Final Cut Pro provides non-linear, non-destructive editing of any QuickTime compatible video format including DV, HDV, P2 MXF (DVCProHD), XDCAM (via plug-in), and 2K film formats. However, the program is very picky about what video formats you can import although it claims to work with various file types. Media sources saved in MKV format are not supported by FCP at all. As far as I know, the best way to get Final Cut Pro work with MKV seems to be converting multiple file types to FCP natively supported codecs, such as Apple ProRes codec or Apple Intermediate Codec.

Apple ProRes family was introduced in 2007 to help Final Cut Pro work more efficiently with HD contents. By transcoding/converting video files to Apple ProRes codec, the possible best quality is retained in post-production workflow.

The following guide tells you how to transcode MKV Videos to ProRes 422 with Pavtube HD Video Converter for Mac, which is offered by Pavtube Studio for users to convert AVI/MKV/MP4/MOV/FLV/TiVo/MPG files as well as HD footage (MTS/MOV/MXF/M2TS/DV/HDV) to FCP friendly codecs and then Edit ProRes 422 in Final Cut Pro.

Guide: Convert Various video formats to Apple ProRES 422 for importing/editing in Final Cut Pro under Mac OS X Lion

Before conversion you need first to download a trial of the Mac HD Video to FCP ProRes Converter. And here we go with the HD video to Apple ProRes Conversion process.

Step 1. Run the HD video Converter for Mac, and drag and drop MKV videos video files to the software. The MKV to Prores Converter can browse videos up to 1080p for conversion.

Step 2. Select a FCP friendly format, e.g. “Apple ProRes“. Click on “Format” bar and follow “Final Cut Pro” template to set a Final Cut Pro friendly format.

For HD 1080p MKV video files, you are advised to Follow “Final Cut Pro” template and “Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)” format. If you prefer smaller file size, choose “Apple ProRes 422 (LT) (*.mov)” instead. The “Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy) (*.mov)” format offers file size at SD levels and is recommended for 480i/p and 576i/p shootings. The “Apple ProRes 4444(*.mov)” creates videos in lossless quality at huge file size, and is not recommended for home video making.

Step 3. Click the “Settings” button and customize proper video/ audio parameters if necessary. Video size, bitrate and fame rate are flexible and can be adjusted as you like. E.g. Set video size to 1920*1080 when you feel like to keep 1080p as the source file features. Or set smaller bitrate to further cut down export file size. You may skip this step as well.

Step 4. Click “Convert” to start Converting MKV to Apple ProRes 422 codec.

The conversion process may take long time due to huge file size but trust me – this Mac HD Video to FCP Converter is faster than most other video converter tools. After conversion just click the “Open” button to locate converted video files for importing to FCP. As Apple ProRes codecs are natively supported by FCP, the rendering time is saved as well.

FCE 4 supports various of formats, including most DV25-format camcorders and decks: MiniDV and DVCAM; most HDV-format camcorders and decks: 720p, 1080i; most AVCHD-format camcorders and decks: 720p, 1080i; FireWire device control of most FireWire-equipped MiniDV camcorders from such leading manufacturers as Sony, Canon, Panasonic, and JVC.

Apple Intermediate codec is one of the apple built-in codecs, while others could be Apple DV/DVCPRO – NTSC, DVCPRO50 – NTSC. Pavtube Video Converter for Mac is the recommended camcorder software to convert AVCHD to apple compatible formats. iMovie 8/9, Final Cut Pro/FCP7 are also compatible with AIC for editing.

Sony HDR-CX550V records breathtaking 1920 x 1080 high-definition video directly to 64GB of embedded Flash memory. An “Exmor R” CMOS sensor provides superior low-light performance. However, there still exits some limitations that when the Sony HDR-CX550V users intend to import/load the 1080/60i AVCHD to the editing software like iMovie 08/09/11, they often encounter some troubles. Below are the quoted words from one Sony HDR-CX550V user.

Question: I wanan import the Full HD 1920 x 1080 video recorded by Sony HDR- CX550V camcorder to FCE 4 for editing but it frustratingly doesn’t recognize the .mts file. What can I do?

Answer: Converting Sony HDR-CX550V 1080/60i AVCHD to AIC MOV for FCE 4 with a converter tool – Mac AVCHD to FCE Converter.

Guide: step-by-step guide on how to convert Sony HDR-CX550V 1080/60i AVCHD to FCE 4 with the professional CX550V AVCHD to FCE 4 Converter on Mac OS X.

Step 1. Transfer or Copy Sony HDR-CX550V 1080/60i AVCHD files to Mac.
Connect your HDR-CX550V camcorder to Apple computer via USB cable, find the .mts files by following the camera folder AVCHD > BDMV > STREAM. Then copy and transfer the .mts files from camera to the Apple hard drive disk.

Step 2. Import HDR-CX550V 1080/60i AVCHD files to Pavtube Video Converter for Mac.
Download Pavtube Video Converter for Mac as Sony HDR-CX550V AVCHD to AIC Converter on Mac OS X, connect Sony HDR-CX550V to Mac via USB, then follow the smart camcorder wizard to import the files to the program quickly.
Tip: If you have multiple AVCHD MTS video files, you can tick the “Merge into one” box to join the multiple video files into one single file so that you can play these files without interruption.

Step 3. Select an output format for Final Cut Express 4 and set the output folder.
Click “Format” and then move you pointer to “iMovie and Final Cut Express > Apple Intermediate Codec(AIC) (*.mov)”. The Apple Intermediate Codec(AIC) is the compatible format for Final Cut Express 4. Then you can set the output folder by clicking “Browse” icon as you need.

Tip: If you want to adjust audio and video parameters, click the “Settings” and you will go into a new interface named “Profile Settings”. You can adjust codec, bit rate, frame rate, sample rate and audio channel in the interface according to your needs and optimize the output file quality.

(Note: You’d better set the video frame rate as 30fps, video size as 1920*1080 and choose 5.1 audio channel to keep the best quality for FCE 4. While, if you wanna smaller file size but keep high qualtiy, you can set video size as 1440*1080.)

Step 4. Convert Sony HDR-CX550V AVCHD Footages to AIC MOV for FCE 4 editing.
Click “Convert” button, start transcode Sony CX550V AVCHD Footages to AIC for Final Cut Express 4 editing.

After conversion, you are able to Import CX550V AVCHD footage to FCE 4 for edting without rendering.

That’s all! Hope the article will be of great help for you!

I have some TiVo recording shows. And I intended to bring the TiVo HD shows into iMovie for editing and then share my movies with my friends. But iMovie don’t support TiVo files. I figure a conversion is needed. I tried VLC to make a .mov file without luck (don’t know how to set up the output specs). When searching google, I find I need a mac TiVo to iMovie Converter to transcode TiVo to AIC MOV or H.264 MOV iMovie can recognize. I tried several TiVo to iMovie Convert sotfwares, And only the program from Pavtube Studio works for me. With PavTube, I easily transfer TiVo shows to AIC MOV and import it to iMovie for editing freely.

For helping folks who wanna import/edit TiVo,TiVo HD,TS TiVo shows on iMovie8/9 with HD Quality, here i will share my experience in how to convert(trascode) TiVo HD shows to iMoive for Editing?

Before transcoding TiVo shows, you need to transfer recorded TiVo shows from TiVo DVR to your Mac. To transfer TiVo shows to PC, you need to use a TiVo Desktop Software for Mac. When your TiVo is connected to your home network, Mac TiVo Desktop provides you with a list of available shows for transferring to your Mac.

After transfer TiVo files to your Mac, you can free download the Mac TiVo to AIC Converter. Install and run the application. Do as follows.

1. Import TiVo to the program.
First click “Option” button, enter Media Access Key. Then, load TiVo files to the Mac TiVo to iMovie Converter.

2. Choose Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) (*.mov) output format for iMovie 8 /iMovie 9 editing Without Rendering.
Click on “Format”>”iMovie and Final Cut Express”>”Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) (*.mov)” as output. The Mac TiVo to iMovie AIC Converter will rewrap and convert TiVo, TiVo HD shows to AIC MOV with high quality.

3. Start TiVo shows to AIC (*.MOV) conversion for iMovie on Mac.

After conversion, you can easily import converted TiVo HD shows to iMovie for editing without rendering.

That’s all. Hope the guide on “Convert TiVo/ TiVo HD Shows to iMovie for Editing on Mac” will be of great help for you. Any Question ? Please leave me a message.Thanks for reading. Have a good time!

Reference: camcorder1080pvideotips.com

I either need a free downloadable programme that will allow me to convert the full length of the videos, or I need a different Pinnacle Studio that will allow .MVI format files. Any suggestions?

As you see, some Canon digital still cameras (Powershot A75, A63, S410 etc), are capable of shooting a limited amount of video, since there is no tape, it is saved as an MVI file format. However, the MVI file format is not compatible with other programs. Even windows media player refuse to play MVI file. Besides, editing software like Windows movie maker and Pinnacle Studio do not work with the format. Because of this, the files need to be converted to a format that is more widely used, such as AVI so that these videos shot with still camera can be played and edited as easily as other common videos. This guide is to tell how to do that.

Introduction & Requirements
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Download and install Pavtube MVI to Pinnacle Video Converter

Pavtube Video Converter is an easy-use-to use yet powerful video transcoding software. The output files created by the program can are compatible with lots of video editing programs including Windows Movie Maker, Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas, Avid, Ulead VideoStudio Plus, Pinnacle Studio, CyberLink PowerDirector, etc. To be honest, i really like the software. Very quick conversions and lots of file format options. I find the software doing a Google search for video converters.

The Conversion Process
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Step 1. After installing, run the top MVI Video Converter for Pinnacle Studio, click “Add” to load MVI files or directly drag the files into file list. By default, the files are selected. If you would like to join all the selected files together, check the box of Merge into one. You could view the files in preview window, simply highlight the file and click play button.

Step 2. Click “Format” bar to determine output format. Follow Common Video -> DivX AVI – Audio Video Interleaved(DivX)(*.avi). Click “Settings” if you’d like to customize advanced audio and video parameters like Video Codec, aspect ratio, bit rate, frame rate, Audio codec, sampling rate, bit rate, channels. Do not forget to click “Step 2. ” to confirm your settings. Then type in a desired output location in the “Step 2 ” box.

Step 3. Click “Convert” to start converting MVI files to AVI. You could set auto shutdown in progress window or leave it there and come back later. After conversion you could edit the converted video in Pinnacle Studio, and make a film out of it or burn it onto DVD.

There you have it. Pretty Simple! Now you could import and edit the MVI files in Pinnacle Studio without problems as you like. Hope the article helps.

“Hello we captured footage with the Canon HF S20 Hi-Def Camcorder, transfered the video files onto an external drive. We’re now trying to import those MTS files into Final Cut Pro 6.0.5 but it seems they are not supported… how do you import them?”

Recently, I have received many customer feedback problems described above. Through Google search, I also found that many people have the same problem – about “how to import MTS files to FCP Editing without quality loss?” So I want to write a solution based on this problem, look forward to helping more people. The following is the detailed steps:

Step 1: Load Canon HF S20 MTS files.

Download, install and run Pavtube MTS to FCP Converter for Mac (Recommended). Connect and stream Canon HF S20 mts files to Mac OS X Lion for convert MTS to ProRes and Edit ProRes in Final Cut Pro.

Step 2: Choose Apple ProRes 422 as Output video format.

Choose Format > Final Cut Pro> Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov) as output format to convert MTS to prores. According your own situation, you can also ProRes 422(HQ), ProRes 4444, ProRes 422(LT) or ProRes Res(Proxy).

Step 3: Convert Canon HF S20 footage to ProRes 422 for FCP

Click “Convert” button, start Transcode Canon HF S20 MTS to ProRes 422 and keep high quality.

After conversion, you can Import and Edit MTS files in FCP without rendering on Mac.

Tip:
Pavtube iMedia Converter for Mac can also Convert MTS clips to ProRes 422 and Edit the converted MTS files in Final Cut Pro(X), iMovie, Avid etc..