Working with Sony PMW-200 XDCAM MXF files in Avid


This post is going to guide you through the process of converting Sony PMW-200 XDCAM MXF files to DNxHD .mov for editing in Avid Media Composer maintaining original quality of the source .mxf media.
sony pmw-200
How can I make Sony PMW-200 XDCAM MXF footage full compatible with Avid?
“Hi, all, for a long time I’ve been trying to find a way to make Sony PMW-200 XDCAM MXF footage be more compatible with my mostly used editing program (Avid Media Composer). Avid MC allows for easy and direct importing of videos from my camcorder, but it is very unreliable and unstable, so I needed something else. After searching loads of Google/YouTube video tutorials with no success, I have to come here to ask for help. Does anyone know which program should I use to transcode Sony PMW-200 MXF video to MOV (DNxHD encoded) for use in Avid without losing image quality/with really nice quality? I would really appreciate any help. Thank you so much!”

Our Quick Answer: HD Video Converter is a good batch converter to do so. It enables users to convert Sony PMW-200 XDCAM MXF files to whatever format you need for editing and playing. Working well as a Sony XDCAM to Avid Converter, it comes with very easy to use menus and produces very good quality DNxHD conversions as well as bulk processing so you could load it with files and leave it alone to do the job.

Download a free trial of HD Video Converter
Sony PMW-200 MXF to Avid ConverterSony XDCAM to Avid Converter for Mac

Sony PMW-200 and Avid workflow – how to encode Sony PMW-200 MXF files to Avid’s favorite editing codec?

Here’s a step-by-step guide on this, check yourself.
Step 1: Run HD Video Converter as a Sony PMW-200 MXF to Avid Converter, then click ‘Add File’ icon to load source footage. You can load directly from your camcorder, or load from a card reader or from an achieved folder that contains your source media.
pmw-200 to avid converter

Step 2:Choose output format for Avid MC, Avid Symphony or Avid NewsCutter
From ‘Profile’ list, select ‘Avid Media Composer’ > ‘Avid DNxHD (*.mov)’ as output format.
pmw-200 mxf to dnxhd mov

Step 3: Advanced settings (for advanced users)
If you are an advanced user, you can click ‘Settings’ button and go to ‘Profile Settings’ window to custom video and audio settings like resolution, video codec, bit rate, frame rate, audio codec, bit rate, sample rate and audio channel.

Step 4: When ready, click ‘Convert’ button to start converting Sony PMW-200 XDCAM MXF files to DNxHD MOV that is well compatible with your Avid NLE applications.

Step 5: When the conversion process is complete, click ‘Open Folder’ button to get the generated DNxHD MOV files for using with Avids.

Tips: The Sony XDCAM MXF to Avid Converter is capable of processing batch conversion, so you can input loads of your source clips into it to do format conversion at a time. If you don’t want to wait for the entire format shifting process, you can tick off ‘Showdown computer when conversion completed’ and go away to do other things.

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