Support for Canon MXF from xf100 in FCP X?

I started this thread originally. I tried using a file converter (Aunsoft) - but after spending hours converting my files to ProRes - I gave up and bought Premiere Pro. Adobe is now offering for 50% off if you are a Final Cut Pro customer. I can tell you that Premiere does read Canon MXF files natively - works great, and, you can export to multiple formats without Compressor or Quicktime!

Sorry Apple, I really tried to use Final Cut Pro X

Oh ye of little faith. Why would Apple have forced us down the X path if it was not good for us?

Seriously though, I do think that there is something very powerful in the new FCP X that, once embraced, will make editing faster and more fun.

I must admit to having wavered towards Adobe a couple of times in recent days. But, I see Premier as the old paradigm. Mature, functionality rich, but overloaded and awkward.

FCP X, on the other hand is lean, fast and smooth. But, in these early days, still with some gaps.

I am sure that Canon will fill the MXF gap quite quickly. Just need to compile and test their plug-in for 64 bit.

My bigger concerns are around sound editing and narration recording. But I have not yet played with FCP X enough to know if this will be a problem or not.

I, for one, am prepared to give Apple a few more months to prove that the new paradigm is right.

Regards

Peter

Re Omer's workaround....

No can do here either. Just like Deadly_B, I get the "unsupported media or invalid directory structure" alert when I try to open any subdirectories inside of the CONTENTS directory. When I try to open CONTENTS, I get no alert but the Archive UI flashes for a moment and just doesn't recognize the camera at all.

Anyone else get this to work?

Hey guys,

I'd been trying to use my XF100 for a while with Final Cut Pro X and finally figured out that the XDCAM transfer utility works for the XF codec (I guess because it's really the same codec for both cameras - mpeg2 hd422).

I used the link on the apple support FAQ:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4724

Just follow the steps and you'll be able to import the MXF files into your computer while at the same time wrapping them in a .mov wrapper. I'm pretty sure there's no transcoding since it's ridiculously fast and the file size hardly changes at all. I'd been using foxreal video converter to convert before and that ballooned the files and took literally 1000 times longer!

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Andre

@foxdawgx I thought this was the answer. I was so hopeful. After installing the software I was able to import into Final Cut Pro and it looked perfect!! But it sounds horrible. Whatever happened completely butchered the sound. I don't know where the fault lies but the sounds skips, compresses, and does all kinds of popping, etc. This is no good.

The clips play fine on the camera and in the utility. However, if I play the .mov file, the sound simply stops after about halfway through (these are short clips). In Final Cut Pro they skip and compress and then cut out entirely.

I was hopeful, but it doesn't look like this is a workable solution.

Yep. It seems like this is a known issue with this utility and the XF cameras: http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/8/1130237

So close... ugh.

While we are waiting for Canon to update their plug-in, do you not have the option of ingesting into FCP7, and then importing the ProRes from the scratch disk into FCP X. Works for me. Just gotta keep a copy of FCP 7 on your Mac.

That works great for those that have FCP7. I'm new to FCP, so I don't have that option.

>That works great for those that have FCP7. I'm new to FCP, so I don't have that option.

Same here. But I do have access to PP and After Effects, which ingest MXF natively. I'm wondering if it'd be possible to use those for converting ro ProRes format. Ya think?

Ah heck!! The clips I used had no audio so no wonder I didn't catch the audio problem. Man, I thought I had found a really fast way to do this. Oh well, looks like its back to super slow foxreal until the canon plugin comes out. Sadly, I don't have a copy of FC7 otherwise I'd use that to make the transfer.

Suggest we all call our Canon rep and email their support desk, asking politely about the date for the updated XF plug-in. Might get Canon to uplift the priority on this issue.

That's what I've been doing every 3 days. Here are the email's I've been using:

Canon Support - 2 <carecenter2@cits.canon.com>

and

customerfeedback@cits.canon.com

If they got enough emails from people, it would certainly help.

Me too - still hopeful...

But, having said that, this is going to be my watershed weekend. I have put aside the two days (family is out of town) to work on both FCP X and Adobe Premier 5.5. I plan to do the same small project in both. By Sunday afternoon I will decide my path forward.

Presuming you have FCP7 and can import your files - I gave up - the Aunsoft converter s/w would only convert 6 files/clips at a time (I was importing 140 clips) - took several hours. Using PP5.5 it takes in the files natively - basically instantly. I've purchased PP5.5 and have made the commitment.

Good luck - will be interested in your assessment between the 2