Lumix GH4 and Final Cut Pro 7-edit GH4 footage in FCP 7


Having issues editing Panasonic GH4 footage in Final Cut 7? If so, you may wish to read this post. It presents a workaround to batch transcode Lumix GH4 stuff to ProRes for use in FCP 7 flawlessly.

lumix gh4

Needed to convert GH4 H.264 files for FCP 7 editing
“Hi there, can anyone advice a good converter to transcode GH4 H.264 files for FCP 7 editing? I’d like to edit 1080p H.264 MOV files from my Panasonic GH4 within FCP 7. I have no trouble importing them, but the H.264 files will generate flawed render files. This is why I want to convert my GH4 material to an FCP-7 edit friendly codec prior to ingestion. This prevents unpleasant surprised during the rendering or exporting of the sequence. Do you know a converter app that can convert the GH4 files to ProRes in batch? Thanks”

ProRes keeps every frame separate, so it is much easier for FCP 7 to edit in ProRes than H.264. With HD Converter for Mac installed, it’s easy to encode GH4 footage to ProRes for FCP 7 editing. But also note that because every frame is stored individually, as opposed to frames packed within a group, files sizes for ProRes are much larger than H.264. Check a quick guide on how to transcode Lumix GH4 footage to ProRes for FCP 7 in batch.

How to batch transcode Lumix GH4 footage to FCP 7 preferred ProRes codec?

Software requirement
HD Converter for Mac
lumix gh4 video converter for mac

To do format conversion using HD Video Converter for Mac, follow these steps:
Step 1: Install and run HD Video Converter for Mac as the best Lumix GH4 Video Converter for Mac. As soon as the main interface pops up, click ‘Add File’ button to load source video files.
gh4 to fcp7

Step 2: Select output format for FCP 7
In order to convert Lumix DMC-GH4 footage to Apple ProRes for FCP 7, from the Format Profile bar, navigate 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, so when loading them into FCP, you needn’t wait for a long time for the rendering process.
convert gh4 video to fcp7 prores
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 (for advanced users)
Click ‘Settings’ button, the ‘Profile Settings’ window pops up, on which you are allowed to custom video and audio parameters like bit rate, frame rate, resolution, sample rate, and audio channels.

Step 4: Start transcoding Lumix DMC-GH4 shootings to ProRes
When ready, click ‘Convert’ button to convert GH4 files to Apple ProRes for editing with FCP 7.

Tips: if you don’t want to wait around in front of your computer for the converting process, you can tick off ‘Shut down computer when conversion completed’ and go away to do other things.

Step 5: Click ‘Open Folder’ button to get the generated ProRes QuickTime files
When the conversion is finished, simply click ‘Open Folder’ button to get the exported ProRes files for using in Final Cut Pro 7 with optimum performance.

Also read
Solve GH4 4K import problems in Sony Vegas Pro
Working with Panasonic GH4 4K files in DaVinci Resolve
GH4 4K to Premiere Pro CC-edit GH4 4K in Premiere Pro CC
Workflow guide for Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4 and iMovie