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 load directly into the browser session — no upload to a third party, 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 in your browser session 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 clips client-side 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?

When possible, xconvert performs a stream-copy cut that rewraps the existing essence without re-encoding, so XDCAM HD422 stays XDCAM HD422 and DNxHD stays DNxHD. Stream-copy requires the start point to land on a keyframe (an I-frame in Long-GOP XDCAM, every frame in I-frame-only AVC-Intra / DNxHD), so very short or off-keyframe cuts may snap to the nearest preceding keyframe or require a brief re-encode of the head GOP.

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

The output preserves the input's operational pattern: an OP1a XDCAM file produces an OP1a cut, and an OP-Atom Avid clip produces OP-Atom files. This matters because Avid Media Composer expects OP-Atom in its Avid MediaFiles\MXF folders, while Sony XDCAM decks and traffic systems expect OP1a — converting between patterns silently can break ingest.

Does the cut keep my timecode and broadcaster metadata?

The SMPTE 12M timecode track and descriptive metadata KLV packets are preserved through the cut, with the start timecode rewritten to match the new in-point. Closed-caption tracks (ANC data per SMPTE 436M) are carried when present, though some broadcaster-specific extensions (DPP UMID variants, AS-11 segmentation markers) may need to be re-stamped in a dedicated DPP tool after trimming.

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

XDCAM HD422 is constant-bitrate (50 Mbps), but a stream-copy cut starts from the nearest I-frame before your in-point, so the file may include up to 0.5 seconds of pre-roll GOP data. That's normal — the extra frames sit before your declared in-point and don't affect playback start, only on-disk byte count.

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?

Browser-side memory is the practical limit. A 50 Mbps XDCAM HD422 hour is roughly 22 GB, and AVC-Intra 100 runs about 45 GB/hour, so very long rushes can stress lower-RAM devices. 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?

The underlying operation is similar — both perform a stream-copy cut and respect GOP boundaries — but xconvert handles the keyframe lookup, OP1a/OP-Atom preservation, and timecode rewrite without requiring you to write probe commands. If you need scripted batch cuts across hundreds of files (a typical archive migration), ffmpeg -ss <in> -to <out> -c copy from the command line will be faster end-to-end; for ad-hoc 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 with timecode reset to match its in-point.