. I’m working with FCP 7 and it does not recognize the file. Sony made a XAVC S plug-in for FCP X. I wish it had made one for FCP 7, but it hadn’t. I know so many editors who prefer to stay with FCP 7. Has anyone worked with XAVC S media from the Sony A7S in FCP 7 successfully? Any and all advice is welcome and appreciated. Thanks a lot!”

Our quick answer
Convert the XAVC S footage to ProRes 422. You can work natively with the XAVC S codec in FCP X without transcoding, but not in FCP 7 as far as we know. You can do the conversion with HD Video Converter for Mac.

About HD Video Converter for Mac
This top video converter recognizes a wide range of file types as import, including XAVC S, XAVC, XDCAM (HD/EX), AVCHD, MTS, M2TS, M2T, P2 MXF, MPG, MPEG-1, MPEG-4, VOB, DAT, MP4, M4V, TS, RM, RMVB, WMV, ASF, MKV, AVI, 3GP, 3G2, F4V, FLV, SWF, MPV, MOD, TOD, QT, MOV, DV, DIF, MJPG, MJPEG, TP, TRP, and more, and outputs optimal files with best quality that fits for editing programs (e.g. iMovie, Final Cut Express, FCP 6/7, FCP X, Avid, Adobe Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas, Pinnacle Studio, DaVinci Resolve, Windows Movie Maker, etc.) and popular devices (e.g. iPad, iPhone 6/6 plus/5S/5C/5, Android tablets or smartphones, etc.).

You can download a demo to have a try.
issues importing Sony A7S XAVC S footage to FCP 7

A quick guide on how to convert Sony A7S XAVC S MP4 to ProRes for FCP 7 editing

Follow these steps:
Step 1: Run HD Video Converter for Mac as a professional Sony A7S XAVC S to ProRes Converter. When its main interface comes up, click ‘Add File’ to load source video to it.
Sony A7S 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 A7S XAVC S to ProRes Converter
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 A7S XAVC S MP4 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.

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