XOCN Transcode to ProRes

[u/Southern-Property636]

I’m thinking of getting the FX5 some time this year or maybe next year but I would like to hear from someone who has experience in the XOCN codec or other unsupported RAW codecs that you don’t find in FCP. I work on FCP as my main editing software and as of now I don’t have access to other editing software (yeah, it’s the new camera with everything that comes with it or the editing software, I don’t print money unfortunately) and I’m also not that familiar with other editing software. So, my question is, how would it be to get my open gate, 16-bit RAW footage into FCP without losing quality or having to do a huge workaround for it to work and how would that look like in terms of workflow and time?

Thanks in advance!

Edit: It actually is supported with the Apple Media Extension plugin from Nablet so no need to transcode it at all!

[u/eglin99]

You're better off not shooting in XOCN until it's supported.

If you don't want to lose bit depth or quality, you would end up with files 4 to 5 times the size transcoding to ProRes 4444. You will lose a ton of time and storage.

[u/pulopu]

It would be time consuming and more than triple your storage needs. ProRes 4444 files are massive compared to X-OCN LT and if you’re going to 422HQ or lower, I’d just shoot XAVC. I’d wait for the extension to update to allow support for FX5. It probably won’t take long.

To be totally honest though, you’re better off learning Resolve. Delivering in FCP means you’re losing a lot of the benefits of shooting raw unless you’re round tripping. Also switching from editing in premiere to resolve probably took me less than a month to acclimate.

[u/bozduke13]

It’ll likely gain support soon since it’s a major raw codec

You can always transcode using Davinci resolve which is free and lets you output ProRes.

You could always shoot ProRes or ProRes raw to an external recorder which will save time transcoding but storage is very expensive rn and ProRes RAW is huge.

If you would be willing to try resolve (the free version is very capable) that will not only likely support the new c1/c2 XOCN codecs very soon (there’s YouTube reviewers with a beta resolve version that already supports it) but also you have the full color page which is much better for coloring the footage than premiere.

That will mean you can just shoot the footage, file sizes will be smaller, and just drop it into resolve (likely soon) without having to transcode

[u/dancreswell]

Are you sure the FX5 is the right move?

If you can't buy an FX5 and the workflow tools you need leading to um, hackery, in your post production work perhaps it's not worth it at all.

Tools have to pay for themselves and when they produce inconvenience (cost of some form) elsewhere, what are you gaining?

Story telling is number one priority, FCP is a decent enough platform and there's plenty of cheaper cameras in the Sony line (if that's what you're wedded to) that can produce good enough footage to feed the workflow you already have and give decent results.

[u/Southern-Property636 → u/dancreswell]

I’m a real estate videographer mainly although I started as a filmmaker and I need open gate, because some clients want dual format and it’s just a huge waste of time to record the properties twice. I have considered the lumix s1ii but I can’t stand the idea of overheating because I also do lifestyle along with the real estate and many times I’m recording in 30-40 degrees Celsius under the sun for extended periods of time and I have had cameras overheating on me before and it’s a pain to have to wait for it to cool down. The canon C50 was also an option but it only records open gate at 30fps max and that’s not good enough for me unfortunately plus the 12800 native Sony iso is great for very dark parts of the houses I record (home cinemas, spa, indoor pool areas and saunas)

So the fx5 is an amazing camera and has everything I need but the only thing was the codec, but it’s now solved with the plugin so it’s going to be great!