This post gives a clue for people who are looking for a fast and fluid way to import Canon EOS C300 Mark II 4K XF-AVC MXF movies to DaVinci Resolve for further editing. It guides you through the process of converting C300 MK II 4K XF-AVC MXF files to ProRes/DNxHD codec for use in DaVinci Resolve with optimum performance.
Together with the two new cameras Canon EOS C300 Mark II and XC10, Canon has introduced a new video format for the 4K, 2K and HD Recording, XF-AVC. It uses compression MPEG-4 AVC / H.264 and stores the files in MXF container format. The following table lists the exact information.
Canon has officially announced that XF-AVC is compatible with Grass Valley, but on some occasions, users still need to transcode C300 MK II 4K XF-AVC MXF files for a faster and more fluid workflow. This requires third party converter software like HD Video Converter. Here’s a quick guide on how to transcode C300 MK II 4K XF-AVC MXF files to ProRes/DNxHD for DaVinci Resolve.
Software requirement
HD Video Converter
Recently, AbelCine organized a focus group with select cinematographers and specialists from Canon to review the new Dual Pixel Auto Focus (DAF) upgrade for. Working with Canon C300 footage – which is XDCAM 422 50/Mbs footage in a.MXF wrapper – should ordinarily be quite straight forward. MXF files will work natively in Adobe Premiere and ingest quite happily through a free plugin in Final Cut Pro 7 and FCPX. You can also bring this footage in through AMA into Avid Media Composer 6.
[Guide] How to encode C300 Mark II 4K XF-AVC MXF movies for DaVinci Resolve editing?
Download and install HD Video Converter, then follow these steps:
Step 1: Run HD Video Converter as a professional Canon XF-AVC to DaVinci Resolve Converter. When its main interface comes up, click ‘Add File’ to load source video to it.
Step 2: Select output format for DaVinci Resolve
1) Convert C300 Mark II XF-AVC to ProRes for Resolve
From ‘Profile’ list, move to ‘Final Cut Pro’ catalogue, and select ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as target format.
Note that the ProRes output is only valid in the Mac version of HD Video Converter.
2) Transcode Canon C300 Mark II XF-AVC to DNxHD for DaVinci Resolve
From ‘Profile’ list, select ‘Avid DNxHD (*.mov)’ as output format under ‘Avid Media Composer’ column.
Important: If you’ve loaded a number of video clips to do batch conversion, please do remember ticking off ‘Apply to All’ option before you start.
Canon C300 Sample Footage Size
Step 3: Adjust video and audio settings (for advanced users)
If necessary, you can click ‘Settings’ button and go to ‘Profiles Settings’ panel to modify video and audio settings like video encoder, resolution, video bit rate, frame rate, aspect ratio, audio encoder, sample rate, audio bit rate, and audio channels. 3D settings are also available.
Canon C300 Sample Footage
Step 4: Click ‘Convert’ to start Canon C300 Mark II XF-AVC files to ProRes/DNxHD conversion.
Canon C300 Sample Footage Chart
Step 5: Click ‘Open Folder’ to get generated ProRes/DNxHD QuickTime files for use in DaVinci Resolve with optimum performance.
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| August 17th, 2012, 10:32 AM | #1 |
New Boot Location: Portland, ME | We just got our shoot footage back from Saskatchewan, and most of the hundreds and hundreds of clips will play back and export perfectly from Canon XF Utility (v1.3.0 on OSX 10.6.8). We are also using the Avid Canon XF AMA plug-in to AMA link and consolidate our clips in Avid. However, there is one clip which is giving us a tremendous amount of trouble. Here are the vitals: 1) We have copied the entire folder structure from each CF card into its own folder on a hard drive, and are AMA-linking to the files on the hard drive, as well as 'Setting virtual Media' within Canon XF Utility to these Hard Disk copies. We have treated the corrupt one no differently than any of the others which have worked. 2) The corrupt clip is the very first clip on one of the CF card images. 3) In Avid, if AMA linking to the CF card volume, all clips play back fine, except for the corrupt one, which gives us the following error: 'Exception: Failed to get the sample temporal offset from the AMA Plug-in.' 4) In Canon XF Utility, the corrupt clip plays back fine if you play the clip from the very beginning. If you try to click ahead or behind in the timeline, the clip will no longer play, until you play another clip, then click back on the corrupt clip. We can watch the entire 2m40s clip from start to finish within the Utility. 5) Choosing 'Export MXF' from Canon XF Utility has inconsistent results. Sometimes, it will produce a clip that is 4 frames long (the first 4 frames). Sometimes, it will produce an MXF clip that is the full length. However, the resulting exported clip cannot be played in anything except for VLC, and VLC will not properly export it as anything else. 6) Within Avid, AMA linking directly to the original MXF file within the CF card structure gives a clip that will not play and produces the same 'Exception:' error listed in #3. AMA linking to the MXF file exported from Canon XF Utility will also not play, and produces the same error. Does anyone have any experience with fixing these clips? Does Canon have any 'repair utility' for these kinds of clips, like Panasonic makes for P2 media? Thanks in advance! -Tim |