How to load/convert Sony XDCAM footage to Final Cut Pro?

“I just got a Sony XDCAM camcorder, which I bought from my friends. I haven’t shot or edited HD before. Several days ago I recorded some 1080P footages by this camcorder, when I import these Sony XDCAM recorded files to final cut pro, it says that the files are not supported, I searched the forum and many people say the MXF footage need to be converted to prores codec, can you give me some suggestions?”

Sony XDCAM camcorder is professional camcorder which has excellent video quality, it is great for us to take high quality full HD videos. Sony XDCAM PMWEX3, PMWEX1R, PMW200, PMW100, and PDWF800 are hot products in the camcorder market.

Final Cut Pro is the most popular video editing software on Mac, What’s the best way to import Sony XDCAM video to Final Cut Pro for editing without problems?

Sony XDCAM camcorders usually record MXF and MP4 format video, and it usually use MPEG2 codec, this codec is not good for editing in FCP, and you will encounter importing and codec problems when you try to import Sony XDCAM video to FCP.

FCP best supported video format is Apple ProRes 422 codec MOV format, so the best method to solve Sony XDCAM importing and codec problem is to convert Sony XDCAM MXF/MP4 footage to ProRes for editing in Final Cut Pro, you can follow the steps below to transcode Sony XDCAM files to FCP for editing.

1. Download Pavtube HD Video Converter for Mac. This professional HD Video Converter can help you convert Sony XDCAM MXF/MP4 files to ProRes 422 MOV format for Final Cut Pro, more import and output formats are also supported.

2. Install and launch this Sony XDCAM to Final Cut Pro Converter. Import Sony XDCAM footage to the converter.

3. Click format bar to choose the output format. Click and choose Final Cut Pro -> Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov).

4. You can click “settings” to customize the output parameters, adjust the resolution, bitrate as you want.

5. Click convert button to start.

With this Sony XDCAM to Final Cut Pro converter, you can easily change XDCAM files to FCP for editing, this software runs fast, so you can convert your XDCAM footages to FCP in less time, video and audio synchronization are perfectly guaranteed. It will convert Sony XDCAM PMWEX3 to Final Cut Pro, convert PMWEX1R to Final Cut Pro, convert Sony PMW200 to Final Cut Pro, convert Sony PMW100 to Final Cut Pro, convert Sony PDWF800 to Final Cut Pro, etc.

You can also find more tips and tricks on in Pavtube FCP column and MXF column, hope these guides can help you use Sony XDCAM video easily.

Tags : convert Sony XDCAM MXF/MP4 footage to ProRes, Sony XDCAM video to FCP, Sony XDCAM to Final Cut Pro converter