How to get/import FS7 MXF files into Avid MC?


How can I get Sony FS7 MXF files into Avid Media Composer smoothly? If you are having issues importing FS7 XAVC footage into Avid, you may have interest in this post. It displays a workaround to transcode FS7 MXF clips to DNxHD for use in Avid flawlessly.
Sony PXW-FS7
The FS7 records XAVC 4K video internally with a super 35mm Exmor CMOS sensor, giving the image a nice film look with beautiful depth of field. The actual resolution in camera is UHD (3840 x 2160), not quite full 4K – for that you need an external recorder. In UHD you have your choice of two different codecs, 10-bit 4:2:2 XAVC-I or 8-bit 4:2:0 XAVC-L. The difference between XAVC-I (intra) and XAVC-l (long) other than colorspace is about 450mbps; XAVC-I tops out at 600mbps while XAVC-L reaches just 150mbps. They are great formats, but users have reported buggy issues working with FS7 XAVC MXF files in Avid.

In some situations, to be able to edit FS7 MXF files in Avid smoothly, we would recommend converting FS7 XAVC footage to Avid preferred DNxHD first. Here’s how.

How to transcode FS7 MXF files into Avid preferred DNxHD?

Here’s what you need
HD Video Converter
Sony PXW-FS7 MXF to Avid ConverterSony PXW-FS7 XAVC to Avid Converter

To do this:
Step 1: Run HD Video Converter as a Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC 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.
sony fs7 xavc 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.
sony fs7 xavc 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 PXW-FS7 XAVC 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 PXW-FS7 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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