How to transcode Sony PMW-350 XDCAM EX MP4 video to ProRes 422 for FCP X?


If you experience issues working with Sony PMW-350 XDCAM EX MP4 footage in Final Cut Pro X, you may wish to read this post. It guides you through the process of converting PMW-350 XDCAM EX to ProRes 422 for use in FCP X with optimum performance.
working with Sony PMW-350 XDCAM EX MP4 footage in Final Cut Pro X
The PMW-350 is the first and long-awaited shoulder-mount camcorder in Sony XDCAM EX family. The images are fantastic, it is nice and light, fully featured, sips power, has a decent stock lens and an amazing viewfinder. The PMW-350 comes equipped with the cutting-edge imaging technology of three 2/3-inch-type Exmor full-HD CMOS sensors, uses SxS memory card as the recording media, and stores video recordings in MP4 format.

To be able to import Sony PMW-350 XDCAM EX media into Final Cut Pro X, you need to install additional XAVC/XDCAM Plug-in for Apple (PDZK-LT2) developed by Sony. Also, for a fast and fluid Sony PMW-350 workflow with FCP X, videographers sometimes need to transcode Sony PMW-350 XDCAM EX MP4 media to ProRes 422 before editing. The ProRes 422 is FCP X’s favorite editing codec, which FCP X will recognize and handle well. Here’s a guide displaying how to encode PMW-350 XDCAM EX to ProRes 422 by using a simple third party converter app.

Software requirement
HD Video Converter for Mac
converting PMW-350 XDCAM EX to ProRes 422 for use in FCP X
Working well as a Sony XDCAM Video Converter for Mac, this app supports converting video recordings captured by all Sony XDCAM/XDCAM HD/XDCAM EX camcorders, such as Sony PMW-EX30, Sony PMW-EX1R, Sony PMW-EX3, Sony PMW-EX1, Sony PMW-200 and Sony PMW-300.

[Guide] How to transcode Sony PMW-350 XDCAM EX MP4 video for editing in FCP X?

Follow these steps:
Step 1: Open up HD Video Converter for Mac as a Sony PMW-350 XDCAM EX Converter for Mac. When its main interface comes up, click ‘Add File’ to load your source media.
import Sony PMW-350 XDCAM EX media into Final Cut Pro X

Step 2: Select output format for FCP X
To transcode Sony PMW-350 XDCAM EX MP4 video files for FCP X, select ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as output format under ‘Final Cut Pro’ column. The ProRes codec is also workable in its former version FCP 6 and FCP 7.
Sony PMW-350 workflow with FCP X
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: Custom video and audio settings (optional)
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: Begin Sony PMW-350 XDCAM EX MP4 movies to MOV Conversion on Mac
When ready, click ‘Convert’ to start format conversion. Once the conversion process is complete, you can click ‘Open Folder’ button to get the generated ProRes MOV files for editing in FCP X with optimum performance.

Tips:
If you don’t want to wait for the entire conversion process, you can tick off ‘Showdown computer when conversion completed’ and go away to do other things.

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