Sony’s XAVC S does not work with FCP X 10.0.9 and Mountain Lion. To be able to import Sony FDR-AX100 XAVC S MP4 to FCP for editing, you’ll need to convert XAVC S to QuickTime using 3rd party software.
The Sony 4K Handycam FDR-AX100 is a versatile camcorder that lets you capture 4K Ultra HD 2160p (3840×2160) video at 24 and 30 fps. If you have a Sony FDR-AX100 you will find it has the ability to record in three different formats, XAVC S, AVCHD, and MP4 HD video. The XAVC S format (it is different from Sony’s XAVC codec) uses highly compressed MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec for compression, allowing for longer record times, which has an MPEG 4 wrapper. The AVCHD format provides high-quality video for Blu-ray disc burning and HDTV playback. Additionally, the web-optimized MP4 format is ideal for sharing over the internet at up to 28Mbps. All that and more make Sony FDR-AX100 a versatile tool content creation.
If you shot with XAVC S format, you will find that Sony’s XAVC S does not work with FCP X 10.0.9 and Mountain Lion. In such a case, you can convert Sony FDR-AX100 XAVC S MP4 to Apple ProRes 422, the best friendly codec for Apple’s Final Cut Pro. Considering ease of use, reliability and final output quality, we would recommend HD Video Converter for Mac to do format transcoding.
More than converting XAVC S format to Final Cut, this Mac converter software is also able to encode AVCHD, MP4, MOV, XACAM, XDCAM EX, P2 MXF, Canon MXF, and K2 GXF footage to other intermediate formats for using in iMovie, FCP 6, FCP 7, FCP X, FCE, Avid MC, Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas, and more.
How to make FCP 6/7/X work with Sony FDR-AX100 XAVC S MP4?
To be able to import Sony FDR-AX100 XAVC S MP4 to FCP for editing, you’ll need to convert XAVC S to QuickTime using the 3rd party software we mentioned above. Follow these steps:
1. Import Sony FDR-AX100 XAVC S MP4 files
From the main interface, click ‘Add File’ icon to load XAVC S footage directly from your FDR-AX100 camera or from a card reader or from a achieved folder on your HDD that contains your media.
2. Choose output format
From Format bar, choose ‘Final Cut Pro’ > ‘Apple ProRes 422(*.mov)’ as output format for Final Cut Pro.
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.
3. Custom video and audio settings (Optional)
If necessary, you can click ‘Settings’ button to custom video and audio settings like bit rate, frame rate, sample rate, and audio channel on the pop-up ‘Profile Settings’ window.
4. Start rewrapping Sony FDR-AX100 XAVC S MP4 to ProRes 422
When ready, click ‘Convert’ to start encoding Sony XAVC S clips to Apple ProRes 422 for extending editing with Final Cut Pro 6/7 or the later version Final Cut Pro X.
5. Find generated QuickTime files
When the conversion is done, click ‘Open Folder’ to locate the generated ProRes 422 QuickTime files for using in Final Cut Pro. Apple ProRes 422 is FCP’s native format, therefore, the XAVC S files transcoded to this codec do not require any rendering while ingesting to FCP.
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