Monday, February 25, 2013

Lossless Copy Canon/Nikon/GoPro DSLR H.264 clips to Final Cut Pro 7/FCP X editing

H.264 is a new video codec standard which can achieve high quality video in relatively low bitrates. So it is a popular video format for playing. But it is not a good format for editing. As we all know the H.264 DSLR is more and more popular for us. Like the Canon T3i, 60D, and 5D Mk II, 5D Mark III, Nikon D700, etc can capture in .mov container with this H.264 codec. Plus, like GoPro Hero 2, GoPro Hero 3 can also shot in this H.264 format in .mp4 container. But more the H.264 videos, the more video to FCP importing problems we will meet.

To successfully transfer H.264 clips to Final Cut Pro 7/FCP X for further editing without any error, I'm glad to show you the best practice to transcode/prepare H.264 footage to the codec ProRes and import it into FCP. But before starting the covnersion, you need the professional H.264 to ProRes for Final Cut Pro 7/FCP X Converter.

How to reformat H.264 video to ProRes.



Step 1, download, install and Open the Video Converter program and click the add file button to import your H.264 clips to it. You can check the “Merge into one” box to join some clips together if you need.

Step 2, click on the pull down menu of “Format”, and choose Apple ProRes 422(*.mov) as target format from the presets list in “Final Cut Pro”. Of course, Apple ProRes 422 (HQ)(*mov), Apple ProRes 422(LT)(*mov), Apple ProRes 422(Proxy)(*mov) are also the proper format for FCP 7/X.

Step 3, hit Settings icon. In the Profile Settings window, you can adjust the video and audio parameters. If you have full HD 1080p videos, 1920*1080 video size, and 30fps(or 25fps for PAL) video frame rate is recommended.

Step 4, click the Convert button to start converting 1080p H.264 footage to editable ProRes for FCP X/7 on Mac OS X.

Once it is completed you can quit the H.264 video converter for Mac and copy DSLR H.264 files into FCP X/7 .

How to take converted videos to FCP

For FCP 7: Simply navigate to File > Import > Files and select the converted clips. There is no need “Log and Transfer” with typical camcorders.

For FCP X, navigate to File > Import > Media and in the window that comes up, select your transcoded ProRes clips.

Related guides:
Import Nikon D5200 H.264 MOV files to FCP X
Transcode Canon EOS-1D C 1080p MOV to ProRes for FCP
Import Nikon D600 H.264 MOV 1080p video into iMovie on Mac
Import Canon EOS 5D Mark II MOV footages to FCP X for editing
Import and Edit Canon XF305/XF300 MXF in FCP X
Import Canon/Nikon DSLRs H.264 videos to Final Cut Pro X
Playing 1080p/720p video files(MKV/AVI/MTS/FLV) on iPhone 5
HD Video/Blu-ray/DVD to Blackberry Z10 Conversion Tips

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

XF 305 and XF 300 working with FCP X-Transcoding Canon XF305/XF300 50Mbps MPEG-2 4:2:2 codec MXF to Final Cut Pro X Mac

About the Canon XF 305 and XF 300The XF300-series camcorders employ the XF Codec, an MPEG-2 4:2:2 50Mbps codec for native 1920 x 1080 HD video recording onto affordable, universally available Compact Flash (CF) cards. Uniting video, audio and metadata into a single file, the Canon XF305 and XF300 use an MXF (Material eXchange Format) File Wrapper, a widely supported open-source format, to maximize compatibility with existing industry infrastructure and non-linear editing (NLE) systems.

Canon Adds 3D Features to XF305 and XF300 Camcorders to Function Better with 3D Camera Rigs
3D Shooting Capability with Axis Shift-Canon’s new 3D Assist Function facilitates the setup of two XF305 or XF300 camcorders when gen-locked together to capture HD 3D. The firmware lets users perform an OIS Lens Shift to aid in aligning camcorders -- and a Focal Length Guide lets you display the zoom position and help calibrate the settings. These new adjustments can be done through the menu system while cameras are mounted to a 3D rig or tripod. Once aligned, the amount of the angle-of-view change is displayed after zoom adjustment, preventing camera misalignment and simplifying adjustment. This is similar to the 3D shooting functionality found in the Canon’s XF105 and XF100 models.

Double-Slot Recording
This allows the camcorders to record footage simultaneously to both memory card slots for instant backup of important footage. Ideal for use in production environments to ensure multiple copies are secured for each take.


About Transcoding Canon XF305/XF300 MXF Files to FCP X for making XF 305/ XF 300 50Mbps MPEG-2 4:2:2 codec MXF working with FCP X Mac.
Those who are eager for putting MXF footages to FCP X but bothered by the incompatiblity problem of MXF and FCP X. Here recommend a Top MXF to FCP X converter named Brorsoft Canon XF Codec camcorders MXF Converter for Mac, this is a professional and versatile tool for converting Canon XF305/XF300 MXF files to ProRes 422, including ProRes 422(HQ), ProRes 422 with high quality and ProRes 422(LT) and ProRes 422(Proxy) with a smaller size for Final Cut Pro. After the MXF to FCP conversion on Mac OS X, you can import and edit Canon XF305/XF300 MXF in FCP X without any problem.

It is not only good at transcoding MXF recordings to ProRes for FCP X with the easiest performance, but also developed with some useful editing features, including merging mxf cilps into one for easy copy, splitting long clip for uploading to website, adding text/image/video to the imported file, replacing original audio tracks, etc. The following is a simple four-step conversion guide for transcoding Canon XF 305/XF 300 MXF to Final Cut Pro X.

Step 1: Free download the top MXF to ProRes Converter and load MXF recordings from Canon XF305/XF300 on Mac. You can double click the imported files to get a preview.

Step 2: Choose FCP compatible video format as output. The specially designed Apple ProRes 422 (.*mov) with five options in Final Cut Pro on the submenu, which you can get by clicking the Format box, is what you need.

Step 3: Customize video/audio parameters by clicking the Settings button on the main interface, if you have personalized needs. The bit rate, frame rate, sample rate and audio channel can be adjusted to optimize the output file quality in the Profile Settings.

Step 4: Click the button for conversion and start to trasncode MXF footages for FCP X on Mac.

Top Tips and tricks for using Brorsoft MXF Converter applied:
1. If you want to combine several clips into one, please tick the box "Merge into one";
2. Set 1440*1080 and 1280*720 as video size in Profile settins can give you the HD converted videos with a relatively smaller size.
3. Split on the mian interface can give you the file with certain time length or file size.
4. Make sure that you have installed the ProRes codec mannually, or the converted files can not be recognized, either.

Useful Guide:
Put Canon XF105/XF300/XF305 MXF in FCP 7
Import Canon XF105 1080i MXF Footages to FCP without XF Utilities
Deinterlace and Convert Canon C300 1080i MXF files to ProRes for FCP 7
Import Canon XF100 MXF files to FCP X on Mac OS X
Transcode MXF files to QuickTime MOV for playback on Mac
Import Canon/Nikon DSLRs H.264 videos to Final Cut Pro X