FS5: FS5 footage import premiere problem

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Hi all,

So I rented the FS5 for the first time for a project this week. I shot everything XAVC 1080p. I'm trying to import the clips into Premiere Pro (i'm using CS6). But when I try to do so a box pops up saying "The importer reported a generic error".

No idea why it won't read the footage. Does PP CS6 not support .MXF files?

My next step was to just convert the footage to Prores and then try to import. I use FootageStudio 4k to convert footage. When I try importing in there it says "Codec not found to decode this video stream".

Wondering if anyone else has had trouble getting FS5 clips into Premiere Pro? Very frustrating.
As good as PP Creative cloud is, I've been putting off getting it for as long as I can since I'll have to re-purchase some of my plugins. I hope that it's not come to that point.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, cheers!
 
Correct. CS6 and prior do not support XAVC. You need to go to the monthly indefinite rental platform creative cloud which supports XAVC MXF files natively.

An alternative to this of course is to transcode the footage to ProRes or another format that CS6 can read. I have never tried FootageStudio but you can use FCPX or Davinci Resolve (free version) to transcode footage from XAVC into ProRes but you have to do it on a mac not PC.

If you can't create ProRes, then you can always just download and use a trial version of CC for your project but of course it runs out in 30 days.

Step by Step guides:
Transcoding with FCP X
Transcoding with Davinci Resolve
 
Thanks so much for the help.

I am working on PC which definitely poses some problems. I think based off all the options you suggested, the best would be to use the 30 day trial of CC. Do you know if its fully functional or limited?
 
no idea if it's limited in anyway, but I've used it before and don't recall any limits.

Another option (and some people here will disagree with it) if you're really stuck is you can transcode your XAVC footage to the highest quality H.264 files using Davinci Resolve and work with that in your CS6 suite (Premiere, AfterEffects) and once you're finished editing in CS6 render out to another high quality setting H.264 file.

I've done it before, it really doesn't turn out that and I've seen it on theatre screens, BluRay, etc..

cheers,
 
Here's the solution - use ffmpeg to rewrap the MXF files into transport streams. This is not a transcode. It's a bit for bit copy. There is no generational loss. It also goes very fast.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32965786/ffmpeg.zip

When you unzip this, you will find a folder called ffmpeg. Inside are two files - ffmpeg.exe and a cmd file called "mxf to ts - AC3 448k 2ch". Copy and paste these two files into the folder where your MXF files are. Double click the cmd file and watch ffmpeg go to work. It will create a ts file for every MXF file in the folder. Drag and drop these ts files into Premiere CS6. Done!
 
Ralph B said:
Here's the solution - use ffmpeg to rewrap the MXF files into transport streams. This is not a transcode. It's a bit for bit copy. There is no generational loss. It also goes very fast.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32965786/ffmpeg.zip

When you unzip this, you will find a folder called ffmpeg. Inside are two files - ffmpeg.exe and a cmd file called "mxf to ts - AC3 448k 2ch". Copy and paste these two files into the folder where your MXF files are. Double click the cmd file and watch ffmpeg go to work. It will create a ts file for every MXF file in the folder. Drag and drop these ts files into Premiere CS6. Done!
Click to expand...
This sounds like a good solution. Is this still an option?
 
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