Camcorder Related Issues Solving: August 2016

To import and edit Sony PXW-FS5 XAVC footage in Adobe Premiere Pro CC flawlessly, the easy workaround is to convert XAVC from PXW-FS5 to Premiere Pro compatible MPEG-2 video. Here is how.

fs5 xavc to adobe premiere

This post divided into 5 parts:

Sony PXW-FS5 Overview

Sony’s extraordinary PXW-FS5 is a handheld camera with a body-only weight less than half the FS7 at 0.8kg, you can shoot almost anywhere.

The FS5 has the flexibility to suit how you need to work, today and tomorrow. When quality is everything, make the most of the FS5’s Super 35 Exmor sensor and shoot 100Mbps 4K (3840 x 2160) using Sony's advanced XAVC (Long GOP) recording system. You can optionally record 4K 60p/50p, 30p/25p, 24p RAW by attaching the AXS-R5 RAW recorder with the HXR-IFR5 interface unit. If you need a fast turnaround, switch to Full-HD (1920x1080) recording at up to 60p XAVC 10bit 4:2:2 50Mbps.

240fps Slow Motion

High Frame Rate shots can turn everyday actions into slow-motion ballet and the FS5 delivers a stunning 240 frames per second (fps) in Full HD XAVC 10bit 4:2:2. If your project plays at the cinematic 24p, you get beautiful 10x Super Slow Motion. There's no sacrifice in bit depth and no "windowing" of the sensor. So there's no crop factor, no loss in angle of view.

Introduction to XAVC

XAVC is designed to give you the freedom to work with the PXW-FS5 in the way you want and with the most efficient possible workflow.

XAVC technology is based on industry standard MPEG-4 AVC/H264 compression and uses the highest quality implementation of these standards.

XAVC is an open format based on the best of current codec standards. This innovative format gives maximum flexibility and creative possibilities for videographers, programme and movie makers not only during the capture, recording and production phase, but also during postproduction, editing, and archiving. XAVC offers a practical, high performance format broadcasters and videographers can rely upon for higher quality recordings with smaller file sizes and faster production cycles.

Sony PXW-FS5 XAVC Workflow

XAVC is supported by all the major non-linear suites, including Sony Vegas Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, Grass Valley EDUIS PRO, Avid Media Composer and Apple Final Cut Pro. Many other post-production tools and applications also support XAVC, from grading suites, clip management, and archiving solutions.

Software Products			XAVC Intra
	Premiere Pro CC	Adobe®	Y
	EDIUS PRO 7	Grass Valley®	Y
	Final Cut Pro X 10.2.2	Apple®	Y
	Media Composer 7.03/8.1	Avid®	Y
	Vegas Pro 13	MAGIX Software GmbH	Y

Whereas, you will find it is still a painful experience to import XAVC to Premiere Pro CC(before 8.2.0) or CS6, CS5, CS4.

There are some issues always occurred:

Quesiton: How do I ingest Sony FS5 4K footage into Premiere Pro?

"Hi! I was told the Sony FS5 footage can natively ingest into Premiere. But my footage is crashing every time I try to import. Any ideas?"

Solution: Import Sony PXW-FS5 XAVC flies into Adobe Premiere Pro

To import Sony PXW-FS5 XAVC flies into Adobe Premiere Pro for smooth editing, you'd better update your program to the latest version. Alternatively, third-party software is required to convert XAVC to Premiere Pro natively supported format like MPEG-2. Brorsoft Video Converter (Windows Version) is highly recommended here.

Overall, the program is the best XAVC converter. With it, you can effortlessly transcode XAVC encoded MP4 to MPEG-2 or MOV, which will create a Premiere Pro friendly file format keeping the original quality.

Besides Premiere, this software can also export DNxHD for Avid, ProRes for FCP, AIC for iMovie/FCE and more NLE systems for native editing. For Windows users, Brorsoft Video Converter for Mac is the right choice. Just download it and follow the tutorial below to get the work done.
Free download, install and run Brorsoft Video Converter, the trail-before-purchase quick download icon provide here, you can also turn to Brorsoft page for downloading.

video converter for mac - trial download

(Note: Click here for OS X 10.5)

Keep in mind that you have download the right version, Mac OS .dmg files cannot be installed on Windows platform - and vice versa.

Guide: Converting Sony PXW-FS5 XAVC to MPEG-2 for Adobe Premiere

Step 1: Add original file

Click "Add File" button to import Sony PXW-FS5 XAVC videos to this powerful program. Or you can simply drag the videos directly to the software window list.

Step 2: Choose preferred format

Click "Format" pull down list to select Adobe Premiere/Sony Vegas> MPEG-2(*.mpg) as the best video format for Premiere Pro. WMV, MOV formats are the good choice as well.

Tip: Click the "Settings" button, you are able to enter the "Profile Settings" panel to adjust video and audio parameters for the converted files, including video size, bit rate, frame rate and more.

Step 3: Start conversion

Click the Convert button to start transcoding Sony PXW-FS5 XAVC to MPEG-2 for Adobe Premiere Pro.

Once the process is at 100%, click "Open" button on the main interface to find the generated videos, then you can transfer the encoded XAVC videos to Adobe Premiere Pro CC, CS6, CS4 or CS4 for editing easily and quickly.

Additional Tips:

Other software released by Sony also provide editing Sony PXW-FS5 XAVC files, and it claim in offical website:

Sony Catalyst Production Suite provides the backbone for your video productions. From Catalyst Browse, our powerful cross-platform logging tool, and Catalyst Prepare, our media preparation solution which reads formats from other manufacturers as well as our own, we can provide an end-to-end solution for your XAVC workflow.

Our all-in-one clip management application – Sony Content Browser – also supports the latest portfolio of camcorders and decks, including NXCAM, XDCAM, XDCAM EX and XAVC formats.

Related Article:

Overview: This guide easily show you how to use XAVC-S Video Converter to convert Sony FDR-AX100 4K XAVC-S mp4 footage to Avid DNxHD MOV for editing in Avid Media Composer on Mac.

Now Sony has launched the first consumer camcorder to shoot 4K (Ultra HD) footage – the Sony FDR-AX100. It captures 4K footage in Sony’s own XAVC-S file format. As we all know that XAVC S uses an MP4 container and H.264 video, along with 2-channel PCM audio. The format is widely supported by the usual video editors, but it looks like you’ll need top-end software to handle it – such as Sony Vegas Pro – rather than the more downmarket options.

Just like the below:

Hi, I have Sony FDR-AX100 camera for 4K recordings. I cant AMA link to any of my footage as the format is not supported by Avid. And the AX100 which my friends planned to buy also uses this XAVC-S codec. So I'm confused by the XAVC-S/Avid AMA workflow. -- feedback by one of FDR-AX100 user

Why Sony AX100 footage Incompatible with Avid?

The Sony AX100 records 4K (UltraHD footage) in the MPEG-4 format, hence the file extension .mp4 on your recorded files. The XVAC S codec that the AX100 uses for 4K records a highly compressed long GOP h.264 file (same as .mp4) and it's not an ideal editing format. That's why you will encounter problems when import Sony AX100 XAVC S 4K videos to Avid.

Avid Media Composer Supported Video Formats

There are many codecs and container options out there. Just when you think you have a handle on things, a new codec is announced. It’s a way of life, which is unlikely to be ‘corrected’ soon.

DNxHD

This is Avid’s baby. All kinds of DNxHD are supported natively via AMA plugin or directly drag and drop to the central media folder.

H.264

H.264 is the ubiquitous codec, and it looks like it will stay for quite some time. Avid Media Composer also supports H.264 natively, via AMA plugin.

MPEG-4

Like H.264, Avid Media Composer supports MPEG-4 natively, via AMA plugin.
Several main Avid Media Composer are listed above, may be the DNxHD can be the best codec which is the most native one for Avid.

How to Import FDR AX100 XAVC S to Avid smoothly

However, someone there will be confused: How could we import Sony FDR AX100 incompatible XAVC S videos to Avid for editing? Fortunately, you won’t worry about that, for seeking the best codec for Avid, we here can strongly introduce you the Brorsoft Video Converter for Windows / Mac, which has the strong ability of converting FDR AX100 XAVC S videos for editing in Avid Media Composer.

The trail-before-purchase quick download icon provide here, you can also click "learn more" turn to Brorsoft page for download.

As long as you download and open the program successfully, you can follow the simple guide below: Sony XAVC/XAVC S to DNxHD MOV conversion.

video-converter-mac

Note: the screenshot in Mac Version,actually the Windows Version has the same steps besides the tiny differences in interface.

1. Click "Add video" or "Add from folder" to navigate and load your source Sony A7S II XAVC S files.

2. Hit Format menu, the Format dialogue box pops up. Choose "Avid DNxHD (*.mov)" as output format from "Avid Media Composer" catalogue.

3. Press "Convert" button to transform Sony A7S II XAVC S videos to DNxHD MOV for using in Avid MC.

Related Article:

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Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Ingest Sony PXW-FS5 XAVC files to Adobe Premiere Pro CC/CS6/CS5