Converting 4K XAVC to 1080p Apple ProRes


If you are looking for a way to downscale 4K XAVC to 1080p Apple ProRes codec, you may have interest in this post. It guides you through the process of transcoding 4K XAVC to 1080p Apple ProRes via using a third party converter app.
xavc format
XAVC uses level 5.2 of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, and supports 4K resolution (4096 × 2160 and 3840 × 2160) at up to 60 frames per second (fps). MXF is used for the digital container format of XAVC.

To be able to edit 4K XAVC files in NLEs like FCP 7, FCP X, DaVinci Resolve, and Adobe Premiere smoothly, videographers sometimes need to downsize  4K XAVC to 1080p Apple ProRes for a fast and fluid workflow. This requires third party software like HD Video Converter for Mac. Check this short tutorial on how to down-convert 4K XAVC MXF media to 1080p ProRes for editing.

How to convert Sony 4K XAVC MXF footage to 1080p ProRes?

Software requirement
HD Video Converter for Mac
downscale 4K XAVC to 1080p Apple ProRes

The process is straight forward.
Step 1: Run HD Video Converter for Mac as a professional XAVC 4K to 1080p ProRes Converter. When its main interface comes up, click ‘Add File’ to load source video to it.
downscale 4K XAVC to 1080p Apple ProRes

Step 2: Select ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as output format
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 former version FCP 6 and the most recent version FCPX. When loading them into FCP (X), you needn’t wait for a long time for rendering. To create smaller files, transcode your source files to Apple ProRes 422 (LT).
downscale 4K XAVC to 1080p Apple ProRes
Apple ProRes 422 – Higher quality than Apple ProRes 422 (LT);
Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) – Keep original video quality for editing in FCP;
Apple ProRes 422 (LT) – Get a smaller file sizes than Apple ProRes 422;
Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy) – SD levels – 480i/p and 576i/p. Used in offline workflows.
Apple ProRes 4444 – Edit and finish 4:4:4 material.
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
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. To output 1080p video, make sure you set the video resolution to 1920×1080.

Step 4: Click ‘Convert’ to start Sony XAVC 4K MXF files to 1080p ProRes MOV conversion

Step 5: Click ‘Open Folder’ to get generated ProRes QuickTime files for transferring and editing in your NLEs with optimum performance.

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