Summary: This post is written for people who are having issues with Sony EX3 workflow with FCP. It introduces a workaround to import EX3 XDCAM EX MP4 files to FCP without installing XDCAM EX Log and Transfer Plug-in provided by Sony.
XDCAM EX Log and Transfer Plug-in doesn’t work for my EX3 and FCP 7
“Hi, all, I’m from Australia, I have to work with footage from an EX 3 but it doesn’t seem to work with Mac OS snow Leopard. I already have downloaded Sony’s XDCAM EX Log and Transfer Plug-in. Unfortunately, I couldn’t install it. An error message pops up and says ‘you must have Final Cut Pro 6.0.5 or later’. The thing is that I have had Final Cut studio 7 installed on my system. How can I fix this issue? Any idea? Please help me. Thanks.”
If you want to work natively with Sony EX3 XDCAM EX footage in FCP, you can use the Log and Transfer window to ingest XDCAM EX media. This option requires the XDCAM EX Log and Transfer plug-in software. If for some reason the plug-in doesn’t work, we are afraid that you will have to transcode EX3 XDCAM EX footage to MOV for using in FCP with ProRes codec. To be able to convert Sony EX3 MP4 files to ProRes for FCP, you will need to download and install third party software like HD Video Converter for Mac, which runs well as a Sony EX3 Converter for Mac.
You can download a demo version to have a try. It is not free but it is totally worth it.
Sony EX3 and FCP workflow – how to convert EX3 XDCAM EX MP4 to ProRes for FCP 6/7/X?
Follow these steps:
Step 1: Run HD Video Converter for Mac as a professional EX3 MP4 to ProRes Converter. From the main menu, click ‘Add File’ button to import your source files.
Step 2: Select output format for FCP (X)
You can click “Profile” list to choose ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as output format under ‘Final Cut Pro’ column. The ProRes 422 is a good option for the EX3 XDCAM EX MP4 files, and the file size is reasonable. The ProRes 422 is a suitable codec for editing in FCP 6, FCP 7 and its later version FCPX.
Step 3: Click “Settings” button to custom video and audio parameters on ‘Profile Settings’ panel. (Optional)
Step 4: Click ‘Convert’ button to start converting Sony EX3 video files to Apple ProRes 422 for FCP (X).
Step 5: After conversion finished, click “Open Folder” button to get the exported ProRes 422 QuickTime files for using in FCP X or its former version FCP 6 and 7 with optimum performance.
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Best Mac XDCAM EX MP4 Converter | Sony EX1/EX3 MP4 to MOV