How to import Sony PMW-EX1R MP4 footage to Final Cut Pro X

Sony PMW-EX1R Workflow - How to Import PMW-EX1R footage in FCP X

Sony's PMW-EX1R XDCAM EX HD Camcorder is the impressive successor to the popular PMW-EX1. While retaining everything that was right about the previous camera, Sony has listened to its professional users and taken several steps forward, not only improving ergonomics and convenience, but bringing a whole new set of features to the world's only full HD compact camcorder. However, many users are still facing problems while importing PMW-EX1R media into Final Cut Pro X for editing:

Q1: “I have footage shot on the Sony PMW-EX1R. Why do I get a green band (no image/no sound) when exporting MP4 from my Sony EX1R in FCP X?”

Q2: “Compatibility of PMW-EX1R with FCP X -- Sorry if this is a bit basic but I can't view or edit the files of my newish Sony EX3 on this here iMac (or my MBP). I have downloaded the XDCAM EX software off the Sony site but I still can't import my EX1R video into FCP X. I would like to be able to import files into FCP X for full editing.”

In fact, native EX and XDCAM support may be up to Sony, not Apple. There is no "native" XDCAM EX support (unlike native DSLR support) in Final Cut Pro X and FCP 7/6- and the XDCAM Browser won't do the trick, nor will the Clip Browser. You have to use something you may not have used before: XDCAM Transfer. Using this plug-in, you can view thumbnails of your video clips and import the videos into your Final Cut Pro project. But the most troubling of all is that some users even struggled to download the plug-in, problems still occurred during the importing process. Then how to solve the problem? What's the best way to ingest media off of Sony PMW-EX1R to Final Cut Pro X?

Besides EX1R, Sony XDCAM EX camcorders like the Sony EX1, EX3 usually record MPEG-2 codec MP4 format video, which is not good for editing in Apple Final Cut Pro, and you will encounter importing and codec problems. The best method to fix Sony PMW-EX1R to FCP X compatibility issues is to convert Sony PMW-EX1R MP4 footage to Apple ProRes codec - ensuring maximum editing quality and efficiency when working with Final Cut Pro. For this purpose, this article will outline how to transcode Sony PMW-EX1R media to ProRes MOV in detail.

Converting Sony PMW-EX1R MP4 to ProRes 422 for FCP X

The quick workaround is to use the easy-to-use yet professional app- Brosoft Video Converter for Mac which can be used a Sony XDCAM media converter under OS X Leopard (10.5), Snow Leopard (10.6), Lion (10.7), Mountain Lion (10.8). It is free, clean and safe to install and use. With it, you can effortlessly transcode Sony XDCAM MP4 to ProRes MOV for use with Final Cut Pro 6/7/X smoothly, and it works well and converts flawlessly. Below is how.

(Note: Click here for OS X 10.5)

Step 1: Load source video

Install and launch the Sony PMW EX video converter Mac and click the "Add" button to load EX1R separate .mp4 files for converting.

Tip: Check the "Merge into one" box, you can join several EX1R clips together.

Step 2: Decide output format

Click on the "Format" and you will get a dropdown menu and then select Final Cut Pro > Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov), which is the best format for FCP.

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 XDCAM MP4 video, click "Edit" menu.

Step 3: Start Sony PWM-EX1R footage conversion

After above settings, hit "Convert" button to start transcoding Sony EX1R MP4 to ProRes for directly importing to Final Cut Pro X as well as FCP 7/6.

Once the conversion completed, you can click the Open icon to locate the converted ProRes MOV files. Now import your new ProRes files into FCP X. At this point the raw XDCAM footage will not be needed for your editing workflow, but you can choose to keep the raw footage for archiving process.

Additional Tips:
1. If you are also a FCP X user, before you try to do the conversion, don't forget to make sure that you have installed the Apple ProRes Codec manually since the FCP X asks users to install it by themselves.
2. If you want to edit PMW-EX media in iMovie, you just need to choose the "iMovie and Final Cut Express -> Apple InterMediate Codec (AIC) (*.mov)" in the second step.

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