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How to Transfer Sony PMW-400 footage to Final Cut Pro X


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    The Sony PMW-400 is an affordable 3x 2/3-inch CMOS high quality sensor broadcast camcorder that, like the PMW-500, supports all SD / HD 422 broadcast workflows using .MXF and XDCAM EX workflows using .MP4 and .AVI. It is also future-proofed to support XAVC 10-bit HD422 recordings. With every new camera, come many new questions about workflow. This article mainly outlines Sony PMW-400 to Final Cut Pro X workflow.


    When I got my new Sony PMW-400, I tried to work the output footage in MXF format with Final Cut Pro X. Frustratingly, the Apple’s FCP X can’t ingest the files correctly. It seems that Sony PMW-400 MXF format is not compatible with FCP. You may also capture AVI, MP4 recordings by PMW-400. As far as I know, the XDCAM MP4 or AVI files are not ideal format for Final Cut Pro, either. To get rid of all of the issues, you will need to transcode Sony PMW-400 footage to a more "edit" friendly codec for FCP X. Apple ProRes would be the best.


    Now I share the guide with you how to convert Sony PMW-400 footage to FCP X friendly format using Brorsoft Video Converter for Mac. With it, you can effortlessly transcode MXF, MP4, AVI or XAVC(future support) footage shot from Sony PMW-400 for smoothly importing and editing in various non-linear editing systems (NLE), including Final Cut Pro X, FCP 6/7, iMovie, FCE, Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer and more. Plus, the built-in Editor features enables you to trim, crop, add effect to your video clips as you want.


    Guide: Convert Sony PMW-400 videos to ProRes for FCP X without quality loss


    Step 1: Launch the Sony PMW-400 Video Converter on Mac and load the recordings to it. If you want to merge several clips, just need to check the “Merge into one” box.


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    Step 2: Click the Format bar and select Final Cut Pro > Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov), which is the best format for FCP.


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    Tips: Click "Settings" to set video resolution (1920×1080/1440×1080/1280×720/720×480), bitrate(from 1Mbps to 20Mbps), frame rate (24p/30p) as you like. To deinterlace, crop, trim PMW-400 videos, click "Edit" menu.


    Step 3: Click “Convert” and start transcoding Sony PMW-400 video clips to ProRes 422 for Final Cut Pro X.


    When the conversion process shows in 100%, you can easily and effortlessly locate the converted ProRes .mov files by clicking the Open button in the main interface. Then, you can bring and edit Sony PMW-400 footage in Final Cut Pro X without any issue.


    If you have problems when importing or editing your Canon, Sony, Panasonic etc, camera video files, you can check out "Brorsoft Camcorder/Camera Importing Tips" or "FCE, FCP, iMovie Column" to get your solutions.


    More tutorials:
    How to import Sony PMW-EX1R footage to FCP X
    Importing Sony PMW-EX3 XDCAM footage into FCP X
    Sony PMW-200 MXF to Final Cut Pro workflow
    Convert Sony PMW-500 MXF to ProRes for Final Cut Pro