Participant

Question

Sony A7S XML workflow trouble going to Resolve

Forum|Forum|11 years ago
November 1, 2014
9 replies
27135 views

Dear all,

Since upgrading to CC 2014 I have had a lot of trouble getting Sony A7S media to grade in Resolve.

I have no tricky workflows - I merely edit the XAVC-S natively on PP, then clean up the track and FCP XML it to Resolve. It has worked before and is still working just fine with just about any media - Alexa, RED, etc. This is even after updating to 2014.1.

Recenty, I have not been able to get any sequences into Resolve that have A7S media. Resolve cannot locate any media used in the timeline and says "timecode extents do not match". I inspected the XML and it seems that no REEL information is provided in the XML. An XML that has QTs from Alexa has reel numbers, although I don't think this is the issue. Force conforming the clips also does not work, because the IN/OUTs do not match my timeline. I have tried different project settings in Resolve, but to luck.

The only workaround was to use the Project Manager to archive and transcode the project media into something else, open it, then create a new XML from the new project and then into Resolve. That worked, but it's a serious hassle.

So - what is wrong with XAVC-S originating from the Sony A7S? Why won't it XML properly? It worked just fine with CS6, also with CC - but the workflow failed after the CC 2014 version.

This topic has been closed for replies.

A

Anonymous

Actually , the XAVC S codec it shoots in wraps its files into MP4s. These files are extremely difficult to import into all my major film editing software, like Davinci Resolve. According to our experience and other user's feedback, to make your Sony Alpha a7S XAVC-S work well in Davinci Resolve, it’s highly recommended converting a7S XAVC-S clips to DNxHD.mov for Davinci Resolve editing use.

Enable XAVC S files from Sony A7S work with Davinci Resolve

A

AlexStudio

Participant

This has been driving me nuts for 2 weeks but i've discovered a good workaround.

Unless you're set on working in Sonys native .MP4 codec I would strongly recommend transcoding your footage to Pro Res with a program such as:

http://www.aiseesoft.com/hd-converter-for-mac.html

Once you've completed your edit in Premiere, export an XML as normal and then import it into DaVinci (tested with Resolve 12).

Due to the files now being ProRes, DaVinci has no problem sourcing the clips and they even playback better because the program is more compatible with Pro Res anyway.

Hope that helps!

Yichuan Huang

Participant

I got a same issue today hope resolve or premiere can give a solution.

davidhtz

Participating Frequently

Hi there ! I have a new issue :

i work on e film with a7s files, and 4kprores files.

The transcoding roundtrip still does not work from p^remiere to davinci with A7S files. so i try to transcode my premiere cc2014 sequence into dnxHD..

The problem is that in "sequence" mode the a7s files which are shot in 50fps are not transcoded. And in "individual" mode, my 4k prores footages make the transcoding crash.

I also tried the "Ronin Edit" solution by changing manually timecode of my a7s files, but it does not work/

I definitly cannot find a solution to send my sequence in davinci.. that's very embarassing

Thank you

jensf0351

Participant

May you should try to export a single Clip out of PR.
Something with high bitrate DNxHD / MOV Animation Setting / DPX Sequence / TIFF Sequence and so on ..

-------

For 4K Export

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4K Export doesn´t work for DNxHD in PR. If you are on a MAC you should your use 4KProRes.
On Windows I would use 16bit TIFF or DPX Files and a SSD RAiD/HBA.

If you have slow HDDs and Windows I would try MXF OP1a > XAVC Intra 4K Class300 4096x2160.
But Performance is really bad in Resolve on 4K XAVC.
------

Reimport that Clip in your PR Timeline (into an new Track) and use Shortcuts to redo every Edit to your new exported Single Clip.

Select your Clip > Arrow down to jump to the next Edit and Strg + K for cut. Go fast

After you have done all cuts. Duplicate your Timeline > rename it > open it and delete all the "old" footage Clips.

Export your XML and import it into Resolve.

If you use transitions you have to delete it manually and re-add it after re-import.
After deleting the transition add some handles an export every file desperately. You Know.

Give it a try
Cheers

davidhtz

Participating Frequently

Thank you Jeff ; I'll try this.

Or maybe without re-cutting the clip; i'll try to use the scene cut detection into resolve

I really hope that this timecode issu will be resolved soon, i work evey day on a7s footages and this thing drives me crazy !

I also do not really know which dnxhd preset to use .. i used to work with prores on my old mac. do you think dnx 185x 1080p25 is a good preset ?

And do i lost quality when transcoding in dnx hd ?

Thank you very much

David

jensf0351

Participant

"RoninEdit" has the answer ...

He tried to change the <string> with notepad++ to:

but instead of changing the values to "0" I just delete the 2 lines ... this is a little bit faster ...

For me it worked excellent

Of Course you need some time to make the changes in the XML ...
but if you are fast you get 10 shots per min ...

I´m working with PR CC2014.2 (8.2.0) and Resolve 11.3 ...

Best Solution at the time ...

Thank you very much "RoninEdit"

RoninEdits

Inspiring

glad to hear that worked, and thanks for reporting it.

K

kenneth.c.merrill

Participant

I just started having this issue today. Not fun. I'm going to try a different method: export Premiere Pro sequence as a quicktime video file, import into DaVinci Resolve using Scene Cut Detection. Not elegant, but possibly workable for shorter projects.

A

Anonymous

Found a solution. its not perfect and takes a little bit of time but definitely worth trying because it just works.

First import all the footage into Resolve and import the xml, of course you will get the *failed to link because the timecode extents...* its ok. take a screen capture of it in order to remember all names.

Then search for the first footage and open the clip attributes. the current frame timecode short be 00:00:00:00 now go and find the same excat clip in premire and copy/paste the Start TC into clip attribute you opened in resolve. and you should have on clip sorted. do the excat same thing for the next 30/50 or 100 clips that you have and you're good to go.

L

LazyFox87

Participant

gert kombate wrote:
Found a solution. its not perfect and takes a little bit of time but definitely worth trying because it just works.
First import all the footage into Resolve and import the xml, of course you will get the *failed to link because the timecode extents...* its ok. take a screen capture of it in order to remember all names.
Then search for the first footage and open the clip attributes. the current frame timecode short be 00:00:00:00 now go and find the same excat clip in premire and copy/paste the Start TC into clip attribute you opened in resolve. and you should have on clip sorted. do the excat same thing for the next 30/50 or 100 clips that you have and you're good to go.

I'd like to point out that this guy right here has the exact answer to this question. This came up for me recently and I know it may be old info in the thread but it's still relevant.

If anyone has already shot their project, do the above (import the clips in question that appear in your timeline, change timecode to zero in clip attributes in resolve, then import the XML)

If you are yet to shoot - if possible, always zero your timecodes on every clip.

If you need timecodes for whatever reason (broadcast, multicam, whatever) then either do the first statement above, in resolve. Or alternatively you may be on such a professional shoot and be such a pro that you don't need this info. But for the self-taught and the prosumers, this issue can be a real flabberghasting pain, but the above is the answer

easymate13

Participating Frequently

Thank you, LazyFox87

I just started using Sony a6500, and got the same issue with xml from Premiere CS6 to Davinci Resolve 12.5

This advice really helped, and I understood it better than that of the original poster

That's ridiculous that it's still an issue in August 2017.

Is it going to be solved?

I couldn't imagine that switching from Canon to Sony would be such a pain.

davidhtz

Participating Frequently

Hi,

I have exactly the same setup, and exactly the same problem with the xml roundtrip export from premiere to davinci since i am on CC2014.. When i was on CS6 it used to work fine. Hope this will be fixed soon

I use A7s . Premiere CC2014 and Davinci last update

RoninEdits

Inspiring

when you look at the media in resolve does it have a blank or all zero timecode? if so, have you tried an older version of resolve, like 10 to see if it reads timecode? if premiere reads the timecode and resolve doesn't, you could post on blackmagic's forums for a bug fix.

davidhtz

Participating Frequently

The media in resolve seems to have the right timecode.. but i cannot see the video of these a7s medias

KR Davidson

Participant

Hello!

I am also having the same issue with my A7s footage and XML output to Resolve....I know Resolve is having an issue with the audio from my clips when I import directly, this is a real problem as I am loosing the simplicity of workflow that is needed and had an easier time with my ML Raw workflow.

Any help with this issue is greatly appreciated!

R

reinistraidasAuthor

Participant

Really, is there nobody else using Premiere CC 2014 with Sony A7S files and Resolve?

RoninEdits

Inspiring

there are two ways to have resolve import media, have you tried both?

first is by importing the xml and let it bring in the media using "Automatically import source clips into the media pool".

the second way is to start with a blank project in resolve, set the project frame rate and such to match the premiere project settings, add the video clips to resolves media pool, then import the xml and uncheck "Automatically import source clips into the media pool" and "Automatically set project settings" in the XML import dialog box.

the sony has other formats such as regular mp4? do those files do the same? i would agree with you that the empty Reel in the xml isn't the problem. it is more likely that adobe changed something that broke this workflow with XAVC-S files. its always two steps forward, one step back with adobe. if say half of your timeline or less is from the sony a7s and XAVC-S files, another workaround is to use the "render and replace" feature to only transcode those files. just place those clips on their own track as you edit to easily find and select them all. if worse comes to worse, this is a work around until adobe can fix the bug.

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