Canon XF300 and FCP6 import

R

robertrogoz

Carbonite Member
I am supposed to edit some footage over the weekend shot on XF300. I am just curious if the capture process is the same as from EX1? I guess the timeline will be XDCAM 422 CBR, but wanted to see if I can use L&T window without any plugin?
Thanks
 
You need to get a plugin for that camera. Canon has it on their site...google it. Then it is a basic LOG AND TRANSFER workflow...to ProRes.
 
Shane, thanks, but first of all there is no plugin on Canon webpage. I guess I'll have to ask for the disc when the footage gets here. Second- why am I supposed to transcode to ProRes? There is XDCAM422 CBR preset for timeline, isn't Canon's codec the same as XDCAM 422 50Mb/s CBR? Prores blows up file sizes to unmanageable proportions.
 
Shane, there is only Avid plugin online. I'll have to get the disc, hope he has it! I am still confused on transcoding- I edited in the past XDCAM 422, and I just don't understand why would I have to transcode everything into ProRes? I thought after L&T (in case of XDCAM is essentially a re-wrap) I can edit natively the whole thing as XDCAM 422 and render as ProRes. Anyone?
 
Shane, no it's not. AVCHD is an mpeg4 and this XF300 shoots mpeg2 long GOP, so essentially the same as XDCAM. I am not a novice, I shoot and edit for the past several years but I have never worked with XF300 footage. I know basics, but I need to know some specific answers.
 
robertrogoz said:
Shane, no it's not. AVCHD is an mpeg4 and this XF300 shoots mpeg2 long GOP, so essentially the same as XDCAM. I am not a novice, I shoot and edit for the past several years but I have never worked with XF300 footage. I know basics, but I need to know some specific answers.
Click to expand...

You are right! Mpeg-2 variant. Sorry, forgot that. I just one it isn't Xdcam.
 
Actually it is. This is what I found on DVinfo.net:
Nigel,

A couple of thoughts. First of all, you will probably still be better off converting the Canon 5D Mk II H.264 to ProRes because that's not XDCAM.

With the Sony XDCAM camcorders, I use Sony's free XDCAM Transfer untility to import the files to my hard drive and the rewrapping to MOV is done automatically. I then just bring those clip directly into a bin in FCP and I'm ready to edit. No other 3rd party sofware or untilties are needed.

With the XF305, I use the Log & Transfer function from within FCP. There is an option that allows you to to tell FCP how you want to import files from the XF305. You can choose from various flavors of ProRes and other options. If you choose "native" and then FCP imports the footage without any transcoding. It just rewraps the files as MOV during the transfer and the ingest is just as fast as a straight file copy would be.

FCP identifies the footage as being XDCAM HD422, exactly the same as clips from the F800/700. I suspect that Canon is using the exact same codec as Sony. Does that mean Canon licensed the technology from Sony like JVC has done? Probably.

Anyway, whether I'm importing Sony XDCAM clips or Canon XF clips, no 3rd party software is needed at any stage of the workflow. You may not have the necessary tools installed on your computer if you have never installed XDCAM Transfer or Canon XF Utility. Once you install one of those, then you might see options you don't see right now. I'm not an expert in this area, and my computer already has both of them installed, so that's just a guess.
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