Came upon issues editing Sony a6500 4K footage in FCP X? If so, you may wish to read this post. It displays a workaround to transcode a6500 XAVC-S files to ProRes 422 codec for use in FCP X flawlessly.
Sony’s new a6500 camera shares the a6300’s ability to record 4K (3840 x 2160) video, and can do so using the full sensor area to avoid cropping. 4K movie recording in the Super 35 mm format with full pixel readout and no pixel binning allows approx. 2.4 times as much information as is basically required for 4K (QFHD: 3840 x 2160). Data this rich is, in fact, equivalent to 6K data, so it clearly conveys exceptionally high resolution in 4K images.
Stabilized 4K video could be a hugely valuable capability of the camera but it may also cause unexpected issues one or another while handling them in Final Cut Pro X due to various reason. In that case, we would recommend transcoding a6500 4K XAVC-S footage to FCP X preferred ProRes codec before editing. Here’s a quick guide displaying the detailed steps.
How to convert a6500 4K footage for FCP X editing?
Here’s what you need
HD Converter for Mac
With this converter program installed, you can effortlessly encode/re-encode XAVC S footage shot on Sony a6500 for editing in non-linear editing systems (NLE) like Final Cut Pro X, FCP 7, iMovie, DaVinci Resolve, Edius, Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer and more with optimum performance. Just download & install it and keep reading for a brief how-to on each process.
Follow these steps
Step 1: Run HD Converter for Mac as a professional Sony a6500 XAVC S to FCP X Converter. When its main interface comes up, click ‘Add File’ to load source video to it.
Step 2: Select ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as output format for opening with FCP X
From ‘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 X and its former version FCP 6 and 7. When loading them into FCP (X), you needn’t wait for a long time for rendering.
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 a6500 XAVC S 4k footage to ProRes MOV conversion.
Step 5: Click ‘Open Folder’ to get generated ProRes 422 QuickTime files for transferring and editing in Final Cut Pro X with optimum performance.
To import the transcoded files into Final Cut Pro X. navigate to File > Import > Media. In the window that comes up select your transcoded ProRes clips. DO NOT check “Create Optimized Media” OR “Create Proxy Media”. Both of these check boxes are unnecessary because we already converted the media to ProRes which means Final Cut Pro X can use the footage without “optimizing” it. Checking this box would create a redundant and time consuming second transcode of your footage.
You’re now ready to edit!
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