How to Work GoPro Hero5 Video in FCP X Natively

My documentary team has a dozen GoPros of various types, including two Hero 5 Blacks and two Hero 5 Sessions. In general GoPro content is highly compressed and can be a big sluggish to edit, even using Final Cut Pro X on a higher end Mac. To solve this dilemma, you need to take a little up front time and set up a workflow that will convert your GoPro video into a format that FCP X likes. Now learn the GoPro Hero5 to FCP X best workflow.

Method 1. Use GoPro Studio to convert Hero 5 footage

Step 1. Launch GoPro CineForm Studio and Import your camera's source files by using the 'IMPORT NEW FILES" button in the top left-hand corner of the application window.

Step 2. Select the first clip in the bin to open it in the playback window. If you only wish to convert a portion of your video, use the playback controls and the IN and OUT buttons to trim the beginning and ending of the clip.

Step 3. Select a File Name and Directory Location for the converted clip.

Optional Step: Use the "ADVANCED SETTINGS" to set the Resolution, Frame Size, File Format and Quality of the converted file...or just leave these at their defaults. Please refer to the GoPro CineForm Studio User Guide for more information about these options.

Step 4. Click the "ADD CLIP TO CONVERSION LIST" button to send it to the Conversion List Bin.

Step 5. Add more clips to the Conversion List by repeating steps 2-4 for the remaining clips in your bin. Then click the "CONVERT ALL" button.

You now have new GoPro/CineForm files saved in the folder you specified in the "SAVE TO" location in Step 3. These new files can be imported into most popular non-linear editing applications including Final Cut Pro X.

P.S. If GoPro Studio can't do what you want, simply turn to a GoPro Studio alternative please.

Method 2. Convert GoPro Hero5 MP4 to ProRes with Brorsoft

Since ProRes is the optimal codec for Final Cut Pro, you can apply a third-party software to change GoPro H.264 to ProRes for FCP X smooth editing. Here Brorsoft Video Converter for Mac is highly recommended.

It's a professional and powerful high-quality Mac video converter and editor. With it, you can effortlessly transcode GoPro HERO5 MP4 files to ProRes 422 encoded MOV for Final Cut Pro. Meanwhile, the Mac Video Conversion tool can create files compatible with various non-linear editing systems like Avid Media Composer, FCE, iMovie, and Adobe Premiere Pro, Premiere Elements, etc. Just download it and follow the tutorials below to transfer and import GoPro HERO5 footage to Final Cut Pro.

Guide: Transcoding GoPro Hero MP4 to ProRes 422 for FCP

Step 1. Download, install and run the best GoPro Video Converter Mac, click "Add" or "Add From Folder" to load your GoPro MP4 footage.

Step 2. Select Apple ProRes as output format. Click the "Format" bar and select Final Cut Pro> Apple PreRes 422(*.mov) as output format.

Step 3. Click Settings to customize audio and video parameters Video Codec, bit rate, frame rate, Audio codec, sample rate, audio channels. Notice that you can not "convert up" video quality. We advise you to adjust the A/V parameters to be the same with source GoPro MP4 footage so as to bear least quality loss at proper file size.

Step 4. Click "Convert" button to start GoPro Hero5 MP4 to ProRes conversion under Mac OS X(macOS Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite or Mavericks). As soon as the encoding process finished, you can get the final output ProRes 422 files via clicking "Open" button effortlessly. The transcoded files now are ready for editing in Final Cut Pro.

Launch FCP, choose File > Import > Files..., and browse to where you save the converted GoPro HERO5 files to. Start editing!