Optimal workflow to edit Canon C500 MXF files in Final Cut Pro 6/7/X (Yosemite & Mavericks)

The best solution to the importing problem happened when you want to ingest Canon C500 MXF recordings to Final Cut Pro 7 on Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite, and 10.9 Mavericks included.

Canon C500 is an impressive 4K Cinema Camera, which has the ability of capturing 2K footage (2,048 x 1,080 pixels) at 12-bit, full 4K RAW output of up to 4096 x 2160 pixels. As the Canon C500 owners, you can enjoy vivid video recordings. The point here, many users are facing issues and find it’s a painful experience to import Canon C500 footage into Final Cut Pro (which includes the FCP X, FCP 7, FCP 6).

Q: Workflow with Canon EOS C500 to FCP 7

“I'm working on the post of a project filmed with the Canon EOS C500 in 1080p, I was told in the beginning that that camera delivers de 1080p clips in Apple Pro Ress, but now I'm told from various sources that it delivers them in a strange format, probably mxf, also told that a lot of people have had trouble transcoding those into apple pro res to edit them. I was wondering if anyone here could give me some advices or heads up about the most optimal workflow to edit those files in Final Cut Pro 7.”

As you see, the C500 user is seeking for a solution to importing Canon C500 MXF files into Final Cut Pro for editing without problems. Have you also met the trouble and got frustrated? Well, don’t blame the Final Cut Pro, the “Import from Camera…” option works just like “Log and Transfer”. The thing is, even FCP 7 does not work with the Canon or Panasonic P2 MXF codec. As far as I know, to solve those problems, the most important piece of the equation is that transcoding MXF files to Final Cut Pro native format (Apple ProRes encoded .mov is highly recommended). Along with some help from the MXF Converter for Mac, it can be done. To help those who wanna edit C500 MXF files in FCP 6/7 and FCP X, here I share with you a simple guide on how to convert Canon C500 MXF files to Apple ProRes MOV format for Final Cut Pro editing flawlessly.

Downloading the App- Brorsoft MXF Converter for Mac

Overall, the program is a professional yet easy-to-use MXF to MOV Converter on Mac OS X which can not only convert Canon C500, Canon C300, XF100, XF105 and XF305 recorded MXF files to Apple ProRes codec videos for Mac editing, but also provide simple video editing functions for you. The Mac MXF to ProRes Converter can convert HD videos from HD camcorders or DVs (like JVC, Panasonic, Sony and Cannon) for editing in Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Pro X, Final Cut Express, iMovie, Avid MC, Adobe Premiere Pro etc. Just download it and follow the tutorial below to get the work done.

Guide: Transcoding Canon C500 MXF files to Apple ProRes MOV for FCP 6/7/X

Step 1 -> Download, install and launch Brorsoft MXF Converter for Mac, and import MXF files into the program

Note: Before conversion, you need to transfer MXF files from your Canon C500 to Mac Hard Drive, then click the "add files" button to browse to import MXF videos.



Step 2 -> Click the format bar, and move mouse cursor to "Final Cut Pro > Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)" as output format.



Step 3 -> You can click "Settings" button to adjust the resolution, bitrate, etc. Just customize the parameters to meet your need. You can set video resolution(1920×1080/1440×1080/1280×720/720×480), bitrate（from 1Mbps to 20Mbps）, frame rate (24p/30p), etc



Step 4. -> Click “Convert” button to start transcoding C500 mxf files to Apple ProRes MOV for Final Cut Pro 6/7 /X under Mac OS with the ideal MXF to ProRes Converter Mac.

Once the MXF to ProRes 422 conversion is done, you can transfer Canon C500 MXF footage into Final Cut Pro 6/7/X for editing smoothly on Mac with ease.

If you have problems when importing or editing your Canon, Sony, Panasonic etc, camera video files, you can check out “Brorsoft Camcorder/Camera Importing Tips" or "FCE, FCP, iMovie Column"to get your solutions.

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