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Chapter 8 Working with Sony XDCAM Formats 125
Choosing an Easy Setup and Editing XDCAM HD
or XDCAM EX Media in Final Cut Pro
Once you ingest your XDCAM HD or XDCAM EX footage to QuickTime media files on
your scratch disk, you can simply choose the XDCAM HD or XDCAM EX Easy Setup
that corresponds to your footage and edit as you would with any other native format
in Final Cut Pro.
Note: Final Cut Pro renders and exports LP (18 Mbps VBR) XDCAM HD footage using
the 35 Mbps (HQ) codec, so you cannot export back to the 18 Mbps VBR LP format.
However, 18 Mbps VBR LP XDCAM HD footage is ingested at a data rate of 18 Mbps,
so it still requires less disk space during ingest than the 35 Mbps format.
Final Cut Pro also includes support for real-time playback of XDCAM HD variable frame
rate footage.
Rendering and Conforming XDCAM HD or XDCAM EX Media
Rendering and conforming XDCAM HD or XDCAM EX media works in the same way as
HDV rendering and conforming. For details, see “Rendering and Conforming Long-GOP
MPEG-2 Media” on page 27.
Note: If you don’t intend to output edited sequences back to XDCAM media, you can
choose the Apple ProRes 422 codec to improve rendering speed. However, this will also
increase the amount of disk space required for the files. To change the selected render
codec, choose Sequence > Settings, select the Render Control tab, then choose
Apple ProRes 422 (HDV, XDCAM HD/EX only) from the Codec pop-up menu.
Exporting Sequences to XDCAM, XDCAM HD,
or XDCAM EX Media
If you want to export a finished sequence or clip from Final Cut Pro back to an MXF file
containing XDCAM, XDCAM HD, or XDCAM EX footage, you need to use the XDCAM
export plug-in included with the Sony XDCAM Transfer (PDZK-P1) software. For more
information, see “Installing Sony XDCAM Software” on page 122 and “Connecting an
XDCAM, XDCAM HD, or XDCAM EX Device to Your Computer” on page 123.
Also, exported XDCAM sequences must have four mono audio outputs assigned,
regardless of how many tracks the sequence contains.
To assign four mono audio outputs to your sequence:
1 Choose Sequence > Settings, then click the Audio Outputs tab.
2 Choose 4 from the Outputs pop-up menu.
3 Select the Dual Mono option for both audio output groups.