Couldn’t open Sony Alpha A7S XAVC S footage in Avid systems? No worry, this post will show you an easy and fast workaround to transcode Sony Alpha A7S XAVC S media to DNxHD .mov for editing in Avid apps with lossless quality.
Can Avid work with Sony Alpha A7S XAVC S 4K footage natively?
”I’ve captured a bundle of 4K video recordings using my new Sony Alpha A7S camera. The footage is recorded using XAVC S codec wrapped in a MP4 wrapper. I’m trying to load them into Avid for editing through traditional way, but there is a no-go. It seems that neither Avid comes with native support for XAVC-S footage nor Sony has released a XAVC-S plugin for Avid. Does anyone know what I should do to go about this? Please advise options. Thanks a lot for any help.”
It is currently impossible to work with Sony Alpha A7S XAVC S footage in Avid Media Composer. This problem is due to the fact that Sony has not released a XAVC-S plugin for Avid. In fact, Sony has released a XAVC Plug-in for Avid, but it is no help for XAVC-S. Avid had received numerous complaints and forum posts about this incompatibility – but it is beyond their control as Sony is responsible for providing the AMA plugin. Fortunately, with third party converter software like HD Video Converter, you are able to convert Sony Alpha A7S XAVC S footage to DNxHD .mov fitting for Avid systems.
You can download a demo version (for both, PC and Mac) to have a try. They are not free but it is totally worth it.
Sony Alpha A7S and Avid workflow – how to convert Sony Alpha A7S XAVC S files to DNxHD for Avid system?
The steps:
Step 1: Start up HD Video Converter as a Sony Alpha A7S XAVC S Converter for Avid. When its main interface pops up, click ‘Add File’ to input your source media.
Step 2: Choose output format for Avid MC
From ‘Format’ bar, select ‘Avid DNxHD (*.mov)’ as output format under ‘Avid Media Composer’ column.
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
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: Start Sony Alpha A7S XAVC S to DNxHD MOV Conversion
When ready, click ‘Convert’ to start format conversion. As soon as the conversion is complete, you can click ‘Open Folder’ button to get the exported DNxHD MOV files for use in Avid apps with optimum performance.
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