Convert H.265 (HEVC) for Editing in Lightworks

More and more hot cameras/camcorders like Samsung NX1, GoPro Hero6, DJI Phantom 4 Pro, etc store videos using the outstanding HEVC (H.265) codec. The problem here is, we would love to be able to bring the HEVC (H.265) files into Lightworks directly. But it seems that Lightworks can't handle H.265 codec natively. So, any available way to solve the issue?

As far as we know, H.265 is very likely to be even less NLE friendly than H.264. 4x the picture information compressed into the same size file as HD in H.264 means 4x the processing power needed to reconstruct it on a frame by frame basis in real time. So it is very likely to require a significantly more powerful editing workstation to handle it. The higher the compression, the more juice it takes to decompress for frame accurate editing. Thus, to edit H.265 in Lightworks (Pro), a quick solution is to convert H.265 to a more editing-friendly format, such a Apple ProRes for Lightworks.

Here Brorsoft Video Converter for Mac, an easy-to-use yet professional H.265 encoder and decoder(See review of Top 3 H.265/HEVC Encoder/Decoder) is highly recommended.

This program features high efficiency and seamless conversion. With it, you can effortlessly convert H.265 video to ProRes encoded MOV files - ensuring maximum editing quality and efficiency when working with Lightworks. In addition, the program can also help you transcode HEVC files to MPEG-2, Apple Intermediate Codec, DNxHD, ProRes etc. for smoothly editing or playback with Adobe Premiere Pro, iMovie, Avid Media Composer, Final Cut Pro, etc. For editing H.265 in Lightworks on Windows, you can turn to Video Converter to get the work done.

How to convert and import H.265(HEVC) files to Lightworks

Step 1: Import H.265 videos to the software

Once run the best H.265 converter, you can click "Add Video" button to load H.265 source files. Convert supports batch conversion, so you are allowed to add multiple files to convert at a time.

Step 2: Select the output format

Press "Format" option and navigate the mouse cursor to choose "Format > Final Cut Pro > Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)". The setting seamlessly fits Lightworks.

Tip: Tap "settings" to customize the output parameters- adjust the video size, bitrate, frame rate, audio sample rate, audio channel, etc to get a decent video for editing in Lightworks.

Step 3: Start H.265 conversion

Finally, hit the big Convert button on bottom of the main windows and the conversion from H.265 to Lightworks will begin immediately.

When the conversion task is finished, click "Open" button to get the exported files and then import the converted HEVC video into Lightworks (Pro) to do further editing.