Support for Canon MXF from xf100 in FCP X?

Thank you for the nice words.

I will probably continue development of XfcpX to some extend, as I am learning Objective-C and this is a good a venue as any other to learn it from.

Regarding the Thumbnails, this actually only works if you are processing images from an XFUtility backup structure as I am simply reusing the thumbnails created by that. This is changing next time around, as I can easily generate them myself, I just did not have any more time to implement it this weekend.

The utility should of course retain master/output folder locations from previous session as the original utility did. This is also on the list.

FYI the program was updated this morning, with better handling/performance when combining multiple clips - so if you are a beta user and running a previous version, you should re-download the package.

Multiple output locations for backup purposes is an option as well.

The gamma shift I have no clue about TBH. I have not observed this myself, and have not yet had a chance to test the Canon plugin. My guess would be that the Optimized Media and the original MPEG2 stream differs in how they apply color profiles and that the standard QT player (which, I think, also generates the Finder preview) is probably not taking that into acount. Either way, as long as it works properly inside the NLE where it counts, it's nothing I am going to investigate further.

The further time I spend on the XfcpX utility will be based largely on the feedback I get from users, which will be a good indication to me if it's work wasted or used. It will also be very dependant on how I find the Canon utility to work for me - if I don't like it, I will stay on, and further develop, my own way of doing things ;-)

What are the expiriences with the Canon import-tool; is it worth to download or still better to work with Pica?

Does it work quickly, does it convert the footage? does it take a long time? etc.

According to the silence on the forum I think it's o.k. now.

I am very curieus!

Thanks!

Haven't actually used it yet. I am hoping it is now like any other supported camera.

Hi Rune,

Thank you for the update to XfcpX2 - it certainly is much easier to use than version 1. As you mentioned that future updates would depend on feedback, could I put in a request?

I have had many video cameras before the XF100 and now have a library of thousands of AVI, M2TS and MXF (soon to be converted to MOV thanks to you) movie clips. This is in addition to a large library of still images as well. Keeping track of this library has proved difficult as I have been unable to find a single program that will display all formats and, more importantly, allow me to add information and comments to the media.

As a workaround, I generate a small jpg thumbnail of each clip (with the same filename) which is stored with the movie media clips. I can then add any amount if information to the thumbnails using the EXIF or IPTC systems and it is all viewable by many different programs so I am not tied to any one software manufacturers database.

The XF100 has the ability to generate a jpg 'Still' from each clip which contains the date and time in the EXIF 'Date' field which is very useful. I can then add location info and comments as required. Unfortunately generating these stills in the camera is an extremely laborious and tedious procedure as each still has to be produced individually using the 'Photo' button.

Would it be possible to add a feature to a future release of XfcpX that would generate these 'Stills' (complete with EXIF date) during conversion from MXF to MOV?

Thanks again for a great utility.

Used it twice. Once with some older footage to see if it works and again yesterday to import about 10 minutes of footage that I had shot to test a new macro lens.

The import works fine.

It is quick, brings across most of the key metadata and can do all the normal FCPX analysis along the way. The footage ends up in the Event library as ProRes.

Regards

Peter

Thanks, i did the same and yes indeed, it works fine and quick.

Thanks to Pika (for that option i bought this cam. Canon may be greatful to you) but now i am going to use the "normal" way; import from cam.

What format does the new Canon FCP X plugin produce? I presume it is Quicktime (.mov), but what is the codec? I think I saw that someone said it was ProRes 422. Does it include the recorded date and time in the metadate?

I am still in 10.6.8 and can't change yet.

Thanks,

Rick

Rick, it's unfortunate that Canon distributes an installer that requires Lion while the installer should work with the minimum software requirements of FCP X 10.0.3 (which are still 10.6.8 or higher). The plugin itself doesn't require Lion it's just the installer.

Please go back 16 posts and see how you can install the XF plugin on 10.6.8. so you can answer all your questions by yourself.

Message was edited by: buildyo23

Yes, ProRes 422 with all settings as per the captured footage.

Yes, captures the date and time metadata.

Regards

Peter

I can't tell you too much at the moment, but soon there will be a resolution to this problem, by HamburgProMedia at the beginning of April. You will be able to direct access MXF Clips in FCPX

As mentioned before, XfcpX will leave your MXF files intact and simply rewrap them in a mov container.

Yes, you do loose all metadata - but your video is untouched, straight from the camera.

I usually create optimized media anyways - so I must admit, the XF plugin is probably fine for me. One thing that annoys me though, is that it seems to me that it copies and converts at the same time. For me, that was a problem, as I was in a hurry to empty the cards and reuse the camera - only to realize that FCPX was locking my camera down.

In the end, I had to disconnect it, copy the cards (and use XfcpX later)... this resulted in a messy set of broken media etc. inside FCPX of course :-/

So, if in a hurry the Canon plugin is not wellsuited to empty cards directly from the camera :-/

Native MXF support? No rewrap? No Import? Sounds interesting. I came across MXFImportQT when I was looking for a solution before the Canon XF plugin was released but boggled when I saw the price. Let's hope the solution you promise doesn't cost more than FCP X. 😮

When I import a MXF file into FCPX with the canon plug in, it seems to convert into a MPEG-2 Video. When I check the converted file in my event folder, the get info says MPEG-2. When I convert in FCP Studio, the file says ProRes 422. What am I doing wrong?

tandre wrote:

When I import a MXF file into FCPX with the canon plug in, it seems to convert into a MPEG-2 Video. When I check the converted file in my event folder, the get info says MPEG-2. When I convert in FCP Studio, the file says ProRes 422. What am I doing wrong?

Same here.

In FCP 7, there is a preference panel in the Log and Transfer which lets you select the Codec. I always selected ProRes and the "original media" that I imported into FCP X via FCP 7 does show as ProRes 422.

But, the new Canon Plug-In for FCP X does not have any options to select the Codec. My original media imported directly from CF card into FCP X shows in info as MPEG-2 Video.

Seems to work OK though.

You are exactly right, but was is the purpose of having HD Video with color sampling of 422, and than to downgrade it to 411 (in get info it actually says color profile HD 111) during capturing? If you than want to output it to blu ray for example, are you not than having to convert it up from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4? I am confused here, maybe I do not understand about compression and color spacing.