Working With Sony a99 II XAVC S in FCP X/Premiere/Avid

The Sony a99 II is set to hit store shelves later this month that features a 42MP full frame sensor, 4K video, a hybrid AF system, 12fps shooting, a 5-axis stabilizer, and 14-bit RAW. However, the problem that filmmaker considered is that how to import these outstanding 4K footage from DJI Phantom 3 into Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, Avid Media Composer or other NLEs for editing smoothly. Well, follow this article, you can learn the Sony a9 II XAVC S to FCP/Premiere/Avid best workflow.

The a99 II is the first A-mount DSLR to offer internal UHD 4K video recording at 30 or 24 fps. And The XAVC S format further improves image capture by providing high bit rates of 100 Mbps in 4K and 50 Mbps with Full HD recordings. Whereas, the problem is that XAVC S as H.264 is not an idea format for editing. What's more, the old version of Final Cut Pro like FCP 6/7, Adobe Premiere like Premiere Pro CS4/CS5/CS6, Avid Media Composer like Avid MC 4/5/6/7 can't support 4K video. An ultimate solution to edit XAVC S files from Sony a99 II in Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, Avid MC we found would be to transcode/compress a99 II 4K XAVC S files for FCP, Premiere, Avid.

With a professional XAVC S converter- Brorsoft Video Converter for Mac, you can get the work done easily. This software is able to convert XAVC S files from Sony a99 II to FCP, Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere Pro, iMovie, FCE fully compatible format and keep original quality at the mean while. It can export ProRes for Final Cut Pro, Apple InterMedaite Codec(AIC) for iMovie/FCE, DNxHD for Avid Media Composer, MPEG-2 for Adobe Premiere Pro and more NLE systems for native editing. Download the software and follow the guide to finish the conversion task. If you are working on Windows(Windows 10 included), please turn to Brorsoft Video Converter. Download the tool and start the 4K video conversion.

Download the best XAVC S Converter:

(Note: Click here for OS X 10.5)

How to Convert and Import Sony a99 II Video to FCP/Premiere Pro/Avid MC

Step 1. Install the Mac XAVC S Converter program and run it. Drag the 4K XAVC S files to the software. Or you can also click "Add" button on the top of the main interface to import video to the program.

Step 2. Hit the Format box to select the specially designed video codec for editing 4K footage in Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro.

a. For importing Sony a99 II XAVC S to Final Cut Pro X/7, you can choose "Final Cut Pro> Apple PreRes 422(*.mov)" as output format.

b. To import a99 II XAVC S to Adobe Premiere Pro, just choose Adobe Premiere/Sony Vegas -> MPEG-2(*.mpg) as output format.

c. To edit Sony a99 II 4K XAVC S in Avid MC, you are recommended to choose "Avid Media Composer -> DNxHD (*.mov)" as the target format.

Step 3. If you'd like to customize advanced audio and video parameters like Video Codec, aspect ratio, bit rate, frame rate, Audio codec, sample rate, audio channels, please turn to "Settings" page. Usually 1080p is the optimal setting for using in Final Cut Pro, Avid MC and Premiere Pro. You can downscale Sony a99 II 4K to 1080p.

Step 4. Hit the convert button; it will start converting DJI Phantom Sony a99 II XAVC S for importing to Avid, FCP and Adobe Premiere. Soon after the conversion, just click "Open" button to get the generated files for editing in FCP/Premiere/Avid Media Composer perfectly.