How to import MXF files from Canon XF305 into Avid Media Composer?

November 19, 2013 6:31 pm / Posted by Taylor Scorpio to Cameras/Camcorders

Follow @ScorpioTaylor

Canon XF305 camcorder is considered a landmark in the groups of Canon's professional high definition camcorder, which appeals to a wide range from videographers or film-makers to photography fans. It is featured with MPEG-2 Full HD 4:2:2 recording on CompactFlash at up to 50Mbps, 3CMOS sensor array and 18x zoom L-series HD video Lens and so on.

Have captured bundles of .mxf files with the handy Canon XF305. Now, try to edit the MXF footages in Avid Media Composer? However, all you get are passive messages like "Unable to link to any clips at Volume…", "Problems detected in file CLIP.BIN"…. Why does it happen? It results from the incompatibility between MXF file format and Avid MC.

Thus, to convert MXF files to Avid MC acceptable file format like H.264, Xvid or MPEG-2 is needed. Here I recommend the Mac MXF Converter for Avid Media Composer, which seamlessly transcodes MXF file to MP4 or MPG for playback or editing in Avid MC. Have to mention, it can well work with the updated Mountain Lion. If you are running on Windows 7, XP or Vista, please refer to its Windows version of MXF to Avid Media Composer converter. Both Windows version and Mac version share the same operating procedures.

Let's start the step-by-step guide on how to convert MXF from Canon XF305/XF300/XF105/XF100/C300 to MP4 for Avid Media Composer:

Click "Add File" to load one or several MXF file(s) into the application.

Access to "Avid" in the dropdown menu of "Profile". You will find there are three file formats are available: "Avid H.264", "Avid MPEG-2" and "Avid Xvid". Each of these three file format is well compatible with Avid MC. Choose the one you prefer to. If you still intend to editing the MXF in Adobe Premiere, directly select "Premiere"->"Adobe Premiere-MOV" or "Adobe Premiere-MPEG-2", etc.

Press "START" to launch the MXF conversion. When the conversion is completed, you can transfer the generated file to the MC to go on the further editing MXF content in Avid Media Composer. You're done!