General Discussion - Transcode Canon XF300 59.94i MXF Files for FCP X lydia622520 - Thu Apr 19, 2012 9:02 pm Post subject: Transcode Canon XF300 59.94i MXF Files for FCP X
Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder represents Canon's entry into professional solid state video acquisition after its continual efforts in innovating and developing image acquisition products for the most demanding professional. The amazing XF300 features 50Mbps MPEG-2 4:2:2 recording to Compact Flash (CF) Cards for unsurpassed image quality and efficient, robust workflow at an affordable price. You can get everything you expect for a professional camcorder: three 1920 x 1080 CMOS sensors, multiple bit rates (up to 50Mbps), variable resolution and frame rates, industry-standard MXF file wrappers, a newly developed L-Series 18x zoom lens, HDMI/Component/Composite outputs, and full image customization.
Who can resist the temptation of Canon XF300? But you will still find the demerit, not in the camcorder itself, but in the compatibility with FCP X. When you import Canon XF300 1080i footages to FCP X, you will find that the files look terrible, grainy with low resolution. There is no problem when you play back on the camera, but what the problem with XF300 59.94i MXF files and FCP X? Though having installed the XF plug-in for XF300 from Canon and transcoded the raw files to ProRes with Log and Transfer tool, the problem still remians. How to make the fuzzy .mxf files smooth in FCP X? The problem lies in that your .mxf video files are interlaced, so you need firstly to deinterlace Canon XF300 59.94i MXF files before putting them to FCP X.
The highly recommended deinterlace tool is Brorsoft MXF Converter for Mac--- a top MXF to ProRes Converter for Mac. It is professional not only in deinterlacing XF300 59.94i files to make them smooth in FCP X but also in transcoding MXF files to ProRes 422 for editing with FCP X, in which case you can directly add the deinterlaced files with ProRes codec to FCP X without the need of transcoding with Log and Transfer tool. So you will never need to always connect the XF300 to your Mac.
Step 1: Add Canon XF300 59.94i MXF Footages to the best MXF to ProRes Converter for Mac;
Click the button “File” to add MXF files to it. If it is necessary, you can double click the each file to have a preview.
Tips:
1. If you want to merge MXF files, just need to check the “Merge into one” box.
2. You shouldn’t move the single MXF video out of the whole MXF whole structure folder, or the MXF video would be wrong such as without audio.
Step 2: Select an output format for FCP and set the output folder.
Click on the “Format” and get the dropdown menu, then move you pointer to “Final Cut Pro”. Under the sub list are there a few formats which are all compatible with FCP. Here we recommend the Apple PreRes 422(HQ) if you give the priority to the quality of the converted videos. Then you can set the output folder by clicking “Browse” icon as you need.
Note: If you want the files to be in smaller size, you can follow Final Cut Pro>Apple ProRes 422(LT)(*mov)/Apple ProRes 422(*mov) option. If your files size is at SD levels, you are advised to choose Final Cut Pro>Apple ProRes 422(Proxy)(*mov), which is recommended for 480i/p and 576i/p shootings as well.
Step 3: Click “Settings” icon to adjust audio and video parameters.
Click the “Settings” icon and you will go into a new interface named “Profile Settings”. You can adjust codec, bit rate, frame rate, sample rate and audio channel in the interface according to your needs and optimize the output file quality.
Note 1: You’d better set the video frame rate as 29.92 or 30fps, video size as 1920*1080 to keep the best quality for editing in Final Cut Pro, if the 59.94i is your original frame rate. But if you shoot with 50i, then 25fps as the frame rate will be your best choice when conversion. If you want to have a smaller file size but keep the good quality, you can change the video size to 1440*1080.
Note 2: Select Deinterlace in Video Editor to deinterlace 1080i MXF files in the Video Editor.
Step 4: Start to convert and deinterlace 1080i MXF files shot by CanonXF300.
Click the “Convert” button; it will deinterlace and convert Canon XF300 59.94i MXF footages to ProRes 422 for editing in FCP X on Mac immediately. You can find the process in the “Conversion” interface.
