Cut MXF

How to Cut MXF Files Online

1. Upload Your MXF File: Drag and drop, or click "+ Add Files" to select .mxf clips from your computer. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection to our servers — no third-party storage, no account, no watermark. Batch is supported, so you can queue several rushes from the same shoot.
2. Set the Time Range: Use the Start time and Duration fields under the Trim panel (formatted HH:MM:SS). Pick Time Range mode to mark a single keep-region, or repeat the action to extract multiple sub-clips. Markers respect the source frame rate (23.976, 25, 29.97, 50, 59.94 fps).
3. Confirm the Output Wrapper (Optional): MXF stays wrapped as MXF on output, preserving the embedded essence (XDCAM HD422, AVC-Intra 100, DNxHD/DNxHR, IMX, or JPEG 2000) so downstream NLEs ingest it as native broadcast media. Need a different container? Use MXF to MP4 or MXF to MOV instead.
4. Cut and Download: Click Cut. The clip processes on our servers and is removed from our edge servers after a short retention window — no sign-up, no watermark, no daily file cap.

Why Cut MXF Files?

MXF (Material Exchange Format) is the SMPTE ST 377-1 container that broadcast, post-production, and digital-cinema workflows standardised on after the 2004 publication of the spec — the latest revision is ST 377-1:2019. It wraps essence (video, multi-channel audio, captions) plus rich timecode and metadata in a single Operational Pattern (OP1a is one self-contained file; OP-Atom holds each track as a separate file, the layout Panasonic P2 and Avid MediaFiles use). Trimming MXF via xconvert's servers keeps the file inside that ecosystem instead of round-tripping through a consumer format and losing broadcast-grade metadata.

• Cut tape-replacement OP1a rushes from XDCAM cameras — Sony PMW, PXW and FX9 cameras record MPEG-2 Long-GOP XDCAM HD422 at 50 Mbps into MXF OP1a; trimming the keepers before NLE ingest cuts hours off proxy generation on the next-day edit.
• Pull selects from Panasonic P2 / AVC-Intra footage — VariCam, AJ-PX and EVA1 record AVC-Intra 100/200 inside OP-Atom MXF on P2 / microP2 cards. Cutting unused takes before archiving frees expensive solid-state media for the next shoot.
• Trim Avid DNxHD/DNxHR media for hand-off — Avid Media Composer stores DNxHD/DNxHR essence in MXF OP-Atom. A 10-minute DNxHR HQ 1080p clip is roughly 13 GB; cutting it down to the 90-second sequence the colourist actually needs saves bandwidth on every Aspera or LucidLink push.
• Prepare ad-spot deliverables for TV station traffic systems — DPP, AS-11, CableLabs and most broadcaster delivery specs require an MXF master at an exact slate-to-slate duration. A frame-accurate cut on the head and tail is the difference between an accepted spot and a rejected one.
• Archive only the broadcast-clean section — strip pre-roll bars-and-tone, slates, and post-roll black before depositing to LTO or S3 Glacier so the archived asset matches the on-air version and metadata stays useful for the next search.
• Slice multi-hour ENG recordings into story-length files — long XDCAM EX or PXW press-conference captures often run 90+ minutes; cutting them into per-story MXF files makes the newsroom MAM (Avid Interplay, Dalet, EVS) ingest and tag them correctly.

MXF vs MP4 vs MOV — Container Comparison

Property	MXF	MP4	MOV
Defining standard	SMPTE ST 377-1 (2004, rev. 2019)	ISO/IEC 14496-14 (ISOBMFF)	Apple QuickTime spec
MIME type	application/mxf (RFC 4539)	video/mp4	video/quicktime
Primary use	Broadcast, post-production, archival	Streaming, web, mobile delivery	Mac editing, ProRes mastering
Typical codecs	XDCAM HD422, AVC-Intra, DNxHD/HR, IMX, JPEG 2000, ProRes	H.264, H.265/HEVC, AV1, AAC	ProRes, DNxHD, H.264, PCM
Timecode / metadata	Native multi-essence, timecode track, descriptive metadata, ANC data	Limited (edit lists, basic chapters)	Timecode track, edit lists
NLE-native ingest	Avid, Premiere, Resolve, EDIUS	Premiere, Resolve, FCP (via QuickTime)	FCP, Premiere, Resolve, Avid
Operational patterns	OP1a (one file) / OP-Atom (per-essence files) / OP1b, OP2a, OP3	Single file only	Single file only
Browser playback	None (no consumer codec path)	Universal	Safari, partial Chrome

MXF Operational Patterns and Camera Codecs

Variant	Layout	Common essence	Where you encounter it
OP1a	All tracks interleaved in one .mxf file	XDCAM HD422 (50 Mbps), HDCAM SR Lite, IMX D-10	Sony XDCAM disc/SxS/SD cards, ad-spot delivery, DPP / AS-11
OP-Atom	One file per essence track (V + each A)	AVC-Intra 50/100/200, DNxHD 145/220, DNxHR SQ/HQ/HQX/444	Panasonic P2/microP2, Avid Media Composer media folders
OP1b	Multiple essence tracks in one file, non-interleaved	JPEG 2000 (lossless)	Digital Cinema Package mezzanine, archive masters
RDD 9 / XDCAM HD422 MXF	OP1a profile	MPEG-2 Long-GOP 4:2:2 @ 50 Mbps	Sony broadcast newsroom standard
AS-11 / DPP	Constrained OP1a profile	AVC-Intra 100 or AVC Long-G	UK / EU broadcaster ingest (BBC, ITV, Channel 4)

Frequently Asked Questions

Does cutting an MXF file re-encode the video?

Yes — every cut decodes the essence and re-encodes it at the visually-lossless default preset; there is no rewrap/stream-copy path, so XDCAM HD422 or DNxHD essence comes out as a freshly encoded stream rather than the original bytes. The upside is that the cut is frame-accurate — no snapping to I-frames, even on Long-GOP XDCAM. For a byte-identical essence rewrap, cut locally with ffmpeg -c copy.

Will my cut MXF stay in OP1a or OP-Atom?

Don't rely on the operational pattern surviving: the cut re-encodes and re-wraps the essence, producing a fresh standard MXF wrap rather than a guaranteed pattern-matched copy. This matters because Avid Media Composer expects OP-Atom in its Avid MediaFiles\MXF folders, while Sony XDCAM decks and traffic systems expect OP1a — if your pipeline is strict about the pattern, re-wrap the cut in your ingest tool before delivery.

Does the cut keep my timecode and broadcaster metadata?

Not reliably. The cut re-encodes the essence, and the SMPTE 12M timecode track, descriptive-metadata KLV packets, and ANC closed-caption data (SMPTE 436M) are not guaranteed to carry into the output. For broadcaster delivery, re-stamp timecode and metadata (DPP UMID variants, AS-11 segmentation markers) in a dedicated DPP tool after trimming, and keep the untouched source as the metadata reference.

Why does the file size of a Long-GOP XDCAM cut not match the bitrate × duration calculation?

Because the cut is re-encoded: XDCAM HD422 sources are constant-bitrate (50 Mbps), but the output is a freshly encoded stream at the visually-lossless default preset, so its bitrate varies with content rather than holding the source's constant rate. The file starts exactly at your in-point — there's no pre-roll GOP data.

Can I extract just the audio tracks from an MXF cut?

This page outputs MXF. To pull audio out as a separate file, run the cut here first, then use MXF to WAV for broadcast-WAV PCM or MXF to MP3 for a compressed proxy. Note that MXF can carry up to 16 channels of 24-bit PCM (per SMPTE ST 382), so confirm the target format supports your channel count.

My camera writes MXF in BPAV / Clip / XDROOT folders — what do I upload?

The actual .mxf essence files live inside BPAV/CLPR/<clip>/<clip>.MXF (XDCAM EX SxS), Contents/Video/*.MXF (XDCAM disc), or Contents/Clip/*.MXF (P2). Upload the .MXF file itself, not the parent folder. For P2 OP-Atom workflows you'll typically have separate audio .MXF files in Contents/Audio/ — upload them alongside the video if you need a synchronized cut, though most post-production pipelines re-wrap to OP1a before web tooling.

What's the maximum MXF file size and length the cutter handles?

The practical limit is upload size and connection speed. A 50 Mbps XDCAM HD422 hour is roughly 22 GB, and AVC-Intra 100 runs about 45 GB/hour, so very long rushes take time to upload. For multi-hour ENG recordings, cut the source into 30-60 minute chunks on the original ingest workstation first, then bring the chunks here for the precision trim.

How does this compare to running ffmpeg -c copy locally?

They differ fundamentally: ffmpeg -c copy rewraps the original essence byte-for-byte but can only cut at GOP boundaries, while xconvert re-encodes the kept range at the visually-lossless default preset, making the cut frame-accurate but not byte-identical. If you need scripted batch cuts across hundreds of files (a typical archive migration) or bit-exact essence preservation, ffmpeg -ss <in> -to <out> -c copy from the command line is the right tool; for ad-hoc frame-accurate cuts on a handful of MXFs from a shoot, the browser tool avoids the toolchain setup.

Can I cut multiple sub-clips from one MXF file?

Yes. Repeat the time-range selection to mark several keep regions in a single source clip — useful for pulling individual soundbites out of a long interview MXF, or extracting per-story segments from a press-conference recording. Each region is exported as its own MXF file.