Apple’s ‘just works’ philosophy has hit a snag for those shooting video on an iPhone for editing in Final Cut Pro X: the app doesn’t yet support the new H.265 High Efficiency Video Coding used in iOS 11.
The HEVC codec is, as the name suggests, a far more space-efficient way to compress video, reducing the space needed to store video by as much as 50%. But right now, any HEVC video footage you import into FCP X will be unusable …
A member of the Final Cut Pro Radio Facebook group reported it, after discussion with Apple support staff.
Apple is aware of the problem and will undoubtedly issue a fix shortly. Oddly, Apple pushed a compatibility update to iMovie ahead of doing so to FCP X. Granted more iPhone shooters will be using the consumer app than the pro one, you’d have thought both updates would have been made at the same time.
If you haven’t yet shot video you need to edit with FCP, there’s an easy fix.
If you have existing HEVC footage you need to edit in FCP, there’s a slightly less easy workaround.
We’ve asked Apple for comment, and will update with any response.
