Final Cut Hack - T2i Direct Import

The Canon T2i (aka the 550D) broke new ground when it was released late last year. It gave the functionality, professionalism, and convienience that you get shooting on the 5DMII or 7D without the premium pricetags. Yes, it doesn't use a full sensor and yes, it doesn't come in the magnesium mold shell but it opens up the world of DSLR cinematography to a whole new budget...and I jumped on that bandwagon.

If you are using a T2i you know that there is no simple solution to importing footage. If you try to log and transfer you get something like this:

The easiest route was click and drag which copies the files over as a quicktime file and needs to be rer-endered every time it is moved within the your timeline. Well, you'll be happy to know, there is a solution.

A few months back Canon released an EOS Final Cut Pro 'Log and Transfer' plugin that steamlined the transfer process for the 7D and 5DMII within Final Cut. The problem is that they only included their "professional" line and not the "prosumer" line. The T2i missed the bus on this one. Fortunately for us, there is a quick and easy fix that literally takes no time at all (thanks to thebuibrothers.com). It is as simple as changing a line of code in the plugin from "EOS 7D" to "EOS T2i" and it works flawlessly. Makes you wonder why Canon didn't just add that from the start.


Step 1: Download EOS plugin HERE
Step 2: Find the "camera.plist" file by navigating the following: 
Finder > Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support > Proapps > RAD > MIO > Plugins > CanonE1.Radplug > Contents > Resources > "camera.plist"
Step 3: Open up "camera.plist" in an html editor and replace the "7D" and "EOS 7D" with "T2i" and "EOS T2i" 
Step 4: Save and you are up and running. As simple as that.


Hope this helps.