Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

FYI: FCP X version 10.2.1 still doesn't fix the issue. I've updated my bug (still open by Apple) with these new findings.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Yep, that's the first thing I tried also - still doesn't work. In fact, even clicking on the X70 volume in the import window crashes FCPX.

I read yesterday someone promoting the use of an Odyssey, etc. 4K recorder in conjunction with the 4K upgrade - but isn't that making an assumption that the upgrade will provide 4K @ 4:2:2 out thru the hdmi port? We don't really have confirmation of that do we? Not to mention that I'm not sure what I think about the idea of adding $500 for the 4K plus $2000 for a recorder to use with a $2000 camera.

Lastly, I also read that the actual date the 4K will be available - still @ $500 US - will be June 15. Again, rumor or fact?

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

I for one will not be upgrading at all to 4K. While I cannot prove the following, my assumption is that the in-camera downscaled HD footage will be better than capturing 4K and downscaling in post. Here's why I think this:

* 4K footage will be captured at 8-bit 4:2:0. And David, no clue if that will be 8-bit 4:2:2 out of the HDMI port.

* 4K footage only captured at 60 Mbps. While there is less chroma being captured and 8-bit vs. 10-bit, I still think the low bit rate will result in higher compression being applied.

* Sony has no details on the layout pattern used (e.g. bayer) to capture 4K. But as it's not an 8K sensor in a bayer pattern, I don't believe it can record 4K worth of red, green and blue. Whereas from what I can tell, HD footage benefits tremendously from truly having 2K worth of red, green and blue (with probably an extra 2K of green to help with luma calculations). Thus, more interpolation going on for the 4K footage.

In summary, I believe recording in 4K and then downconverting to HD would suffer from more interpolation, higher compression and less bit depth. And if doing in-camera, worse chroma subsampling.

One thing I have on my radar is blackmagic's video assist (coming out hopefully in July). A pretty lightweight unit that allows recording 1080p to ProRes on U3 SDXC cards. Since I'm already transcoding XAVC-L to ProRes 422 (via EditReady), I may as well get a first-generation ProRes recording right off the cam.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Article regarding the Sony x70 4k upgrade. I hope it's OK posting here as they don't have a competing forum.

Pro Video Coalition - PXW-X70 users will want a Shogun or PIX-E5 even more after the 4K upgrade by Allan Tépper

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Craig - yes, that's the article that I was referring to. Ricky and I seem to disagree with some of his opinions :-)

Ricky - a good assessment. I think 4:2:2 out of the hdmi @ 4K is probably just wishful thinking. I've also been looking at the BM Video Assist, especially since it records HD @ 60fps, which not all recorders will do. I do wish it had a waveform rather than just a histogram, but depending on the kinds of things you shoot, you could make a good case that the Video Assist might be a better place to invest $500 rather than the 4K upgrade. The one 4K clip that's been posted looked pretty great, but glaringly did not include much camera or subject movement.

The X70 is an amazing camera for $2K. For me, the only real drawbacks are:

1. the rather average stabilization
Compared to my previous Canon XF100 I'm having to use tripod/post stabilization/Active Stabilization far more.

2. random minor things
There is no waveform, no 120fps, and of course I'd like even shallower DOF than the 1" sensor @ 2.8 can provide.

3. the most major thing for me? - highlight handling
I find highlights have to be treated very carefully, and attempting to control them (more than just minimally) using the available Knee settings makes it even worse. I'd love a true flat "log" PP.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

I was considering renting an AX100 for a dance recital's lock down wide shot, hoping I could crop/zoom for "close" shots as a backup for the primary camera (I am delivering on DVD). The comments here are scaring me off, especially since I'm still editing in Final Cut 7. However I did find a transcoding product from Acrok that claims to be able to convert to ProRes (422 and 4444) that can be used by either FCX or FC7.

I was only able to find a single reference to this product on DVINFO, but it's 2 years old and doesn't discuss if it works.

Has anyone on this thread seen/heard/tried Acrok? Seems cheap enough at $39.

Thanks.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Why not just go with EditReady - great company, great support, $49
Same company that did ClipWrap for years.

EditReady : Transcoding Without The Hassle - divergent media

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

I have been using EditReady as my workaround of choice as well. My second bug filed with Apple is still open. Sony hasn't budged either on their Catalyst Browse issues.

The one thing I'm missing about Catalyst Prepare (I used the trial a while back) is that it transcodes clips measurably faster than EditReady. At least on my 12-core Mac Pro. Not a huge deal though for me. Definitely worth the savings of $150.

But if one would be dealing with tons of footage, the higher price of Prepare may get offset by time savings.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

We have a report that the V2 firmware has fixed the FCPX issue!!! Anyone test this yet. Im gonna try to mess around tonight if I have time! FINALLY!!!

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Yes! Works flawlessly, and the native clips are very fluid to edit. So, was there some glitch in Sony's implementation of XAVC-L in the X70? This final fix came from Sony, not Apple...

For the record, this is the (free) 2.0 firmware update. It only adds a few features, but is required in order to do the (paid) 4K upgrade supposedly coming in mid-June. I got it from the UK Sony site, but worked fine. The update claims to require the original USB cable that came with the camera. I don't know if that's really necessary, but I used it just in case. The update took about 5 minutes, but does a full factory reset, including all Picture Profile and custom button assignment changes you've made.

http://www.sony.co.uk/pro/support/so...SET_150526_PSG

The import window shows in the PRIVATE folder a Clip file, an audio file, and a thumbnail for each clip. I just imported the main Clip file and the audio was included. Unlike ProRes, you *can* set In/Out points to avoid importing the whole clip. You also have the option to select Optimize in the Import window and FCPX will transcode (in the background) to ProRes.

However, previous clips recorded using the old firmware still will not import, and FCPX crashes if you try. So, a change was made in the way the codec is recorded and/or stored.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Hmm... multiple recording formats don't work?

I did a quick test after updating to firmware 2.0. First, completely initialized my two SD cards (SDXC U3, 128 GB) Recorded a total of 5 clips with simultaneous recording. All were XAVC-L 50 Mbps. First clip at 30p, next two at 24p and last two at 60p.

In FCP X's import window, only the first clip contains both video and audio. The remaining clips only provide me audio and thumbnails.

Dragging the five .MXF files to my hard-drive results in FCP X only being able to import audio from those files. So there's definitely a requirement to only import media from Sony's file/folder structure.

Later today will re-initialize the cards and only record one format. Perhaps one cannot mix 24p, 30p, 60p on the same card? That would really be messed up.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Well this stinks. Did a second test. Reformatted both SD cards. Recorded three separate clips in XAVC-L 50 Mbps at 60p.

Only the first clip can be imported directly into FCP X. Latter two show audio and thumbnail data only.

Will update my bug report with Apple with this new information.

Anyone else experiencing this issue where only the first clip works?


Back to EditReady for me... thankfully, it can directly work with the .MXF files (doesn't need to be in Sony's folder structure). Transcoded these new firmware 2.0 recorded clips a-ok.

FWIW, my workflow...

Copy the individual .MXF files to my hard-drive (I am opting to not copy the entire folder structure). These files are part of my backups.

Transcode to ProRes 422 with EditReady. These files are on my "scratch" drive and not backed up.

In FCP X, I import the ProRes clips while leaving them in place (no copy made since this is the transcoded material). And of course, no optimized media created since I have ProRes already as my "original source".

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Ricky - I'm not seeing that. I just recorded three clips, and all three show up in the import window. If I just choose the top three clips with the movie icon they come in flawlessly with audio.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Glad it's working for you, David. I'll have to continue troubleshooting to see why it's messed up on my end. Here are some extra details; perhaps something is different in our setups:

* OS X 10.10.3
* FCP X 10.2.1 with the most recent Pro Video formats update
* At one point, I had the Sony Plug-in installed, but had completely uninstalled it a while back (since it didn't work anyhow, and the more recent FCP X updates claimed it was no longer needed).

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Ricky, not sure what's going on. I also have the latest OS and FCPX and the memory card was reformatted in the firmware-updated camera. I shot @ 1080p60 on all three clips, XAVC of course.

I'm curious - your screen shot shows the XDROOT folder inside the PRIVATE folder. Mine is exactly as shown - FCPX does not see the XDROOT but just the PRIVATE folder and a "private" folder. This may be a clue to the difference but darned if I know what to make of that.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

I get the same as you David. Any idea why the audio track repeats? It comes through on the main track so why is it repeated? Mac OS, FCPX 10.2 only but working fine

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

TL;DR : It appears the name of the SD card volume is causing the issue. My SD cards are named 'Untitled' and 'Untitled 1'. Going to see how I can change that. Full details below.


The mystery continues...

Yesterday I re-installed the Sony plugin (PDZK-LT2_1.2.1.dmg). No change.

This morning, I made a copy of my SDXC card to my Mac (copied the entire PRIVATE folder structure).

I then attempted again to import from the card of the connected cam. But I no longer see the nested XDROOT folder in FCP X's import window (see first screenshot). But only the first clip contains video and audio. So basically the same issue as yesterday's tests. FCP X along with the Sony plugin must be doing something magical to create a logical folder structure. What I mean by that is that the real file structure does have an XDROOT inside PRIVATE. There are then XML files that describe where the clips and thumbnails are.

But here's where it gets really interesting...

If I import from my local copy on the Mac hard drive, it works! See second screenshot. I can switch between the two sources and see the problem come and go. So I may need to first copy the card's contents to my Mac (no big deal there; I want the original footage and will back that up anyhow).


By the way, If I attempt to import from the second SDXC card (named 'Untitled 1'), same issue as with the primary card ('Untitled').

Additional tests...

Copied the PRIVATE folder to the root of an empty drive partition named 'Empty'. Import works.

Renamed 'Empty' drive partition to 'Untitled'. Issue returned! Only first clip shows up correctly.

Renamed 'Untitled' back to 'Empty' and import works again!


So for others here... what is the name of the volumes that are mounted on your Mac that represents your SD cards? Are they 'Untitled' and 'Untitled 1'? I suppose if I name those cards somehow, this problem will go away?

Very baffling that the name of the volume is preventing FCP X from doing the right thing.


Later today I will completely uninstall the Sony plugin, reboot, etc. and repeat these tests. Want to see if that plugin has anything to do with this strangeness.

Yesterday though (prior to reinstalling the Sony plugin), attempting to import from the mounted 'Untitled' volume still had the issue. Although as seen in my earlier post screenshots, FCP X decided to display the XDROOT nested folder in the import window.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

For what it's worth, I do not have the Sony plugin installed - I don't know if it causes problems but is definitely not needed.

I've only tried importing from the camera card placed into a card reader, not from the hard drive.

The volume of the card shows up as Untitled.

So it does not have to be on a hard drive, and being named Untitled is not the issue. I'm betting it's that Sony plugin.

Hope this helps.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

No luck. As I mentioned, I had the issue before re-installing the Sony Plugin. I've since unisntalled that plugin again, and the problem remains.

Interestinly, when I renamed my hard-drive partition back to 'Untitled', it now works there. So the Sony plugin seemed to alter a bit how that hard-drive partition was treated.

Thanks for confirming that your cards are mounting as 'Untitled'. So the name of the volume itself isn't the issue.

The only difference I do see in the cards vs. hard drive is that the cards are mounted as Read-Only. Perhaps when creating the logical structure, FCP X attempts to write a file to that volume? The mds process appears to want to do something with that volume. Although that's just the metadata service for the sake of creating data for Spotlight. I don't see anything in Console regarding issues with the 'Untitled' volumes outside of that.

If you do a Get Info on your Mac on the 'Untitled' SD card volumes, does it say 'You can only read' under the 'Sharing & Permissions:' section?

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Didn't catch this at first. I've been trying to import directly from the cam itself (connected to my Mac via its supplied USB cable). I do not have an SD card reader.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Ricky, to cut a long story short - go out now & buy an SD card reader.


Just did a test & if you plug the camera directly into the mac it mounts 3 drives.....

1 is called 'PMHOME' & seems to contain license data that may be related to the 4k upgrade.
The 2 other drives are called 'untitled' & 'untitled 1' and only show the first XAVC video file on the card.

So basically I have the same problem. HOWEVER........ If I use an SD card reader - everything works fine & as it should with multiple files!

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Probably doesn't matter, but my SDXC card has read and write permissions.

Yes, get a card reader - USB 3 is going to be miles faster than the camera anyway I think.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

For those having success with a card reader have any tried using the built in card slot on a Mac laptop?
Somewhere else someone posted they used the card slot and had to manually move the XDROOT folder to the same root level as PRIVATE and then it worked.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Thank you for the test, Paul! And thanks again David for all your info as well.

For now, I will just copy the contents of the mounted cards to my hard drive. But will invest in an SD card reader.

Thanks again.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Interestingly, I see different things if I use a card reader versus plugging into the SD slot on the back of my iMac - but both ways work.

Card Reader - In the FCPX import window I see a PRIVATE folder and a private folder. The PRIVATE folder has three files per clip - 1 is a movie icon, 2 is an audio icon, 3 is a still image icon. Importing just the movie file brings in the audio and video flawlessly. The private folder is empty, but viewing it in the Finder it is the top level directory of the card, and encloses all the AVCHD, XDROOT, etc. items.

SD slot on back of iMac - I just see the PRIVATE folder, and it only includes 2 files per clip - the movie file and the still image file - no audio file. But again, the movie file is all that is needed for import. In the Finder all I see is the PRIVATE folder which encloses the AVCHD, XDROOT, etc. - no separate private folder.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Reading the XAVC files works fine for me via the SD card reader in the back of my iMac. I get the same directory configuration as David does. The files can be ingested directly into Final Cut Pro X and can be edited natively. The native files are much smaller than if I transcoded them into ProRes.

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

I just updated by bug report at Apple with the extra info. While the new Sony firmware has definitely fixed the issues, I think Apple could do something about working with read-only volumes.

Still, extremely pleased that I can finally import the footage natively. Of course I still work with ProRes (the optimized version of the clips).

Re: Any word on XAVC-L plugin for FCP X?
 

Could not import with FCPX 10.2.1, just got empty Private folder view with spinning dial thing. Installed the XDCAM plug-in, now ingests and edits just like my X180 XAVC footage. Finally.

Paul