How can I work with Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC MXF footage in FCP? If you are trying to find an answer to this question, you may wish to read this post. It describes the easiest way to convert Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC MXF footage to ProRes for importing to FCP (X) natively without rendering and quality loss.
The XAVC format elevates the creative possibilities to a new level, and offer quality and efficiency at the same time. The primary objective in adopting the XAVC format is to develop a family of professional production tools that can economically handle High-Frame-Rate (HFR) HD and 4K imaging formats. As a new introduced format, the XAVC format may sometimes cause different issues to consumers while working with FCP. If these problems couldn’t be solved via installing the XAVC/XDCAM Plug-in for Apple (PDZK-LT2) provided by Sony, we do recommend transcoding XAVC files to ProRes before editing. In our older posts, we’ve talked about how to work with Sony F55 XAVC MXF in DaVinci Resolve and how to import Sony F5 XAVC MXF to Premiere Pro CS5/CS6. Here in this post, we will explain how to make Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC fit into FCP workflow, along with Apple ProRes codec. This requires third party XAVC Converter for FCP.
Download a demo of Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC Converter for Mac
Sony PXW-FS7 and FCP – how to transcode Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC MXF files to ProRes for FCP?
Follow these steps:
Step 1: Install this Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC to FCP Converter software on your computer, launch it and click ‘Add File’ to ingest your source media from your camera or from an achieved folder.
Step 2: Select ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as output format for opening with FCP X/6/7
From the Format bar, move to ‘Final Cut Pro’ catalogue, and select ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as target format. Apple ProRes is the best suited editing code for FCP 6, 7 and FCP X. When loading them into FCP, you needn’t wait for a long time for rendering.
Step 3: Custom video and audio settings (for advanced users)
Click ‘Settings’ button, the ‘Profile Settings’ window pops up, on which you are allowed to custom video and audio parameters like bit rate, frame rate, resolution, sample rate, and audio channels.
Step 4: Start transcoding Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC MXF files to QuickTime ProRes for FCP X/6/7
When ready, click ‘Convert’ to transcode Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC MXF files to Apple ProRes for using with FCP. XAVC MXF files are always HD content, so the conversion process may costs a little longer time. In this situation, you can tick off ‘Shut down computer when conversion completed’ and go away to do other things.
Step 5: Click ‘Open Folder’ button to locate exported ProRes files
As soon as the conversion process finished, simply click ‘Open Folder’ button to get the generated Apple ProRes files. Now you are able to open them in Final Cut Pro for further editing without any issues.
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