FCPX 10.1.4 - MXF Export & XDCAM optical delivery

Hi all,

I need to deliver episodic TV content for a National Broadcaster here in Australia that is essentially XDCAM HD422 in optical disc media to Network.

That's fine (as much of our content is acquired in this format) and I have performed test exports in the past using Sony's Content Browser, exporter.

Interestingly, the Network now support flat file delivery with the MXF OP1a container - but would rather deliver XDCAM Optical in this particular instance.

My question now is with the new OP1A MXF support in FCPX 10.1.4:

- Should we still use the Content Browser, exporter for XDCAM Optical Disc Export?
- Do we still need to assign 8 mono tracks (roles) first in the FCPX timeline?
- Can we export directly now to MXF via FCPX and then write it to DISC
- Even better, can we now finally directly export to XDCAM disc (I have a U1 drive) from FCPX?

Dean...

Hey Dean,

The good news is that MXF is supported natively now, without any re-wrapping or conversion, and you don't need any expensive third-party plugins anymore.

But for Optical Disk Export nothing has changed. As you can see with the new specifications of your Network, the world is shifting toward file-based delivery. So I don't expect anything to change with respect to disc or tape export in the future anymore. For Optical Disc delivery you will have to continue to use your existing workflow.

For file based delivery you don't need Content Browser anymore.

- If you need to send an XDCAM HD422 OP1a MXF file with only the Program Stereo Mix to your Network, you can do this straight from within FCP X. You don't need to set any Roles or empty audio channels. Just add the "1080i25 XDCAM HD 422 50Mbps" setting to your Destinations pane and share your edit using this setting. You will get an 8-channel audio file with channel 1 of your Stereo Mix assigned to audio track 1, channel 2 assigned to track 2, and the remaining 6 audio tracks empty.

- When you need to send a file with more than 2 live audio tracks (e.g. Stereo Mix to A1 + A2 and M&E to A3 + A4) you will always need to assign Roles to the audio channels in the FCP X timeline. With other NLEs you have to set the audio output configuration in the export preferences, with FCP X you do this with Roles.

You should assign a Role to each live audio channel and you will also need to create one muted audio track to the timeline to which you can assign a separate Role for the empty tracks in the MXF.

Unfortunately FCP X (at this time) can only export an MXF file with 2 live audio tracks. The remaining tracks are always empty. So if you need more than 2 live tracks you have to export the edit as a Multitrack QuickTime Movie based on the Roles you have set, and then create the MXF either with the Sony utility (as you do now), or with Compressor 4.

MXF export is being further developed at this time. I have had some discussions about this and I have submitted a feature enhancement that would allow us to export a multitrack MXF based on Roles straight from FCP X, just like we can export a multitrack QuickTime Movie based on Roles. I have also requested that we would be able to add more custom metadata in the Info window, especially for DPP compliant deliveries.

- Ronny

Thanks for a clear and excellent reply Ronny.

Good news... on the XDCAM Optical COW forum, Ian Cook confirmed you CAN export the MXF directly to the Optical Drive:

forums.creativecow.net/readpost/262/863618

You could also still Content Browser to drag and drop the MXF file onto the Disc.

Seeing that I can directly export to the drive from FCPX is great news.

Just one tip for FCPX / XDCAM users out there...make sure you have your stereo panning set right before export - otherwise you will end up with a mono-master.

Hi Dean,

That's great news, thank you for posting this. So you just drop the MXF file on the disc folder, cool.

When you deliver an OP1-a 8-channel MXF with STEREO MIX and 6 empty channels this means you can burn onto disc right from within FCP X.

But I don't think it is possible to export an MXF with 4 discrete audio tracks (ST MIX + ST M&E) out of FCP X. In my test the 4 channels always got mixed down to 2 tracks (split Stereo). I don't have any discs to try this, so could you do a test to see if it works for you? If it doesn't you will need to export a multitrack QT, create the XML in Compressor and drop that file onto the disc.

- Ronny