Cross Platform issues: MXF to QT and back

M

MoreToys

New member
OK, my footage for a new project showed up today as .MXF files, evidently transfered from P2 card via a PC. There's alot of material. (300+gigs)
I need to edit in FCP. So....

Is there a way to simply "Re-Wrap" these clips with a new header to make them readable on the Mac/FCP side, like some ultilites do with .AVIs?

What about a Mac codec that lets me read them as native .mxf files?

Lacking those solutions, what about a way to copy/translate them losslessly into QT DVC Pro HD100.movs? Or even some other QT codec! I've installed P2 drivers and can open the clips in Windows Media Player and Main Concept Mpeg encoder, but neither offers acceptable export options.

As a last resort, I could always assemble the piece in AE on the PC side, if I could get AE to recognize the .mxf files...

Oh, and by the way, I want to go back to PC for final encoding with minimal re-encoding: is there a way to read DVC Pro HD100.movs on the PC?

Any experience based advice is very welcome....

thanks,
GP
 
Hmmm.... Just tried to import an MXF file into 5.1.2 using the usual P2 import process. Selected custom path to a directory on my MBP where an MXF file had been copied to, but it gave me an invalid directory structure rejection. No success in Drag n Drop or direct file import either. Would my luck be different if I was trying to import from the original directory the clip was dumped to? Is there no way to simply access an MXF file on a mac?
 
MoreToys said:
Hmmm.... Just tried to import an MXF file into 5.1.2 using the usual P2 import process. Selected custom path to a directory on my MBP where an MXF file had been copied to, but it gave me an invalid directory structure rejection. No success in Drag n Drop or direct file import either. Would my luck be different if I was trying to import from the original directory the clip was dumped to? Is there no way to simply access an MXF file on a mac?
Click to expand...
I think it expects a CONTENTS folder and AUDIO, VIDEO, CLIP etc. below that.
 
MXF file import

MXF file import

Thanks for the suggestion.
When I get back to the office I'll mount the data drive with the original P2 directory structure and see if that works better. I't just seems odd that the MXF format clip would be unrecognizable by any of my Mac Apps unless nested in a specific folder. Apparently I was absent the day this interesting directory requirement was covered in P2 101.
GP
 
It's because FCP only supports opening complete P2 directory structures and rewrapping the video into QuickTime containers prior to editing. It has nothing to do with shortcomings in P2 or poor design decisions by Panasonic -- this is something that Apple foisted on you.
 
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