FCPX not importing Prores file from iPhone

[sebalvarez]

I shot a video recently on my iPhone 14 Pro Max at 4k Prores 24 fps. According to what I read, each minute should amount to about 6 Gbps. This video was 20+ minutes long. I tried importing into FCPX twice, with the phone connected using a lightning to USB-C cable, which we all know is slow as molases so I let it import, turned off the monitor and went to bed. The first time. The next day, I found an error.

The second time, today, I created a whole new library, in an external OWC 4 TB thunderbolt drive that is pretty fast, and has almost one free terabyte, and tried importing the video again. It showed me this error after probably half an hour.

When I click ok, the video seems to be imported, but it seems to me that it's still on the phone, because playback is almost impossible. It plays less than a frame per second, which would only make sense if played from the iPhone with the pathetic lightning connection. Any of my drives can play Prores in real time without any hiccups. Also, if I check the library, the size is just a few megabytes, so there's no chance it imported this, and it was set copy the file to the library.

After that I tried one more time, and same error. I wondered if the almost one terabyte free space I had in the drive was enough, so I looked up online and at 6 GB per minute of Prores video, if the video is 21 minutes to be safe, that gives me 126 GB, far below the 904 GB this drive has left.

Now I'm trying importing it via iMovie and see what happens, but again because of the pathetic lightning connector (great move Apple, put Prores on a phone with transfer speeds from 15 years ago), it's taking forever for just a 20 minute video.

Has anyone come across anything like this?

 

[R S K]

Why are you even using Lightning? Send it via AirDrop which uses Wifi Direct?! Depending on your Wifi we're talking up to 10 Gbps as opposed to 480 Mbps. Do it via 5G (e.g. to iCloud) and you're looking at up to 20 Gbps.

Either way and assuming you can't use Wifi for some reason, I wouldn't use FC in the first place. You'll either want to use the "Image Capture" app or, given the space, simply let it sync to your Photos library and then import it from there.

Why did you need to record 20+ minutes in ProRes of all things to begin with?

What the datarate is is shown on your iPhone right underneath the Apple ProRes switch, btw. Little reason to look it up elsewhere. 😉

 

[R S K]

great move Apple, put Prores on a phone with transfer speeds from 15 years ago

Remind us: What wifi or cellular connection had 10-20 Gbps 15 years ago? 🤔


So you'd rather not be able to record in ProRes? 😏

 

[sebalvarez]

Why are you even using Lightning? Send it via AirDrop which uses Wifi Direct?! Depending on your Wifi we're talking up to 10 Gbps as opposed to 480 Mbps. Do it via 5G (e.g. to iCloud) and you're looking at up to 20 Gbps.

You have Wi-Fi that goes up to 10 Gbps? I didn't know it goes that high these days. But my cable modem/router gives me whatever was the highest in 2016, which I think was about 300 Mbps. So 480 Mbps for the pathetic lightning connection would still be faster.

And sorry, what 5G are you talking about? You mean finding a good 5G hotspot, letting the video upload to iCloud (which by the way, it's been sitting on the phone for over a week, and still hasn't upload because of the size. But the best 5G hotspot I came across, for which I'd have to drive 4 miles and sit at a parking lot for who knows how long, doesn't give me anywhere near 20 Gbps. It gives me speeds much faster than my pathetic Spectrum cable connection, but the upload at best is 70 Mbps, I'm not sure you can even get 20 Gbps anywhere with 5G. Are you from the future, like ten years from now?

Either way and assuming you can't use Wifi for some reason, I wouldn't use FC in the first place. You'll either want to use the "Image Capture" app or, given the space, simply let it sync to your Photos library and then import it from there.

Good idea, I hadn't thought of Image Capture. But when I shoot video and I want to edit it right away, I connect the phone to my Mac as I always did, unless it's a bunch of short videos I shot days ago and already synced.

Why did you need to record 20+ minutes in ProRes of all things to begin with?

Why does that matter to you? I did it because of picture quality, plain and simple. Unless it's something I don't care much about, I always shot in Prores and take photos in Proraw. It's why every month I pay $30 to have an excellent phone with the highest amount of storage available. This is a $2,000, so if I want to shoot Prores until I fill up the 1 TB internal storage I'm going to do it, because that's what I paid for.

Remind us: What wifi or cellular connection had 10-20 Gbps 15 years ago? 🤔


So you'd rather not be able to record in ProRes? 😏

What Wi-Fi or cellular, or 10-20 Gbps are you talking about? I was obviously referring to the ridiculous fact that Apple has a phone so advanced that no science fiction writer could've imagined in their wildest dreams just 30 years ago, and they put the ability to shoot Prores with it, but cripple it with a pathetic connection from 15 years ago or more that only goes up to 480 Mbps, when we've had all kinds of much newer technologies since then, all with the same connector, the USB-C one that finally they put on the iPhone 15 forced by Europe, when they should've put it around the same time they put it on all their other devices, like Macs, some iPads, etc, and transferring all that Prores footage would've been a breeze.

Shoot the footage, come home, plug in the phone to the Mac, give it a few minutes, and it's ready to edit. That's the way it should be.

 

[R S K]

Wow. Not sure what all the superfluous snark is all about, but never mind that I wrote "up to" several times (just ask Qualcomm if you're so horribly incredulous over the numbers that I apparently made up) since I'm quite aware that they are max. speeds that depend on various factors, like, oh I dunno… which hardware/connection you have? But sure, just ignore all that so you can clutch your pearls over my horrible presumptuousness that you should have hardware from this decade beyond just a phone. How could I? 😱

I "only" get around 1.5 Gbps on my 5G at home. But then I am not somewhere in the boondocks, USA, either and it's better elsewhere. The upload stinks in comparison, but it's still faster than Lightning. Go figger.

And yeah, but I'm actually from the year 2023 where my Wifi 6E router gets around 2.4 Gbps, and it isn't even the fastest.

Never mind that the overall point was that most anything is faster than Lightning. Plain and simple. But you hang onto your incredulity and shoot ProRes simply "Because I can, dammit!". Shoot first, complain later. Ah yes, and the ol' "Apple should coulda woulda" and it's of course their fault, too, that you buy a 14 and insist on shooting 20-minute clips in ProRes even though you know both the file sizes and transfer speeds in advance. Got it.

But I guess you'd also buy a Ferrari and then lament over the fact that you can't even drive it at top speed because there are no race tracks in your area and that the way you drive uses more gas than you can afford? 🤔

It's why every month I pay $30 to have an excellent phone with the highest amount of storage available.

Guess that's not enough for an excellent iPhone 15 with the highest amount of data transfer. 🤷🏼‍♂️

I did it because of picture quality, plain and simple.

Because the iPhone's HEVC isn't already worlds above anything I even need for professional productions. Of course, if I want real quality then I shoot with a real camera or at least in LOG with my 15… oh, which you can't… to make an actual (if only minor) difference to HEVC. But I guess you do it for a living also and are just much more professional than me. Oh well.

That's the way it should be.

And the way it is when and if you live and work within your needs and technical prerequisites.

See, I can do superfluous snark, too. 👍🏼

Flame on.

 

[sebalvarez]

My God, what a load of crap! Typical arrogant idiot looking for a fight, and one who doesn't even know what he's talking about. And I'm going to answer not because of you, but to show other people what a small brain you have.

I spent $200 on the best router in the market back in 2016 so it would last many years. I'm not spending another $200 now just to have Wi-Fi 6, when it's something that maybe 3 or 4 of my devices have, and the only ones I use Wi-Fi on are my phone and my wife's. My Mac Studio has it, but it's connected to the router via ethernet, and that's all I need. My cable internet, the fastest service I can get at my house, goes up to at best 400 Mbps, and my only file transfer needs are between my Mac Studio and my old PC with mechanical hard drives that go up to 130 MBps at best, so my router gives me what I need. If some day I need something faster, I'll spend the money then.

My iPhone 14 Pro Max, in almost every regard a miracle of science, should not have a wired connection with speeds from the year 2000, A.K.A. 23 years old. Given that this phone was the best and most expensive phone in September 2022, it should have USB-C and USB 4 speeds, but at the bare minimum, USB 3.2 speeds.

But I guess you'd also buy a Ferrari and then lament over the fact that you can't even drive it at top speed because there are no race tracks in your area and that the way you drive uses more gas than you can afford? 🤔

This is just the most stupid comparison I've ever read. First of all, I wouldn't buy a Ferrari. Not a brand I particularly like. If I were to buy a so called "supercar", I wouldn't drive it at top speed because I wouldn't want to hit a rock on the road, spin 20 times and end up dying against a guardrail or a truck. How does driving a Ferrari at top speed compare to USB 4 speeds? Am I going to risk my life and that of others if my phone has USB 4 speeds? You're an idiot.

Never mind that the overall point was that most anything is faster than Lightning. Plain and simple. But you hang onto your incredulity and shoot ProRes simply "Because I can, dammit!". Shoot first, complain later. Ah yes, and the ol' "Apple should coulda woulda" and it's of course their fault, too, that you buy a 14 and insist on shooting 20-minute clips in ProRes even though you know both the file sizes and transfer speeds in advance. Got it.

I have no idea how you get around people being this acid and dumb. Why I choose to shoot in Prores is none of your damn business. But it is definitely not "Because I can, dammit!". It's because it's a high quality semi-professional camera that I can carry in my pocket wherever I go and ready to shoot in seconds, in a codec that has little compression compared to HEVC. That's why I spent more in the 1 TB model.

I see the difference between shooting video in HEVC and Prores. So depending on what I'm shooting, I choose one or the other.

And if I want to complain about Apple making stupid decisions in not putting current technology in the most expensive phone they sold in 2022, I have all the right to do so, both as a consumer, and as an Apple shareholder.

Apple fanboys like you defend Apple to the extent a cult member defends its cult. I'm a huge Apple fan, I have spent tens of thousands in their hardware and software for the last 24 years, and still do to this day. I love my Mac Studio M1 Ultra, my 15" Macbook Air, my iPhone 14 Pro Max, my Apple Watch, my iPad, my 2 Apple TV 4Ks, and my old Intel iMac and Intel Macbook Pro. That doesn't mean that I'm going to take them for granted and not complain about things that suck about them.

Guess that's not enough for an excellent iPhone 15 with the highest amount of data transfer. 🤷🏼‍♂️

You may not know this, given that you sound like a rich college boy, but people usually buy these very expensive phones in monthly installments. If I bought mine in September 2022, along with my wife's (which is exactly the same one, not because she needs 1 TB of storage but because I figured I could use it if we were on a trip or something and my phone ran out of storage), that means that I will finish paying it off in 2025, and I'm OK with that. My provider, Verizon, told me they don't offer those plans like other providers do where you pay $10 a month just so you can turn your phone in and upgrade to the latest and greatest as soon as it comes out. But I was, and I am fine with that.

There's always going to be a better iPhone, doesn't mean that money falls from the sky and I need to get it. I love my 2022 Mac Studio M1 Ultra, and this year they released the M2. I spent $5,000 in mine, so I'm not going to spend another $5k on the M2, or sell my M1 and have to put money on top just to get the latest and greatest. My Mac Studio is insanely fast for everything I do, so is my Macbook Air with 2 TB of internal storage and 24 GB of RAM.

The only good thing you said in all your avalanche of vitriol is the suggestion that I should try Image Capture. And that was the only thing you should've said, because it actually worked. I tried FCP three times, didn't work. I tried iMovie, I thought it had worked, but then the video was 6 minutes short. Image Capture worked.

All the rest is just noise, and pointless. Why I or anybody else choose to shoot Prores is none of your business.

 

[R S K]

… one who doesn't even know what he's talking about […] but to show other people what a small brain you have.

😂​

Oh, the purest of irony.

I see the difference between shooting video in HEVC and Prores.

Sure you do. 👍🏼

 

[sebalvarez]

😂​

Oh, the purest of irony.



Sure you do. 👍🏼

You go with that, kid. You’re going to make a lot of friends in life.

 

[R S K]

🤣​

The painful irony continues.

 

[e1me5]

Try using Photos to import the files. Might be more robust as a connection.

 

[JimmyG]

Stumbled onto this topic whilst researching "iphone prores FCP", for those interested in what Apple has to say on "how to import from iPhone to Mac FCP"...

Import into Final Cut Pro for Mac from iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Import into Final Cut Pro for Mac from iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

In Final Cut Pro for Mac, import video and audio you’ve recorded with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

support.apple.com

Solving for one's needs and desires for recording internally and being able to attain optimal file transfer times, the 14 ProMax is clearly not the ideal tool for the job, such are the perils of buying into leading-edge technology. Recording to an external SSD (or other storage device) via the USB-C port in a 15 ProMax would be a more viable solution at this point in time, plug the drive into one's Mac and get to work in FCP, et voilá!

About Apple ProRes on iPhone - Apple Support

About Apple ProRes on iPhone - Apple Support

Learn about Apple ProRes on iPhone. Apple ProRes enables multistream, real-time editing performance while delivering professional image quality.

support.apple.com

From my experiences, being "first in line" to try out new technology generally (and expectedly) involves having to deal with an unfinished, or yet to be well-implemented, hardware/software chain. Best to redirect one's energies from blaming one's tools, especially when one knows in advance of the limitations and bottlenecks involved when choosing those tools, is "best practice"...well, IMHO.

 

[sebalvarez]

From my experiences, being "first in line" to try out new technology generally (and expectedly) involves having to deal with an unfinished, or yet to be well-implemented, hardware/software chain. Best to redirect one's energies from blaming one's tools, especially when one knows in advance of the limitations and bottlenecks involved when choosing those tools, is "best practice"...well, IMHO.

Well, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is hardly "the first in line", as the number 14 clearly shows. But if you apply it to recording video in Prores, well, you can't really call it "first in line" when the iPhone 13 was the first one that had video recording to Prores.

And no offense, but I'm going to post my opinion as much as I want to, because if a device that is such a marvel of technology shows how Apple cut corners on it on this particular issue, having put USB-C ports in some of their devices for several years, but they waited until the European Union twisted their arm to replace an outdated connector. I can shout my opinion to the whole world if I want to, because I'm paying a ton of money for this device, and at least in the case of this file, which is nothing out of the ordinary, it's just a 20 minute 4K 24p Prores video that this phone is supposed to record just fine, doesn't transfer to FCPX as it should, as Apple describes in that first link you put in there.

Now of course this is just a school concert, so it's not the end of the world, but FCPX should've imported this file just fine, even with its grossly outdated "lightning" connector with a name so misleading that it's laughable.

 

[coolguy4747]

All snark aside, still not clear why you don't want to use Airdrop? Seems like your best bet with a Mac Studio and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

 

[sebalvarez]

All snark aside, still not clear why you don't want to use Airdrop? Seems like your best bet with a Mac Studio and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

I already brought in the file, but good suggestion. I'll give it a try. I'm just an old school videographer, used to connect things with a cable to import.

That said, is file transfer via Airdrop completely lossless? Don't get me wrong, I love Airdrop and it's one of the reasons why to me the Apple ecosystem is so great.

 

[avkills]

No idea how you have FCP X setup and I personally don't us it. But most editing apps when you import something it does not transfer said file to your computer but attempts to read, make waveforms from wherever the file resides which is probably why it is erroring out.

Airdrop is lossless. Basically Airdrop is like having a direct network connection between the 2 devices except it is wireless and on demand; I'm not even sure it goes through the wireless router; but it probably does.

Or use Image Capture to manually copy from the iPhone to your computer drive.

 

[sebalvarez]

But most editing apps when you import something it does not transfer said file to your computer but attempts to read, make waveforms from wherever the file resides which is probably why it is erroring out.

Well, I have imported many video files from this phone the same way into FCPX without any issues.

 

[avkills]

Well, I have imported many video files from this phone the same way into FCPX without any issues.

Not sure then, but ProRes files are way way more data than H264 or H265. So I would use Image Capture to copy them over first then import them.