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sony hxr-nx5u nxcam and Final Cut
I’m about to pull the trigger and buy the hxr-nx5u. I know it is fairly new and was wondering if anyone else has used this camera with Final Cut Pro 7. I’ve read that Final Cut does not natively edit AVCHD and that it needs to be converted to Apple ProRes for easiest editing. Is this completely true? If so, does it take longer to convert than it would to capture off tape in real time? I was hoping that going AVCHD would speed up my work flow. I just want to know if this will be a big pain it the butt and if their is another camera/format I should be buying that will better work with FCP7 that would still fall in the $4,000 price range and uses solid state media.
Thanks,
ChrisChristopher Smith
Senior Broadcast Specialist
Warrington College of Business Administration
University of Florida -
57 Replies
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Christopher,
While a cannot vouch for the Sony camera, I can tell you that working with the Panasonic form of AVCHD has been wonderful. The transcoding appears to happen better than two times real time, and the response of the clip in the Log and transfer window has gotten much better with every update. I love my HMC-150, and I am thinking of trading my HPX-170 (Same camera just with P2 cards) for another HMC-150, So I can work easily all in the same codec. I had 1 issue with corrupted data back in early July, and the camera rebuilt the file on the SD card…. no problem. I am kinda envious because I would like to have the Sony for the HD-SDI outs, but a $495 HDMI to SDi brick will take care of that problem for me.
So I would say go for it.
Don WalkerJohn 3:16
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I have the nxcam and final cut 6 on octo-core 2009 macpro.
it transcodes VERY quickly and I like working this way.
It’s the same workflow as a canon vixia.
just log & transfer and it transcodes to pro res.
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Thanks! Do you transfer from the camera or from a card reader if so does any SD card reader work? and via what kind of cable, USB?
Christopher Smith
Senior Broadcast Specialist
Warrington College of Business Administration
University of Florida -
I bought an $8 card reader from Walmart It sticks out the side of my Apple keyboard.
Don WalkerJohn 3:16
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I have one of these cameras coming in a few days.
i am interested to know if anyone knows of a system that can take the SDI HD output of this camera directly into a hard disk capture off camera. the advantage of this would be that you get 4:2:2 versus 4:2:0 chroma compression. Of course there is also the workflow question of how to get from that to fcp.
wayne
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Just a side note on transcoding the NX5U AVCHD to ProRes…
I have an Octo-core with 12GB. Transcoding was really fast – 3x realtime for clips under 2 mins or so.
Transcode time for longer clips increased incrementally with their length, with 8 min clips taking 20+ minutes to convert. Totally not acceptable.
The culprit? PCM audio. Stick to AC3. I would only use PCM if the content/client dictates it, the clip length will be short and transcode time is not critical.
AC3 audio is transcoding smoothly at 3X realtime, 20min clips transcoding in under 7min! Yipee!
Otherwise our two NX5U’s are shooting beautifully. Lens is awesome – but we might get wide angle adapters for them. Working with a ~22mm lens has spoiled me and our tight shooting location would respond well to wider angle.
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Hi Michael,
Thanks for the tip. I did switch audio to AC3 based on your recommendation. Also helps that it is a silent film, 🙂
I do have a question since you are using the same camera I am. You may see the question as a new post, but it not here it is. Any guidance you have in this regard would be appreciated…
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Hello,
I am shooting AVCHD on a camera that only supports 1080p in 16:9. Director wants the film in 4:3.
Is there a way to set the geometry during log and transfer such that with the initial transcode to ProRes 422 I get 4:3 right off the bat?
If not, what is the best way to get there after the initial capture in 16:9. I noticed that i can select 4:3 under geometry for a ProRres 422 transcode in compressor. Am I doing a double transcode if I do that – ProRes 422 16:9 to ProRes 422 4:3? Loss of quality?
Should I just trim the frame in FCP to get to 4:3?
Finally, I tend to be anal about quality. Is there a discernible difference between using 422 versus 422 LT? I will only have about 80 minutes of footage. Even if yes, it may not be noticeable because of limits in my source quality? 4:2:0 8 bit in a new Sony NXCAM.
Thanks,
Wayne
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I have the sony nx5u and having problems importing files (log and transfer) it brings in the HD files, but when I shoot in SD it does not see the files. if anyone has a solution let me know
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Ki-Pro. It’s what we’re going to be using. Creates a great workflow for what we do.
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i have the same issue, please help us internets.
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