Trying to crack the Sony PXW-X70 "4K" nut!

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Level 3

704 points

Trying to crack the Sony PXW-X70 "4K" nut!

I'm having no luck trying to ingest 4K files into FCPX.

I recently upgraded my Sony PXW-X70 with firmware so it can shoot in 4K. Previously, FCPX has had no problems ingesting the 1080 XAVC files. (Thanks to an earlier FCPX upgrade which allows the software to ingest XDCAM files.)

FYI, the new files are written as:

XAVC Long GOP / MXF / 3840x2160 / 29.97/25/23.98p / 60Mbps (editorial note: slow bit rate!)

However, when ingesting the 4K footage, the files come in "green" with audio (which "plays" fine) along with separate files for each clip that appear to be "stills" of the first frame of video.

I've read recommendations in this forum regarding this matter, but none of the advice seems to work. (Among the recommendations are to remove the "XDROOT" folder to its own folder and ingest from there. That, among other suggestions doesn't seem to work.) I'm hoping someone has cracked this nut.

How can I ingest my XAVC Long files from this file structure, as it exists on the SD card:

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), OS X Yosemite (10.10.4), 3.4G Intel i7 32GB RAM FCPX 10.2.1

Posted on Aug 6, 2015 8:10 PM

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Answer 1

dastoelk Author

Level 3

704 points

Aug 11, 2015 11:09 AM in response to dastoelk

*** crickets ***

FWIW: I went ahead and contacted Apple Pro Apps support. Spent a half hour with them. Currently, there is no support for ingesting 4K files from Sony PXW-X70.

I uploaded some camera files / camera card .dmg from my Mac. Apple engineers will presumably look at them as part of their upgrade. So... hopefully we'll see support for these files in the next upgrade.

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Answer 2

Aug 11, 2015 12:52 PM in response to dastoelk

Hey

I also use a PXW-X70

I ran into the exact same problem you describe as well, I even went as far to contact Sony and I spoke to a product specialist on the PXW-X70.

What was suggested to me from Sony, and what worked for me was to make sure I'm using the most up to date version of Final Cut Pro. I was using a slightly outdated version of Final Cut, the second I updated I was able to access those files.

NOTE: The XML files that go with the MXF files are important, keep them together or Final Cut can't open the file

There is also a Sony released plugin for final cut if your having trouble

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/pdzk-lt2

This was also a bit helpful

Import Sony XAVC and XDCAM media in Final Cut Pro X - Apple Support

You can also try converting the files as well - I've used ACROK MXF Converter for Mac

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Answer 3

sayhibob

Level 1

4 points

Aug 11, 2015 6:29 PM in response to dastoelk

Thanks loads! That confirms my frustration with importing 4K files from the Sony X-70 (MXF XAVC Long GOP.) In order to get editable 4K ProRes files I am using Editready to transcode first. Then they edit and export nicely. I can also edit 4K files transcoded into XAVC-I files using Content Browse.

The HD XAVC from the X-70 files import and edit directly with the latest FCPX and the latest firmware update for the X-70. No third party transcoding is necessary, in spite of the claims of the many planted ads placed throughout the blogs.

The problem is only with the MXF Long GOP 4K files from the X-70.

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Answer 4

dastoelk Author

Level 3

704 points

Sep 3, 2015 3:07 PM in response to dastoelk

PROBLEM SOLVED!

FCPX 10.2.2 offers native support for XAVC GOP-long. (2K/4K) I just tried it. It works!

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