We published yesterday that Final Cut Pro X 10.2 would accept Sony FS7 XAVC L files without the need for the Sony XDCAM plugin. We were right, but there is one essential piece of information you need to know and one large 4K sized problem.
Sony FS7 owners have been complaining about the lack of XAVC L support in FCPX. Up until now, users had to resort to Sony's Catalyst Browse, Edit Ready or similar transcoding application to use the files.
When 10.2 was released, it came with the promise that XAVC L would be supported and also the news that you didn't need to install Sony's XDCAM plugin anymore - FCPX did it all for you.
So we were quite surprised when we saw that a few of our friends were seeing the XAVC L files as JPEGS in the new import window and for that reason, couldn't get their footage in.
After much head scratching and phone calls between ourselves and proud FS7 owner Philip Johnston who runs HD Warrior, we eventually found the solution.
Philip had been recording XAVC L onto a card that already had files with other formats/codecs on it such as MXF. Take a blank card and record XAVC L and the files pop up ready for import immediately.
So, the moral of the story is don't mix codecs on a camera card if you want to guarantee getting footage into FCPX. We don't know why this happens or if you can mix different XAVC flavours and import those, or if this occurs with other codec combinations. We will post more when we have more information.
Our tagline for the article that we wrote last night was 'Now have at least one happy Sony owner shooting XAVC L on an FS7 and editing in Final Cut Pro X 10.2!' Unfortunately this morning, Philip tells us that the import only works with 1080, UHD doesn't work. We are also hearing import problems with XAVC L from Sony X70 users.
Philip is doing more tests this morning and will publish an article on his findings later.