According to official spec, we can clearly find that Final Cut Pro X/7 support MP4 files although, sometimes still we encounter various issues when importing MP4 to Final Cut Pro X/7. That's because Final Cut Pro X/7 are only confined to MP4 encoded with H.264 currently, if your MP4 video encoded with other codecs which are unfriendly with Final Cut Pro X/7, you'll fail to edit MP4 files on Final Cut Pro X/7.
When comes to MP4 video, Final Cut Pro X/7 can accept most of them, like Flip MP4, Sony bloggie MP4, YouTube MP4, etc. However, this doesn't always work. There are still dozen of .mp4 files can't be imported into the Final Cut Pro X/7.
In fact, weather you can put MP4 into Final Cut Pro X/7 or not all depends on what codec inside the .MP4 files. MP4 is a video container format which may contain different codecs like MPEG-4, H.264, DivX, H.263, etc. Though Final Cut Pro 7 and Final Cut Pro X update to import MP4 video, it only support MP4 encoded with H.264.
If the MP4 is encoded with other video codec, Final Cut Pro X/7 will still fail to import MP4. We need to find another way to perform the task. As we all know, the most compatible video codec for Final Cut Pro X/7 is Apple ProRes, then transocoding MP4 files to ProRes with a third party program is an easy way to edit MP4 videos in FCP.
Of course, to do the video conversion, you need a professional app. Here the professional MP4 to FCP Video Converter for Mac is strongly recommended. Named Pavtube Video Converter for Mac (El Capitan included). It is able to transcode XAVC files to FCP compatible ProRes 422, ProRes 422 HQ, ProRes Proxy, ProRes 422 LT, ProRes 4444 video.
Plus, you may also encode MP4 to iMovie, FCE, Avid MC and more NLE programs highly compatible formats for smooth editing. Besides, it might help you change MP4 to other frequent formats like MOV, MKV, AVI, etc for playback on media devices.
The trail-before-purchase is supported, just feel free to try it:
How to Get Convert MP4 to Apple ProRes for Final Cut Pro X/7
Notes:
1.When converting video to Final Cut Pro oriented format templates(e.g. Apple Prores), please ensure that your computer has Final Cut Pro installed, otherwise the converted files will have audio only without image.
2.If you are using FCP X, please make sure you have installed ProApps QuickTime Codecs, or you may get files with sound only without video.
Step 1. Click the “Add File” button to select the MP4 videos from your hard drive to this program. To save your time, this program supports batch conversion so you can add multiple files at a time.
Tips: When the MP4 files are loaded to the Pavtube Video Converter, you can view the videos from the Preview window. Simply select an item and click the “Play” button. When the video is playing, you are allowed to take snapshoot.
Step 2. Choose output format, to edit videos on Final Cut Pro X/7 native codec, you are recommended to choose Final Cut Pro -> Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov), it’s best for Final Cut Pro X editing.
Read the difference of ProRes.
• Apple ProRes 422 – Higher quality than Apple ProRes 422 (LT);
• Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) – Keep original video quality for editing in FCP;
• Apple ProRes 422 (LT) – Get a smaller file sizes than Apple ProRes 422;
• Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy) – SD levels – 480i/p and 576i/p. Used in offline workflows.
• Apple ProRes 4444 – Edit and finish 4:4:4 material.
Actually, different Apple ProRes codec corresponds to different needs. Here you can refer to this article "Differences among Apple ProRes codec".
Step 3. You can click “settings” to adjust the output parameters, like resolution, bitrate, etc. Don't forget the balance between video quality and size.
Step 4. Click the “Convert” button to start converting MP4 to Apple ProRes 422. After that, click the “Open” button to locate the output files and transfer the files to FCP X/7 as usual.
Launch Final Cut Pro X/7, choose File >> Import >> Files..., and browse to where you save the converted MP4 clips to. Choose the videos that you'd like to add.
Related program:
Pavtube HD Video Converter / Mac Version: It is designed for converting HD videos from HD camcorders or DVs (like JVC, Panasonic, Sony and Cannon), non-protected HD or movies, DVR files (*.tivo) to other file types for playback on popular media devices like Apple TV, PS3, Xobx, Xobx360, WD TV HD Player.
Pavtube Media Magician / Mac Version: A nice camcorder assistant manager, lossless camcorder video joiner, MTS/ M2TS/ MXF/ MOV/ MKV/ TiVo/ WMV/ AVI/ MPG converter and editor. Meamwhile it supported upload edited video to YouTube directly.
Read More:
When comes to MP4 video, Final Cut Pro X/7 can accept most of them, like Flip MP4, Sony bloggie MP4, YouTube MP4, etc. However, this doesn't always work. There are still dozen of .mp4 files can't be imported into the Final Cut Pro X/7.
In fact, weather you can put MP4 into Final Cut Pro X/7 or not all depends on what codec inside the .MP4 files. MP4 is a video container format which may contain different codecs like MPEG-4, H.264, DivX, H.263, etc. Though Final Cut Pro 7 and Final Cut Pro X update to import MP4 video, it only support MP4 encoded with H.264.
If the MP4 is encoded with other video codec, Final Cut Pro X/7 will still fail to import MP4. We need to find another way to perform the task. As we all know, the most compatible video codec for Final Cut Pro X/7 is Apple ProRes, then transocoding MP4 files to ProRes with a third party program is an easy way to edit MP4 videos in FCP.
Of course, to do the video conversion, you need a professional app. Here the professional MP4 to FCP Video Converter for Mac is strongly recommended. Named Pavtube Video Converter for Mac (El Capitan included). It is able to transcode XAVC files to FCP compatible ProRes 422, ProRes 422 HQ, ProRes Proxy, ProRes 422 LT, ProRes 4444 video.
Plus, you may also encode MP4 to iMovie, FCE, Avid MC and more NLE programs highly compatible formats for smooth editing. Besides, it might help you change MP4 to other frequent formats like MOV, MKV, AVI, etc for playback on media devices.
The trail-before-purchase is supported, just feel free to try it:
How to Get Convert MP4 to Apple ProRes for Final Cut Pro X/7
Notes:
1.When converting video to Final Cut Pro oriented format templates(e.g. Apple Prores), please ensure that your computer has Final Cut Pro installed, otherwise the converted files will have audio only without image.
2.If you are using FCP X, please make sure you have installed ProApps QuickTime Codecs, or you may get files with sound only without video.
Step 1. Click the “Add File” button to select the MP4 videos from your hard drive to this program. To save your time, this program supports batch conversion so you can add multiple files at a time.
Tips: When the MP4 files are loaded to the Pavtube Video Converter, you can view the videos from the Preview window. Simply select an item and click the “Play” button. When the video is playing, you are allowed to take snapshoot.
Step 2. Choose output format, to edit videos on Final Cut Pro X/7 native codec, you are recommended to choose Final Cut Pro -> Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov), it’s best for Final Cut Pro X editing.
Read the difference of ProRes.
• Apple ProRes 422 – Higher quality than Apple ProRes 422 (LT);
• Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) – Keep original video quality for editing in FCP;
• Apple ProRes 422 (LT) – Get a smaller file sizes than Apple ProRes 422;
• Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy) – SD levels – 480i/p and 576i/p. Used in offline workflows.
• Apple ProRes 4444 – Edit and finish 4:4:4 material.
Actually, different Apple ProRes codec corresponds to different needs. Here you can refer to this article "Differences among Apple ProRes codec".
Step 3. You can click “settings” to adjust the output parameters, like resolution, bitrate, etc. Don't forget the balance between video quality and size.
Step 4. Click the “Convert” button to start converting MP4 to Apple ProRes 422. After that, click the “Open” button to locate the output files and transfer the files to FCP X/7 as usual.
Launch Final Cut Pro X/7, choose File >> Import >> Files..., and browse to where you save the converted MP4 clips to. Choose the videos that you'd like to add.
Related program:
Pavtube HD Video Converter / Mac Version: It is designed for converting HD videos from HD camcorders or DVs (like JVC, Panasonic, Sony and Cannon), non-protected HD or movies, DVR files (*.tivo) to other file types for playback on popular media devices like Apple TV, PS3, Xobx, Xobx360, WD TV HD Player.
Pavtube Media Magician / Mac Version: A nice camcorder assistant manager, lossless camcorder video joiner, MTS/ M2TS/ MXF/ MOV/ MKV/ TiVo/ WMV/ AVI/ MPG converter and editor. Meamwhile it supported upload edited video to YouTube directly.
Read More:
- Import 4K XAVC XVAC S with FCP 7/X
- Rip and Convert DVD to ProRes 422 for Final Cut Pro on Mac
- Import MXF, MTS, TS, MOV, MP4, MKV to Final Cut Pro 6/7/X for smoothly editing on Mac OS X
- How to fix a general error in final cut pro 7?
- Convert AVCHD MTS/M2TS/M2T/TS to Apple ProRes
