Users of Sony’s PXW-X70 camcorder and Final Cut Pro X can now rejoice, since FCP X 10.2.2 finally brings direct support to the superior XAVC L format, which allows for up to 4:2:2 10-bit 1080p recording (and optionally 4K UHD) with this camera model. If you have been following this telenovela, you know that FCP X has been the tardiest of all popular pro editing software to support this format. However, you must update much more than just FCP X in order to achieve the desired compatibility. Ahead are all of the details you need to know.

Users of Sony’s PXW-X70 camcorder and Final Cut Pro X can now rejoice, since FCP X 10.2.2 finally brings direct support to the superior XAVC L format, which allows for up to 4:2:2 10-bit 1080p recording (and optionally 4K UHD) with this camera model. If you have been following this telenovela, you know that FCP X has been the tardiest of all popular pro editing software to support this format. However, you must update much more than just FCP X in order to achieve the desired compatibility. Ahead are all of the details you need to know.

Final Cut Pro 10.2.2 improvements

Here are the improvements from the release notes:

• Native support for Sony XAVC-L and Panasonic AVC-Intra 4:4:4 up to 4K resolution
• Import Canon XF-AVC 8-bit video files with Canon plug-in
• Export interlaced H.264 video
• Asset management systems can include a library backup file when sharing from Final Cut Pro
• Fixes render errors that could occur when using reflective materials with 3D text
• Improves stability when swapping materials on 3D text with published parameters
• Improves performance when loading text styles
• Motion Title templates with published text layout parameters now export correctly
• Fixes an issue that could cause 3D text to appear dark when rendered
• Addresses issues with timing on certain animated effects

As indicated in the introductory paragraph of this article, more is required than just updating FCP X to 10.2.2 to achieve compatibility with professional XAVC L as you’ll see in the next section.

All the things you need to have updated to make it all work

I did not find this documented by Apple or by Sony, but I thank Ddixon of fcp.co for doing so. I personally tried all of this, and it works!

• The PXW-X70 must have at least firmware 2.0 or later installed. (That is free from Sony, and is a prerequisite for the optional, paid 4K Ultra HD upgrade, which I’ll cover in an upcoming article.)
• You must reformat all of your recording media (cards) in the PXW-X70 camera after updating the camera’s firmware to 2.0 or later. (I don’t know why.) Of course, if you need any material that is already on the the card(s), you should first offload said material to at least two places and verify the validity of the cloned copies.
• Pro Video Formats in your Mac must be updated to at least version 2.0.2 (a perfect number for palindrome lovers). (This is free from Apple, via the Mac App Store.)
• Finally, FCP X must be updated at least to version 10.2.2. (This is also a free upgrade for all licensed FCP X users, also via the Mac App Store.)

Any footage recorded before upgrading the PXW-X70’s firmware and then reformatting your cards as described in the first two steps above is/was done must be transcoded using any of the several transcoding apps I covered in Pro XAVC Long GOP compatibility bulletin 2015.1 in February. Fortunately, it will be the last time this is a requirement just to edit the PXW–70’s highest quality 1080p format in FCP X. It is very nice to see this wonderful 1080p 10-bit 4:2:2 format is now working with the latest versions of all popular professional editing software, including the free DaVinci Resolve from Blackmagic. If I discover it works with any consumer editing software, I’ll publish an article about it.

Upcoming article on the PXW-X70 upgrade to 4K Ultra HD

Soon I’ll publish an article about the PXW-X70 upgrade to 4K Ultra HD.

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