Nowadays, many digital cams like Sony a7S, Sony FDR-AX100, HDR-AS100V, FDR-AX1, Sony A7ii, etc. are able to shoot footage with XAVC S codec. Many NLEs has been updated to support the XAVC S codec. Final Cut Pro is no exceptation and itx adds general QuickTime supports XAVC S Long GOP QFHD and HD since Final Cut Pro 10.1(Final Cut Pro X). However, there is no luck on the previous version of FCP, version 7. Final Cut Pro 7 has no ability to support XAVC S format yet. If you want to use the XAVC S files in FCP 7, the only option is to transcode XAVC S to Final Cut Pro 7 editing-friendly codec - ProRes.

If you don't want to upgrade your FCP 7 to FCP X for handling XAVC S footage, you can follow this simple guide here, which shows you how to convert your Sony XAVC S to ProRes for smoothly editing in FCP 7.

To transcode XAVC S to FCP 7 compatible ProRes codec easily and quickly, EaseFab Video Converter for Mac is highly recommended. With it, you can effortlessly encode/re-encode XAVC S intra footage to FCP highly compatible ProRes MOV, ensuring maximum editing quality and efficiency when working with Final Cut Pro 7 or FCP X. Besides, its also exports advanced encoders like Apple Intermediate Codec, DNxHD, etc. allowing you to convert video to seamlessly fit iMovie, iDVD, Adobe Premiere, Avid Media Composer, etc. If you are editing XAVC S with Final Cut Pro 7 or FCP X, chances are you already installed this great free utility. If not, download it it from below. The following are the steps on converting XAVC S to ProRes MOV for FCP 7.

Converting XAVC S for Editing in Final Cut Pro 7

Step 1: Launch the XAVC S to FCP 7 Converter. Click "Add" icon to load video files from your Sony camcorder or directly drag&drop the files into file list.

Step 2: Click on the "Editing Software" and you will see options to convert your XAVC S video for certain video editing software. Since you will be importing the video to Final Cut Pro after the conversion, have "Apple ProRes 422" be your selected output format. You can also choose "Apple ProRes 422 HQ" or "Apple ProRes 4444" as the output format.

Tips: Adjust video, audio settings

Click the "Settings" button and customize proper video/audio parameters including Video size, bitrate and fame rate and mroe. Usually 1920*1080 video size and 30fps video frame rate are recommended for FCP editing.

Step 3: Finally, click the "Convert" button to begin the conversion process. Wait for a while and the video converter will do the trick. You will soon have your XAVC video into a format that's recognizable and editable by Final Cut Pro 7 - the ProRes.

Once the conversion process shows in 100%, click Open to get the output videos. Create a project and start editing XAVC files in Final Cut Pro 7 with light speed.