ysense
Level 1 (4 points)
Video

Q: XAVC-S to FCP 7?

Hi,

I recently bought Sony's alpha 7 mrk ii. I can shoot video with AVCHD but wanted to check the better encoder XAVC-S. I'm working with FCP 7 and it does not recognize the file (although I can still play the file with QT - a bit strange. I guess I'm missing something here...).
I searched online and found several external software that can convert XAVC-S to ProRes 422. Does anyone have tried out one of these softwares? Any other solution?

 

 

Thanks a lot!

OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Apr 12, 2015 9:28 AM

by Meg The Dog,Solvedanswer
Meg The Dog Meg The Dog
Level 6 (11,168 points)
Video
A:

I work with a Sony A7s and use XAVC extensively.

FCP will not work correctly with the XAVC camera file.

You can convert the file to an edit friendly format for FCP-7 by converting it  to ProRes.

EditReady by Divergent Media is a very good application for this:

 

http://www.divergentmedia.com/editready

They have a free trial download for you to test the workflow, it is limited to transferring only the first 60 seconds of the file, but that should be enough to verify it for you.

 

Workflow - Batch process your camera files in EditReady, then import those converted files into FCP for editing. Note that you are importing the files not Log and Transferring them.

 

Your other choice is to look at a more modern editor - both FCP-X and Premiere Pro support editing XAVC directly, without conversion.

 

MtD

Posted on Apr 12, 2015 10:14 AM

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Q: XAVC-S to FCP 7?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Meg The Dog,Solvedanswer

    Meg The Dog Meg The Dog Apr 12, 2015 10:14 AM in response to ysense
    Level 6 (11,168 points)
    Video
    Apr 12, 2015 10:14 AM in response to ysense

    I work with a Sony A7s and use XAVC extensively.

    FCP will not work correctly with the XAVC camera file.

    You can convert the file to an edit friendly format for FCP-7 by converting it  to ProRes.

    EditReady by Divergent Media is a very good application for this:

     

    http://www.divergentmedia.com/editready

    They have a free trial download for you to test the workflow, it is limited to transferring only the first 60 seconds of the file, but that should be enough to verify it for you.

     

    Workflow - Batch process your camera files in EditReady, then import those converted files into FCP for editing. Note that you are importing the files not Log and Transferring them.

     

    Your other choice is to look at a more modern editor - both FCP-X and Premiere Pro support editing XAVC directly, without conversion.

     

    MtD

  • by ysense,

    ysense ysense Apr 12, 2015 10:14 AM in response to Meg The Dog
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Video
    Apr 12, 2015 10:14 AM in response to Meg The Dog

    Hi Meg The Dog,

    Thanks a lot for your quick reply! I'll check it out. I think this is what I'm looking for.

    Sony made a plug-in for FCP X. I wish it had made one for FCP 7.  I know so many editors who prefer to stay with 7 (they say it looks like i-movie to them). Personally I didn't take a close look at 10, but obviously it has many advantages with importing

    Thanks again!

  • by ysense,

    ysense ysense Apr 13, 2015 2:39 AM in response to Meg The Dog
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Video
    Apr 13, 2015 2:39 AM in response to Meg The Dog

    Hi,

     

    I'd love to understand this:

     

    If I use XAVC in FCP X or Premier Pro (where it is native), would the end result - in terms of quality -  be better than converting XAVC to ProRes with an external software?

     

     

    Thanks!

  • by Meg The Dog,

    Meg The Dog Meg The Dog Apr 13, 2015 3:05 PM in response to ysense
    Level 6 (11,168 points)
    Video
    Apr 13, 2015 3:05 PM in response to ysense

    The quality is the same. The codec for ProRes exceeds the quality of XAVC, at the expense of file size.

    Converting a lower quality codec into a higher quality one does not improve the quality of the source file, it only means that it won't be degraded in any way (but again, the file size of the ProRes file will be much larger than the XAVC).

    Think of it this way - if you are charged with storing a diamond ring, you can either pack it in a ring size jewelry box, or in a shipping crate. Although the shipping crate will certainly protect the ring better, there will be a lot of unused space in it, and it won't improve the quality of the diamond.

    MtD

  • by ysense,

    ysense ysense Apr 14, 2015 2:00 AM in response to Meg The Dog
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Video
    Apr 14, 2015 2:00 AM in response to Meg The Dog

    Thanks MtD,

    Beautiful analogy. I guess the XAVC should be converted to ProRes 422 (not HQ and not LQ), right?

     

    BTW, have you tried Resolve Lite for converting? I just started looking into it. I know how to convert the video but still couldn't find a way to get the audio as well.

     

    Thanks again :-)

  • by Meg The Dog,

    Meg The Dog Meg The Dog Apr 14, 2015 8:51 AM in response to ysense
    Level 6 (11,168 points)
    Video
    Apr 14, 2015 8:51 AM in response to ysense

    Don't use Resolve.

    ProRes HQ will take up even more disk space with no quality improvement.

    ProRes LT is OK as well, but for me, ProRes 422 hits the sweet spot.

    I edit in Adobe Premiere Pro, using the native XAVC files as source on a ProRes 422 timeline.

     

    MtD

  • by ysense,

    ysense ysense Apr 14, 2015 10:37 AM in response to Meg The Dog
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Video
    Apr 14, 2015 10:37 AM in response to Meg The Dog

    Thanks a lot MtD,

     

    Would love to hear why not Resolve, if you have time :-)

  • by Meg The Dog,

    Meg The Dog Meg The Dog Apr 14, 2015 10:44 AM in response to ysense
    Level 6 (11,168 points)
    Video
    Apr 14, 2015 10:44 AM in response to ysense

    Adobe Creative Cloud comes with a very excellent Color Corrector called Speedgrade. Currently, Premiere Pro "direct links" to Speedgrade, meaning from within Premiere you can move your sequence into Speedgrade, make color corrections, and return to Premiere Pro to continue to edit.

     

    Also, the next iteration of Premiere Pro (due out shortly) has integrated a lot of Speedgrade functionality directly into the editor - reducing the need to use the Color Corrector as a separate app - along with many other enhancements:

     

    http://nofilmschool.com/2015/04/premiere-pro-massive-color-upgrades-recent-adobe -announcement

     

    MtD

  • by ysense,

    ysense ysense Apr 14, 2015 2:56 PM in response to Meg The Dog
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Video
    Apr 14, 2015 2:56 PM in response to Meg The Dog

    Looks very interesting :-)

    The whole thing with the XAVC-S brought up the question of editing software: either staying with FCP 7 and buy a convertor or upgrade/change to FCP X or Premiere Pro...

    Thanks for all your input here MtD, I really appreciate that!

  • by Meg The Dog,

    Meg The Dog Meg The Dog Apr 14, 2015 4:28 PM in response to ysense
    Level 6 (11,168 points)
    Video
    Apr 14, 2015 4:28 PM in response to ysense

    Sorry, I see I typed "Don't use Resolve" when I meant to type "I don't use Resolve"

     

    MtD

  • by chriskick,

    chriskick chriskick Nov 24, 2015 10:28 PM in response to ysense
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Nov 24, 2015 10:28 PM in response to ysense

    What I want to say, although Sony tries their best to make the new codec- XAVC or XVAC S compatible with most devices or NLEs, it is still difficult to import XAVC (S) videos to Final Cut Pro.(FCP X included). But I'm still looking for Final Cut Pro provides native support for XAVC.