Sony FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S MP4 to Adobe Premiere Pro CS6


Summary: So you just have a Sony FDR-AX1 4K Handycam on hand? If you are currently feeling so frustrated over an FDR-AX1 XAVC S MP4 import issue in Premiere Pro CS6, you may come to the right place. This topic covers why Premiere Pro CS6 can’t import FDR-AX1 4K XAVC S MP4 files and explains how to resolve this problem by transcoding Sony FDR-AX1 4K footage to a native format supported by PP CS6.

Question: Sony FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S MP4 files not reading in Premiere Pro CS6
“Hey, guys, I have some XAVC S MP4 files captured with my new Sony FDR-AX1 4K camcorder. The footage is about my son’s wedding party as well as some travelling recordings. I’m trying to edit them in Adobe Premiere Pro CS6. Unfortunately, the PP CS6 refused to import the FDR-AX1 4K video files and gave me an error message. Why this happen? I think the CS6 should have native support for the Sony FDR-AX1 4K XAVC S MP4 files. Is there anything that I missed? Does that mean I have to transcode the FDR-AX1 4K files to an intermediate codec so CS6 can recognize them? If so, which third party software would you recommend? Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.”

Sony FDR-AX1 4K

The Answer
If you can’t work this out at this point, you may wrap your Sony FDR-AX1 4K video to something intermediate. If you are on a PC, we would recommend you convert the FDR-AX1 4K XAVC S MP4 files to DNxHD .mov. If you are on a Mac, we would recommend that you transcode the FDR-AX1 4K XAVC S MP4 files to Apple ProRes .mov. Those two mezzanine codecs are good intermediate codecs that handle recompression well and standup well in other areas of post-production (color grading, graphics, compositing, etc.). If you decided to re-wrap your Sony FDR-AX1 4K clips for CS6 using third party software, we would recommend HD Video Converter. This converter program works on both Windows and Mac platform, and converts Sony footage to your required file types retaining the Full-HD quality as the original. The guide below details how to go about it.

 

First of all, download a free trial for Windows or Mac to see if it works well for you.
try windows dnxhd mov

How to convert Sony FDR-AX1 4K XAVC S MP4 files to Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 editable format?

Follow these steps:

Step 1: Start up HD Video Converter as a FDR-AX1 4K to MOV Converter for CS6.

Step 2: Click ‘Add File’ to import your source media to the program.

Step 3: Select output format
* If you are on a Windows PC, from the format bar, choose ‘Avid DNxHD 1080p (*.mov)’ as output under ‘Avid Media Composer’ column.

** If you are on a Mac computer, from the format bar, choose ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as target under ‘Final Cut Pro’ catalogue.

Step 4: Custom video and audio settings (for advanced users)
Click ‘Settings’ button, the ‘Profile Settings’ panel pops up, on which you are able to modify video and audio settings like resolution, bit rate, frame rate, sample rate and audio channel.

Step 5: When ready, click ‘Convert’ to start transcoding FDR-AX1 4K XAVC-S MP4 files to Premiere Pro CS6 supported QuickTime MOV format. As soon as the conversion finished, click ‘Open Folder’ button to locate the generated files and now you are able to open them in PP CS6 to create your own masterpieces.

Also read
Why Premiere Pro CS6 can’t import MXF files?
Sony FDR-AX100 XAVC S and FCP workflow on Mac
Sony PXW-Z100 4K XAVC to FCP and DaVinci Resolve