Though Apple claims Final Cut Pro X “a revolutionary new version of the world’s most popular Pro video editing software”, we see more negative reviews than positive ones since the release of Final Cut Pro X version 1.0. There has been a ton of complaints regarding Final Cut Pro X. It has been accused of “Apple’s biggest mistake” (by Kevin Hall) and “ruining everything”. It is understandable that a 1.0 release is difficult and not every feature can be added. However, the biggest problem is that Final Cut Pro 7 support ended. Final Cut Pro 7, which is for now the better product, will be going away. This urged me to move to FCP X, which I find later is very different from FCP 7. Here’re some tips for those who feel like to give a shoot to FCP X, mainly about importing media to FCP X.
1.Log and Transfer is replaced with Import From Camera.
In Final Cut Pro 7 we choose File>Log and Transfer to ingest/load HD footage from a digital camcorder. In Final Cut Pro X the thing is different, because there’s no Log and Transfer option. To load a tapeless recording media from camcorder, you need to follow File>Import From Camera… instead. Apple has added a page for user to check whether their cameras are supported by FCP X, which is helpful. Click to learn
Final Cut Pro X Supported Cameras.
2. iMovie project is supported, but FCP 7 project is not.
The funny thing about new is that no matter what the Madison Avenue folks think, the first thing we associate with “new” isn’t “improved,” it’s “different.” The lack of support for importing Final Cut Pro 7 projects clearly shows us how “different” FCP X is. The good thing is now you can import iMovie project and medias from iMovie Event Library.
3. Be compatible with iPad 2 and SD card.
It is not surprising that Apple added iPad 2, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPod touch 4 to the support list of FCP X. But I find FCP X performs really FAST when importing and editing MP4 videos. And FCPX will import a memory card in the background, allowing you to edit the footage directly from the card and then replace it seamlessly with the media on the hard disk once the transfer is complete. I think this is a great idea.
4. Import errors? Unsupported file types?
People have been reporting load errors with FCP X in Apple forum. I had received error message when tying to load .mxf clips taken with my Canon XF105. FCP X should work with AVCHD videos but the .mts files also turned gray when I tried to importing them to FCP X. Maybe I missed something here but after transcoding AVCHD MTS to ProRes Codec the videos are loaded to Final Cut Pro X instantly (without rendering).
More than importing issues concerned with MXF and MTS clips, you may also encounter problems when input Nikon D7000 MOV to FCP X, edit Canon footage in Final Cut Pro X.
If this is the case, you can try to use Pavtube HD Video Converter Mac to encode AVCHD/MTS/MOV/MOD/TOD/MXF to FCP, FCP X, FCE, iMovie, Avid Media Composer.
Anyway, Final Cut Pro X is here, probably to stay, which is good because it is a good product that will continue to get better. So, use the new app and be ready for the day when Final Cut Pro X become matured enough to be a viable replacement.
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BurtThomas
September 29, 2012 at 2:01 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Hello,
I’m in the process of purchasing a Canon XF305 Professional camcorder which uses MXF format files. I am using Apple Final Cut Pro X with Lion operating system. Is there a tool which can help me when ingesting with Final Cut Pro X rather than earlier versions of Final Cut Pro.
Thank you very much,
Thomas
Final Cut Pro X, Mac OS X (10.7)
Admin
September 29, 2012 at 2:05 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Dear BurtThomas,
As far as I know, there is few programs which natively support MXF video converting or processing. I got my new Canon C300 several days ago, I looked around for a nice tool for my c300.
I tested one professional MXF Converter on Mac. The program seems nice. It natively supports my C300 camera and encodes MXF footages to Apple Prores which FCP X likes best. I found it in App Store. You can download it for a test. In addition, I saw the project about mxf column in a blog , it also seems to have a lot of solution, if you are interested, you can give it a try http://mts-to-aic-converter.com/canon-xf-to-fcp-x-convert-canon-xf100-mxf-to-prores-422-for-fcp-x-editing-on-mac/
Hope this program helps. Happy Every Day.
BurtThomas
September 29, 2012 at 2:26 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Thanks for your sharing, I will try
BurtThomas
September 29, 2012 at 4:51 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Hi Admin,
I’m very thanks for your help. product is now working fine in full mode i must say your converter is one of very many i have tried out in the past few months and i made the decision to purchase yours as the fast and efficient conversion rate far excedes any other on the market today, i am only baffled why none of the reviews dont rate it the number one as I do, congratulations and best wishes for your brilliant program.
yours sincerely
Bnimen
September 29, 2012 at 2:34 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
You connect the camera and open the camera import function. Select the camera and you will see the clips. You don’t need a third party converter.
BurtThomas
September 29, 2012 at 2:55 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I have tried to directly import the files to Final Cut Pro X, but it carsh, very bad! I have 20GB videos
Bnimen
September 29, 2012 at 3:09 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Well, in that case, you can try Moderator suggestion, this tool makes importing easier, you won’t encounter other problems that you just need to transcode mpeg-2 codec MXF to prores codec, and then you can use in FCP X without rendering. I also use it to output DNxHD for AMC 6.
Admin
September 29, 2012 at 5:10 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Hi all,
If you are MXF (P2 MXF) users, please visit this blog’s MXF column: http://mts-to-aic-converter.com/mxf-column/
If you are Final Cut Pro (X) users, please visit this blog’s FCP column: http://mts-to-aic-converter.com/fcp-column/
Hope my blog article can help HD Camcorder users to solve the videos importing and codec problems on Mac OS X Leopard (10.5), Snow Leopard (10.6), Lion (10.7), Mountain Lion (10.8).
Thank you for reading.
u-jin
September 29, 2012 at 5:48 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I have have a similar problem:
I am trying to work on a project remotely. It appears my ingested C300 clips are on our other mac in our office so are offline in FCP7. I have my laptop with me with the backup files on a drive with full structure but I can’t work out how to import into XF Utility. XF Utility does not see them. i’ve tried transferring onto a CF card and reader but still not seen.
I tried your transcoding process (MXF to ProRes 422), it did work. Nothing is simpler than this. Thanks for sharing!
Admin
September 29, 2012 at 6:00 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I’m glad to help you. Thanks for your reading.
Yemisi
January 14, 2013 at 1:18 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
We are a beginner of imgaes. I ‘m going to purchase a DSLR camera. I’m hoping to improve my taking pictures quickly as professional level and I do think even now I am competent at that. But my information about cameras is still bad. Rossana Alimento
Fanny
October 6, 2012 at 5:29 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I’ll be certain to share your site.