FCPX import failure with XAVC clips shot by Sony Z90

Hi ,

I am trying to import a XAVC clip shot by a new Sony Z90 Camera. The clips shot in 'normal' mode import fine.
Both are shot in Sony XAVC 1920 x 1080 25p at 50mbps
The clips shot in (100fps) show only as audio files in fcpx import window.
These same clips import and play correctly in Premiere and also open fine in VLC player.
I have downloaded the latest version of FCPX and Video Pro formats.

In the XML the only difference is this:
Normal Clip (imports fine)
<VideoFormat>
<VideoRecPort port="DIRECT"/>
<VideoFrame videoCodec="AVC50_1920_1080_H422P@L41" captureFps="25.00p" formatFps="25p"/>

100 Fps clip (does not import)
VideoFormat>
<VideoRecPort port="DIRECT"/>
<VideoFrame videoCodec="AVC25_1920_1080_H422P@L41" captureFps="100.00p" formatFps="25p"/>

Anyone else had this issue? Interested to know if 100fps clips shot by other sony camera (FS5 & FS7) import fine into FCPX?

I have emailed Apple about this as it no longer means i can edit in FCPX (which i love!)

I know people import and edits lots of FS5 and FS7 material (inc'l higher frame rate) using FCPX. I don't know about the Z90.

Looking at the Z90 manual, it appears 100 fps is a special high frame rate mode such that when that is ON, then selecting 1080/50i actually records 100 fps.

I don't know why it only imports as audio, maybe it needs pre-processing with a Sony utility? Another possibility is might need all the metadata from the folder tree. Are you importing from there or just copying the video file itself to disk and importing that?

If you can upload a short clip of this -- including all surrounding folder tree and metadata files -- to a downloadable site, I'll be happy to look at it.

Shooting UHD 23.98 100mbps on Z90 importing fine for me.

Is this problem only with 100fps clips?

Maybe revert to importing through Catalyst Browse, at least for the 100fps clips, transcoding to ProRes in the process. That may be a general workaround, assuming your workflow is not 100% slow mo.

Paul

I was shooting HD 1920x1080 in PAL 25fps. Yes the problem is only when shooting at 100 fps.

Yes that would probably work. But this is an extra thing to pay for when i have paid for FCPX and Premiere. Premiere reads the files fine. If I need to use the files in FCPX i can use Premiere to export pro res...but this is just an extra step so will just stay in premiere to edit.

FCPx is generally pretty good when it comes to importing files, so found this strange that it wasn't compatible for this file structure for a common camera.

Here is some more info

Sony FS7 shot 100fps 1920 x 1080 - Imports fine.
Wrapper Type: MXFOP1a (type:SingleItem SinglePackage MultiTrack Stream Internal)
File Generated by:Sony Mem (2:00)
AVCI 100
Bitstream Format: Sony

Sony Z90 Shot 100fps 1920x1080 - Does not Import
Wrapper Type: MXFOP1a (type:SingleItem SinglePackage MultiTrack Stream Internal)
File Generated by:Sony Mem (2:00)
AVC Long GOP: High 4:2:2 Profile 10-bit Unconstrained Coding
Bitstream Format: Sony
Class 25

I'm have the exact same issue with the FS5, when the Capture FPS is 100p FCPX see it as an audio file.
Anyone can help PLEASE

Catalyst Browse is free. Sony could do with reading up on Apple's Human Interface Guidelines, but you can fairly easily set up to export to ProRes.

Download from here:
www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/catalystbrowse

I was thinking my next camera (after my X70) would be the Z90, especially for in-camera slo-mo at 100fps, so I'm interested to hear about the problem.

Yes, a short 100fps clip would be useful for us to have a look at.

Is there a way to keep the conversion to ProRes in FCPX?
I'm working with another cameraman/editor that using Premier Pro and we sharing time lines, so using Catalyst Browse just adding another step.

Is it worth opening another discussion? or there is no way for FCPX to import XAVC 100p clips?

Thanks in advance

If you can upload an original camera test clip to DropBox or some other place, I'll examine it on several different NLEs.

This might not help you but may turn on the light in someone else's head when it comes to dealing with miscreant files.

Pipe the video from the camera into an Atomos or Blackmagic and use that file. Solves all sorts of stubborn issues some cameras and their files create. Spending hours on trying to grasp why something doesn't work gets beat out by my immediate solution. You can set IO points if you don't want the entire raw mess, too.
- - - EDIT - - -
(Or maybe check out EditReady. The thing is to get the job done irrespective if it adds another step or adds $100 bucks to the budget. The flag's been down with the meter running on all the time spent jacking with the thing so anything at this point that moves the job along should be considered.)

A quick note on Optimizing Sony HLG in FCPX...the optimization process to ProRes breaks the colorspace on my Z90 and a7SIII HLG files, rendering them unable to be used or even graded. Have not seen this issue with CatBro ProRes transcode, but somethign to be aware of if trying to optimize HLG to get files ingested that are not showing when ingested normally.

Paul

joema wrote:

If you can upload an original camera test clip to DropBox or some other place, I'll examine it on several different NLEs.

It will be great if you can have a look,
Clip 0079 - not a problem, can see it and import to FCPX
Clip 0078 - FCPX see it as an audio file but it has no audio. The clip can be imported but there's no footage

www.dropbox.com/sh/mvyajhyvtjz1io1/AADq2...796OVrsW-jkHREa?dl=0

Thanks heaps
Elad

Just tested your clips in the latest FCP with Big Sur 11.5.2 and indeed Clip 79 imports a black screen with silent audio. The silent audio is typical since clips recorded with SQ motion (over or under cranked) do not have audio associated with them. The clip does play fine in Sony Catalyst Browse and in slow motion as it should - although the inspector in Catalyst reveals the frame rate is 25 fps and the capture rate is also 25 fps. It does show a shutter speed of 1/100 sec, but that is not the capture rate. Tested with the latest Catalyst Browse version recently released by Sony. You could try to import the full card structure (probably XDROOT folder) from your camera instead of just the MXF file. Maybe some SQ data is being omitted causing FCP not to properly recognize the file. The file also only opens in Quicktime as silent audio, FWIW. If the problem still exists when importing directly from the card, or a copy of the card, I would suspect there is some incompatibility with non standard frame rate clips from your camera into FCP.

Thanks for the reply,
I'm also on Big Sur with the latest FCPX.
It's exactly the same when trying to import from the card to FCPX.
My Catslyst Browser shows - Frame rate 25 fps and Capture FPS 100.00p, both on the card and on the dropBox file.
I'm not sure why it would be an incompatibility with non standard frame rate clips from the camera into FCP and why Premier Pro doesn't have any issue with it what so ever.
Another big problem for me when importing through Catalyst is the change of the "Date Created" which make it very hard to keep the clips organised.
The FS5 is not an old camera but definitely not new, I'm surprised FCPX not supporting it fully.

Elad

same problem, ended converting into ProRes with Resolve

eladberger : I downloaded your test files. They are 1080p/25 and 1080p/50  10-bit 4:2:2 from a FS5. You are correct, clip 0078.mxf shows no video on FCPX 10.5.4 and MacOS 11.5.2. On Premiere 15.4.1 and Resolve Studio 17.3.1 is displays as a slow motion clip. If I re-wrap (not transcode) that clip using EditReady2, it works OK in FCP:  www.divergentmedia.com/editready

This isn't a new issue -- Google apparently shows many reports of this going back years, even back to the days of FCP 10.2.

I examined the metadata with the 3rd-party utility Invisor, which shows the frame rate of 0078 is 25 fps. Catalyst shows a separate (maybe Sony proprietary) metadata field called "capture frame rate" which shows 100 fps.

I tested similar 1080p 10-bit 4:2:2 MXF material from my FX6 at 25.0 and 29.97 fps and using S&Q mode for 60 (59.94) fps, also 100.0 fps, and both of those work as expected in FCP. For those clips Catalyst showed "capture frame rate" of 59.94 and 100.0 fps off base frame rates of 29.97 and 50.0 fps.

I don't know why FCP behaves that way with certain codec parameters from certain Sony cameras. My suggestion is re-wrap the files with EditReady2, which is very fast (much faster than transcoding), then import.

It's odd that my Catalyst Browse is showing the clip capture rate as 25 fps and not 100 fps while the clip playback clearly is slow motion. I just updated Catalyst Browse a few days ago to the latest version. Are you (@joema) using the latest Catalyst?

Yes, Catalyst Browser 2021.1.0.460.