mxf to prores

[Jim Stamos]

thanks for the info.
ill pass it on. not sure why he wont just let me give him mp4, it looks fine.

[Robin Probyn]

Originally Posted by Jim Stamos

Doug, I really appreciate your comments.
On this job which I do a lot for the school it was a graduation. no way they would shoot that on an alexa
I found out he has Final Cut Pro X. (not express).
he cant seem to figure out the content browser, besides, the trial I found out has a watermark, but he didn't even get that far.

I hate to be so persistent, but is there a solution you can explain to me to give him the file he needs.
They should have gotten this out by now.

Robin thanks for your response as well. I don't mind helping them, I get a lot of work from them throughout the year. but this would have been a lot easier if they were editng on a pc. I use grass valley edius.no issues, and most of all no rendering of any kind, but getting off subject.
any input welcome.
keep in mind these mxf files I have have been off the card for months and I brought them into my system via clip browser.

Understand I know nothing about final cut/macs, so id appreciate an easy path to how to do this.i thought of checking out CNET to see if there are any free softwares to DL that will get the desired result.

Hi Jim

Thats my point .. only Alexa and I believe the new Black magic camera shoot pro res native (I could be wrong !) what have they been doing all these years ? how did they get pro res files from every camera person they used.. and on top of all that.. they dont even need them.. really something they need to sort out.. not you help them out with .. I could wash my car before i take it to the car wash to help them out cos they dont know how to operate their carwash machine.. but better they read up,or get a guy down there to show them..

[Geoff Addis]

There should be no problem inporting the XDCAM files into FCPX, I do it regularly simply by connecting the camera USB port to the Mac then clicking on the import button in FCPX and selecting the camera card; it's just the same as importing an AVCHD file. FCPX handles XDCAM files in their native format and there is no need to convert them to ProRes.

If necessary, you could copy/transfer the complete XDCAM folder to an external USB hard disk for subsequent transfer in the same manner.

[Jim Stamos]

the files have been off the cards for months. I did give him the mxf files and he transferred into his computer. they cannot be put on the timeline.
glad im editing on edius.i can every possible format available all on the timeline mixed together,no issue and the best part no rendering for anything.
anyway back to the issue. I told him I could give him the files as mp4s but he doesn't want them that way.
thanks for the input

[David Dixon]

OK, that's the problem. This sounds like it's just a local school, not some pro service, so he's not used to dealing with files from cameras other than the ones he uses.

Normally, once a free plugin from Sony is installed FCPX can import and edit them natively. And you can mix all kinds of formats in a "timeline" but...

The problem is that he can't import these files without the entire card folder structure. It you had given him the cards or just a backup of the entire card or a disk image of the card, everything would work flawlessly. Since you've given him JUST the mxf files he will have to convert them to some version of QuickTime to import them.

And, to my knowledge there is no free way to do that. There is the free MPEG Streamclip that converts many video formats, but I don't think it will work on these files. And, I would not want .mp4 files either because they will be lower quality due to the compression - although FCPX will import those just fine without the full card structure.

Clipwrap is a program that rewraps video to formats for FCP and FCPX, but I don't think it works with mxf, although there is a free trial...

A quick search online turned up several options for conversion like this:

Best Video Converter for Mac - Convert AVCHD MTS/M2TS, TOD, MOD to Apple ProRes, AIC for FCP/iMovie. Merge/Convert TIVO, MKV, ISO, EVO, MOV, MXF files

It's about $35 and also has a free trial, but I have no experience with it although it was recommended in an Apple support forum.

So, this is really nobody's fault. You were unaware of the Final Cut workflow requirement, and thus have given him files in a format that he cannot import without buying third party software. He's not a pro so has never had this problem crop up before. Probably the easiest thing at this point would be to put up with the slight image degradation of .mp4, unless he is willing to experiment with purchasing a converter or unless you have a full backup of the entire card with original footage.

This is all assuming I've understood the situation correctly. Hope this helps a bit..

[Jim Stamos]

thanks for the input.
I can convert the mxf to .mov files in my system,not sure it will look as good as mxf footge.
I may have him get that trial you found
thx

[Geoff Addis]

Edius is a great program, still better realtime performance than FCPX!

[Jim Stamos]

totally agree Geoff, ive been using canopus/edius since 99. I have an I7 processor and edius edits flawlessly.

[Shaun Roemich]

Originally Posted by Jim Stamos

the files have been off the cards for months. I did give him the mxf files and he transferred into his computer. they cannot be put on the timeline.

Therein lies the rub: DON'T go looking through file folders and selecting what you want with an XDCam workflow. Make a disk image of the entire card with the file structure intact. ANY other way of doing this is inviting disaster.