How to import Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC footage to Adobe Premiere?


If you are having issues opening XAVC footage from a Sony PXW-FS7 XDCAM camcorder in Adobe Premiere, you may wish to read this post. It displays a trick for importing Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC footage to Adobe Premiere easily and directly.
Sony FS7
“Hey, fellows, I’m wondering if you can help. I’m a video producer and occasionally have shoots where a camera operator will shoot on a Sony PXW-FS7 camera. The footage is usually used in corporate videos. I can’t get Adobe Premiere to see the raw footage from the camera without converting it. My problem is that, the converter I already have is unable to handle the XAVC footage, so my question is, does anyone know a good batch converter that is able to convert Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC media to .mov for use in Premiere Pro while preserving the original quality? I would really appreciate any help. Thank you so much!”

Not all “editing” programs can accept all file formats. Adobe Premiere handles a ton of formats, and more than many others, but sometimes it has issues while editing Sony XAVC footage. To be able to use Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC footage in Premiere flawlessly, we would recommend that you use HD Video Converter to transcode them to a format that is full compatible with Premiere before editing.

You can download a demo version (for both, PC and Mac) to have a try. They are not free but it totally worth it.
Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC to Premiere Pro ConverterMac Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC to Premiere Pro Converter

How to convert Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC footage for editing in Adobe Premiere maintaining original quality?

Follow these steps:
Step 1: Start up HD Video Converter as a Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC to Premiere Pro Converter.

Step 2: Click ‘Add File’ to import Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC media to the program.
sony fs7 xavc to premiere converter

Step 3: Select output format
1) Convert PXW-FS7 XAVC to DNxHD .mov for Premiere
If you are on a Windows PC, from the Profile list, choose ‘Avid DNxHD 1080p (*.mov)’ as output under ‘Avid Media Composer’ column.
sony fs7 xavc to dnxhd

2) Encode PXW-FS7 XAVC to ProRes .mov for Premiere
If you are on a Mac computer, from the Profile list, choose ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as target format under ‘Final Cut Pro’ catalogue.
sony fs7 xavc to prores

3) You can also choose the WMV, MPEG-2, and MOV under ‘Adobe Premiere/Sony Vegas’ column as output, but these three formats may cause lossy quality more or loss, so the DNxHD .MOV and Prores .MOV are recommended for lossless quality.
sony fs7 xavc to mov

Step 4: Custom video and audio settings (for advanced users)
Click ‘Settings’ button, the ‘Profile Settings’ panel pops up, on which you are able to modify video and audio settings like resolution, bit rate, frame rate, sample rate and audio channel.

Step 5: When ready, click ‘Convert’ to start transcoding Sony PXW-FS7 XAVC files to Premiere Pro supported file format. As soon as the conversion is complete, click ‘Open’ button to locate the generated files and now you are able to open them in Premiere for post production with optimal performance

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I couldn’t get Premiere Pro CS6 to recognize audio on MTS files
How can I make Premiere Pro accept Avid exported MXF files?