Does FCP X support Sony 4K XAVC/XAVC-S files? Came upon issues working with Sony 4K footage in Final Cut Pro X? This post displays a workaround to get FCP X recognizing Sony 4K media flawlessly.
Issues editing Sony XAVC 4K in FCP X
“Hi all, has anyone successfully used Sony 4K XAVC files in FCP X? I can work with HD XAVC perfectly in X but there were green flashes on the import when I handling 4K files. Is there anything I can do to fix this? Any ideas?”
To be able to edit Sony 4K footage in FCP X, you will need a bigger and better machine to handle all that data. If your computer is not powerful enough, you may have problems while working with Sony 4K files in FCP X. In that case, you can convert it to 1080p ProRes first. Here’s how.
How to transcode Sony 4K files for FCP X editing?
Here’s what you need
HD Converter for Mac
With HD Video Converter for Mac installed, you are able to convert Sony 4K footage to ProRes .mov for editing smoothly. More than 4K media, it also supports converting P2 MXF, XAVC MXF, XDCAM/XDCAM HD MXF, IMX MXF, AVCHD (.m2t, .m2ts, .mts), H.264 MOV, XAVC S MP4, XDCAM EX MP4, MKV, AVI, M2V and more for your different final targets, such as editing, playing, sharing, and burning.
The steps
Step 1: Run HD Converter for Mac as a professional Sony 4K video 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
From the ‘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 7 and its former version FCP 6 and the most recent version FCPX. When loading them into FCP (X), you needn’t wait for a long time for rendering. To create smaller files, transcode your source files to Apple ProRes 422 (LT).
Apple ProRes 422 – Higher quality than Apple ProRes 422 (LT);
Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) – Keep original video quality for editing in FCP;
Apple ProRes 422 (LT) – Get a smaller file sizes than Apple ProRes 422;
Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy) – SD levels – 480i/p and 576i/p. Used in offline workflows.
Apple ProRes 4444 – Edit and finish 4:4:4 material.
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 4K files to ProRes MOV conversion.
Step 5: Click ‘Open Folder’ to get generated ProRes QuickTime files for transferring and editing in FCP X with optimum performance.
Hopefully this tutorial gets you on your way to an effective 4K workflow in Final Cut Pro X.
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