Guidance for Sony cameras outputting MXF containers w/ XAVC

Arlene-Allen wrote on 12/25/2023, 10:05 PM

I purchased MMS 2023 thinking that would take care of my needs but it does not apparently work with these. If I need to convert first before import into MMS, what is the cleanest path forward? Is it a non-starter to be using MMS with pro output files and I should go down a completely different path? Target computers are all Windows 10 or 11. Sony Catalyst is used to pull from the cameras in native format onto computer in the MXF containers. MMS provides a message saying I need MS Pro for this function, but on the products web page there is no such thing as Movie Studio Pro. Does MS Pro = Vegas ? Thank you.

Comments

CubeAce wrote on 12/26/2023, 3:17 AM

@Arlene-Allen

Hi Arlene.

I think they are talking about Video Pro X. You should be eligible for a cross grade discount from MMS if you use the upgrade option.

Please check the link I provided for the specs.

Ray.

 

 

Windows 10 Enterprise. Version 22H2 OS build 19045.5011

Direct X 12.1 latest hardware updates for Western Digital hard drives.

Asus ROG STRIX Z390-F Gaming motherboard Rev 1.xx with Supreme FX inboard audio using the S1220A code. Driver No 6.0.8960.1 Bios version 1401

Intel i9900K Coffee Lake 3.6 to 5.1GHz CPU with Intel UHD 630 Graphics .Driver version Graphics Driver 31.0.101.2130 for 7th-10th Gen Intel® with 64GB of 3200MHz Corsair DDR4 ram.

1000 watt EVGA modular power supply.

1 x 250GB Evo 970 NVMe: drive for C: drive backup 1 x 1TB Sabrent NVMe drive for Operating System / Programs only. 1X WD BLACK 1TB internal SATA 7,200rpm hard drives.1 for internal projects, 1 for Library clips/sounds/music/stills./backup of working projects. 1x500GB SSD current project only drive, 2x WD RED 2TB drives for latest footage storage. Total 21TB of 8 external WD drives for backup.

ASUS NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB. nVidia Studio driver version 560.81 - 3584xCUDA cores Direct X 12.1. Memory interface 192bit Memory bandwidth 360.05GB/s 12GB of dedicated GDDR6 video memory, shared system memory 16307MB PCi Express x8 Gen3. Two Samsung 27" LED SA350 monitors with 5000000:1 contrast ratios at 60Hz.

Running MMS 2024 Suite v 23.0.1.182 (UDP3) and VPX 14 - v20.0.3.180 (UDP3)

M Audio Axiom AIR Mini MIDI keyboard Ver 5.10.0.3507

VXP 14, MMS 2024 Suite, Vegas Studio 16, Vegas Pro 18, Cubase 4. CS6, NX Studio, Mixcraft 9 Recording Studio. Mixcraft Pro 10 Studio.

Audio System 5 x matched bi-wired 150 watt Tannoy Reveal speakers plus one Tannoy 15" 250 watt sub with 5.1 class A amplifier. Tuned to room with Tannoy audio application.

Ram Acoustic Studio speakers amplified by NAD amplifier.

Rogers LS7 speakers run from Cambridge Audio P50 amplifier

Schrodinger's Backup. "The condition of any backup is unknown until a restore is attempted."

Marc-Goder wrote on 12/26/2023, 5:12 AM

Your video file will definitely be an Intra codec in 10 bit 4:2:2.

For Intra Codec you definitely need Video Pro X with possibly an additional Intra Codec Pack for around €60.

The safest thing to test would be to provide a short, 15-second video file here for uploading via Google Drive or similar providers.

But not via the forum's upload function, as this converts everything to X264.

There are users in this forum who also have Magix Vegas.

It would then be possible for these users to test your demo file with ProX or Vegas and provide you with information about the extent to which your material can be imported and processed.

Magix Video Deluxe 2022 Premium (2.138)

Rechner: MSI Leopard GP76 , Intel I7-10870H,

NVidia RTX 3060 Mobile (TDP=130 Watt) (6GB),
Treiber-Version 31.0.15.5222

Arbeitsspeicher RAM 16GB,

Intel HD 630 On-Board I-GPU= deaktiviert.

Windows 10 (Auto-Update + Manuell) Ver.19045.4355

Weitere Video Software: CAPCUT
Konverter: Handbrake

Since 03.02.2024 experementil successfull with K-Lite-Codec Pack.

( Windows 11 kann ich nicht. Krieg ich Blähungen und Bluthochdruck von )

 

Arlene-Allen wrote on 12/26/2023, 10:39 AM

Thanks to both answers. It was enough to do timely further research. Looks like Video Pro X is limited. I need both XAVC-I and XAVC-L. Vegas lists those as supported as a kind of afterthought added to the end of the specs. I guess Sony isn't too popular. Catalyst Edit, which I never bought, also of course supports them since its from Sony. Choice I must now make. Also Avid provides support, but I only have the Avid audio suite of tools. No video and a bit pricey.

CubeAce wrote on 12/26/2023, 1:24 PM

@Arlene-Allen

Hi Arlene.

It's not that the wrappers are an afterthought but each has to be bought under licence as they belong to the company that produces them and they charge for its use. Each additional proprietary wrapper belongs to the company that produced it and they charge an amount for each licence.

It is up to each developer to decide which they think will be used most and attractive to the buyer.

It's one of the reasons for the cost of the more expensive video editors as they have more import and export options. It is also the reason a proprietary video editor is free to the customer of the camera and can only normally use the files their own cameras produce. The higher the quality of the files produced often requires a similarly high specified machine for them to work on as each frame can contain a lot of data.

Ray.

 

 

Windows 10 Enterprise. Version 22H2 OS build 19045.5011

Direct X 12.1 latest hardware updates for Western Digital hard drives.

Asus ROG STRIX Z390-F Gaming motherboard Rev 1.xx with Supreme FX inboard audio using the S1220A code. Driver No 6.0.8960.1 Bios version 1401

Intel i9900K Coffee Lake 3.6 to 5.1GHz CPU with Intel UHD 630 Graphics .Driver version Graphics Driver 31.0.101.2130 for 7th-10th Gen Intel® with 64GB of 3200MHz Corsair DDR4 ram.

1000 watt EVGA modular power supply.

1 x 250GB Evo 970 NVMe: drive for C: drive backup 1 x 1TB Sabrent NVMe drive for Operating System / Programs only. 1X WD BLACK 1TB internal SATA 7,200rpm hard drives.1 for internal projects, 1 for Library clips/sounds/music/stills./backup of working projects. 1x500GB SSD current project only drive, 2x WD RED 2TB drives for latest footage storage. Total 21TB of 8 external WD drives for backup.

ASUS NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB. nVidia Studio driver version 560.81 - 3584xCUDA cores Direct X 12.1. Memory interface 192bit Memory bandwidth 360.05GB/s 12GB of dedicated GDDR6 video memory, shared system memory 16307MB PCi Express x8 Gen3. Two Samsung 27" LED SA350 monitors with 5000000:1 contrast ratios at 60Hz.

Running MMS 2024 Suite v 23.0.1.182 (UDP3) and VPX 14 - v20.0.3.180 (UDP3)

M Audio Axiom AIR Mini MIDI keyboard Ver 5.10.0.3507

VXP 14, MMS 2024 Suite, Vegas Studio 16, Vegas Pro 18, Cubase 4. CS6, NX Studio, Mixcraft 9 Recording Studio. Mixcraft Pro 10 Studio.

Audio System 5 x matched bi-wired 150 watt Tannoy Reveal speakers plus one Tannoy 15" 250 watt sub with 5.1 class A amplifier. Tuned to room with Tannoy audio application.

Ram Acoustic Studio speakers amplified by NAD amplifier.

Rogers LS7 speakers run from Cambridge Audio P50 amplifier

Schrodinger's Backup. "The condition of any backup is unknown until a restore is attempted."

johnebaker wrote on 12/26/2023, 1:38 PM

@Arlene-Allen

Hi

. . . . Looks like Video Pro X is limited. I need both XAVC-I and XAVC-L.  . . .

The only difference between these 2 formats and AVC-Intra is the frame rate, bitrate and in the case of XAVC-L it is also Long GOP.

None of these should limit Video Pro X with the AVC-Intra codec installed.

As @Marc-Goder has suggested please provide a couple of short samples of both formats 15 - 30 secs long should be enough - for testing.

John EB
Forum Moderator

 

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

emptech wrote on 5/18/2024, 11:25 PM

I'm using a Canon XF200 video cam. It's native format is MXF on CF memory sticks. One of the settings is to record MP4 on a micro SD card. I recently shot some video and forgot to set the MP4 option. Now I have to convert the MXF files to a format MEP17 can use. I'm using VLC Media Player to convert to MP4. The problem is I don't know which options to set on the conversion. I'm not going to distribute the produced files for end users, I want to edit them with MEP. Is there some advice as to which options to set? I'll have to go into VLC to list those options if it will help.

I'm sure this isn't the place to ask but have to start somewhere.

Jim

AAProds wrote on 5/19/2024, 4:51 AM

@emptech

I've only had a quick look at VLC for transcoding; most of us would use Handbrake or AVIDemux as they offer a bit more control over the process. The first step is to get the details of your MXFs; MediaInfo is great for this. If you could go to the Text view, then copy the readout and paste here we can advise further.

I did find an example MXF on the interweb here (the first one, 66mb) and I can open it in MMS 2024, but I guess yours are slightly different. AVIDemux won't open that MXF so I have used Handbrake, which works OK. I converted that 3 minute file to MP4 (H264) and AAC in 20 seconds.

Last changed by AAProds on 5/19/2024, 5:00 AM, changed a total of 1 times.

All my forum comments are based on or refer to my System 1.

My struggle is over! I built my (now) system 2 in 2011 when DV was king and MPEG 2 was just coming onto the scene and I needed a more powerful system to cope. Since then we've advanced to MP4 and to bigger and bigger resolutions. I was really suffering, not so much in editing (with proxies) but in encoding, which just took ages. A video, with Neat Video noise reduction applied, would encode at 12% of film speed. My new system 1 does the same job at 160% of film speed. Marvellous. I'm keeping my old system as a capture station for analogue video tapes and DV.

System 1

Windows 11 v23H2 severely modified by Openshell and ExplorerPatcher

Power supply: 850W Cooler Master (should have got modular)

CPU: Intel i7 13700K running at 3400mhz, cooled by a Kraken 2x140mm All In One liquid cooler.

RAM: 64gb (2x32gb sticks) G.Skill "Ripjaws" DDR4 3200Mhz

GPU 1: iGPU UHD 770

GPU 2: NVidia RTX 3060Ti Windforce 8gb

C drive: NVME 500gb

Various other SSD and HDDs.

Monitor: 27"/68cm Samsung, 2560 x 1440, 43 pixels/cm.

MEP 2021 version 20.0.1.80

Movie Studio 2023 version 22.0.3.172

Magix Video Easy version 7.0.1.145

System 2

(Still in use for TV and videotape capture)

Windows 10 v22H2

CPU: i5-750 at 2670mhz with 12gb RAM

Onboard IEEE1394 (Firewire) port

GPU: ATI Radeon HD 4770 (512mb) which is ignored by MEP

Hard drives: C Drive 256gb SSD, various other HDDs.

Monitor: Dell 22"/56cm, 1680x1050, 35 pixels/cm

MEP 2021 version 20.0.1.80

Movie Studio 2023 version 22.0.3.172

VPX 12

johnebaker wrote on 5/19/2024, 7:46 AM

@emptech

Hi

. . . . I'm sure this isn't the place to ask but have to start somewhere . . . .

Yes and no.

You are in the correct forum, however have hijacked another users' topic which relates to Sony cameras. Please do not hijack another users topic, start a New Comment if you cannot find a recent topic with the same issues for the same camera make as you are having.

As you have recorded to the CF card, then the video format is probably MPEG 2 Long GOP 4:2:2 which is not supported by MEP 17. Handbrake should be able to convert them to a format MEP 17 will import eg h.264 video and AAC encoded audio.

@AAProds

Hi Al

. . . . I did find an example MXF on the interweb . . . .

I have checked those files and while they do import, I believe they are not original camera files, they appear to be FFMEG conversions.

John EB
Forum Moderator

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Reyfox wrote on 5/23/2024, 4:56 AM

@Arlene-Allen wrote:

Thanks to both answers. It was enough to do timely further research. Looks like Video Pro X is limited. I need both XAVC-I and XAVC-L. Vegas lists those as supported as a kind of afterthought added to the end of the specs. I guess Sony isn't too popular. Catalyst Edit, which I never bought, also of course supports them since its from Sony. Choice I must now make. Also Avid provides support, but I only have the Avid audio suite of tools. No video and a bit pricey.

Sony is popular and the support in Vegas Pro is not an afterthought. Many use Sony cameras for video. If you want to see if Vegas or VPX handle your videos, download the trial versions and give it a go. That's the best way to know for yourself what works and what doesn't, in addition how well it works on your specific computer..

And there is always the option to supply sample raw footage uploaded to the cloud for others to download, test and report back.

 

Reyfox wrote on 5/23/2024, 5:00 AM

@emptech, another option besides Handbrake is Shutter Encoder for converting your files.