Sony PXW-X500 and FCP workflow-edit XAVC in FCP 7/X


If you are having problems importing XAVC footage from Sony PXW-X500 into FCP 7/X, you may have interest in this post. It displays a way of converting Sony PXW-X500 XAVC MXF files to ProRes 422 for use in Final Cut with optimum performance.
Sony PXW-X500 workflow in Final Cut Pro
Sony PXW-X500 has three 2/3-inch type Full HD CCD sensors, offering a high sensitivity and low noise image. The camcorder gives broadcasters a high degree of flexibility, allowing you to shoot in a wide variety of HD and SD formats, including XAVC Intra frame and XAVC Long GOP, MPEG SStP 422 Lite (HDCAM SR), MPEG HD 422 and MPEG HD 420, as well as MPEG IMX and DVCAM, recording to SxS or SD media cards. To ensure a smooth Sony PXW-X500 XAVC workflow in Final Cut Pro (version 7 or version X), videographers sometimes need to transcode PXW-X500 XAVC MXF files to ProRes 422. This thread presents an easy way to do this.

Getting your XAVC footage from Sony PXW-X500 into FCP 7/X is a three part process. You will need to import your footage into HD Video Converter for Mac, transcode the files to ProRes 422, and then import those files into FCP 7/X. It’s very important to transcode your Sony PXW-X500 XAVC files to ProRes 422 prepare them for editing. It will make the performance of the computer very smooth. The guide below will walk you through the process.

[Guide] How to convert Sony PXW-X500 XAVC MXF files to ProRes 422 for FCP 7/X?

Here’s what you need
HD Video Converter for Mac
transcode PXW-X500 XAVC MXF files to ProRes 422
Download, install and run HD Video Converter for Mac, then follow these steps:

Step 1: Run HD Video Converter for Mac as a professional PXW-X500 XAVC to ProRes Converter. When its main interface comes up, click ‘Add File’ to load source video to it.
convert Sony PXW-X500 XAVC MXF files to ProRes 422

Step 2: Select ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as output format for opening with FCP 7/X
From the ‘Profile’ list, move 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 and its most recent version FCP X. When loading them into Final Cut, you needn’t wait for a long time for rendering.
PXW-X500 XAVC to ProRes Converter
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: Adjust video and audio settings (for advanced users)
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: Click ‘Convert’ to start PXW-X500 XAVC MXF video files to ProRes conversion.

Step 5: Click ‘Open Folder’ to get generated ProRes 422 QuickTime files for transferring and editing in Final Cut Pro 7/X with optimum performance.

To import the transcoded files into Final Cut Pro 7, simply navigate to File > Import > Files and select the converted clips. Alternately you can simply drag and drop the files into your “Bin.”

To import the transcoded files into Final Cut Pro X. navigate to File > Import > Media. In the window that comes up select your transcoded ProRes clips. DO NOT check “Create Optimized Media” OR “Create Proxy Media”. Both of these check boxes are unnecessary because we already converted the media to ProRes which means Final Cut Pro X can use the footage without “optimizing” it. Checking this box would create a redundant and time consuming second transcode of your footage.

You’re now ready to edit!

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