Repair · Sony · XAVC · MP4
Repair broken Sony footage.
XAVC-I 4K50p, XAVC-S, ProRes proxies, MP4 from the FX3, A7S III, A1, A7 IV, FX30, FX6 or older bodies. Haven reads the uuid headers, rebuilds moov and MEDIAPRO structures and corrects audio drift.
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Supported
- · FX3
- · FX30
- · A7S III
- · A7 IV
- · A7R V
- · A1
- · FX6
- · FX9
- · RX100 VII
Recognize your problem?
Common damage patterns with Sony
DiskDrill-recovered file will not open
After an accidental format or a card crash, DiskDrill has restored the files — but not one of them plays. A classic sign of missing or damaged uuid headers.
Premiere Pro: red "Media offline"
The file imports into the project, but Premiere shows only a red strip. Sony Catalyst cannot load it either. The container is there, but the codec parameters are lost.
Audio runs 480–640 ms ahead of or behind the picture
Classic drift after an interrupted XAVC recording: the 24-bit PCM audio track has a different duration than the picture. Haven measures the drift and corrects it to the millisecond.
Only a "MEDIAPRO" shell, no playable video
On Sony cinema cards (FX6/FX9) you find a MEDIAPRO folder structure, but the actual MP4s are too small or damaged. Usually mdat truncation when the card filled up.
Why does this happen?
The most common causes
01
SD card ejected during recording
For XAVC-I Class 480, Sony writes up to 500 Mbit/s. On an eject mid-write, the last 30–60 seconds are often gone, along with the entire moov block that sits at the end of the file.
02
Card accidentally formatted + DiskDrill
Recovery tools rebuild files from header signatures. With Sony XAVC, though, the critical uuid box does not sit at the start but only after ftyp. DiskDrill often returns fragments with broken or mixed-up uuid bytes.
03
Buffer underrun on a slow card
XAVC-I 4K50p needs V90 cards. A card that is too slow causes dropped frames mid-recording — visible jumps in the material and audio drift afterwards.
04
Recording interrupted by a battery swap
When the battery dies abruptly under load (4K recording, stabiliser active), the write cannot finish cleanly. The container is left open.
How to do it
Repair in four steps
- 01
Extract the file and a reference
Copy the damaged XAVC/MP4 plus an intact clip from the same camera with the same settings (resolution, frame rate, bitrate class!) onto your machine. Note: 25p Class 240 has a different SPS/PPS than 50p Class 480, even when the uuid bytes look similar.
- 02
On cinema cards: keep the MEDIAPRO structure intact
If you are repairing from an FX6/FX9, copy the entire MEDIAPRO/PRIVATE folder structure, not just the MP4. Haven uses the XML sidecar files as extra reference for correct frame rates and timecodes.
- 03
Haven analyses the uuid header and bitstream
When you drop it into Haven, the uuid box is read first (it holds profile, level, bitrate class). If the uuid is contradictory (which can happen after DiskDrill), Haven checks the mdat stream by counting AUDs and proposes a corrected frame rate.
- 04
See the audio drift, then export
In the preview you see the corrected audio track directly — the drift correction is shown as a mono status bar ("audio shifted -480ms"). Once everything lines up, you export as an unencrypted MP4 or MOV.
Engineering detail
Sony XAVC is not always Sony XAVC
The uuid box holds the exact profile at byte 0x6e. 7A 10 33 = Profile 122 Level 5.1 (which is 25p Class 240), 7A 10 34 = Profile 122 Level 5.2 (50p Class 480). On DiskDrill-recovered files these bytes can be mixed in from neighbouring sectors and show wrong values — so Haven verifies additionally through the inter-frame block structure (12 frames/block @ 0.48s = 25p, 24 frames/block = 50p).
For CLI nerds — fallback without Haven
untrunc -n -s referenz.mp4 kaputt.mp4untrunc-anthwlock with -s (skip unknown sequences) handles many Sony files. On XAVC-I with a corrupted uuid header, though, it also needs manual patching of the SPS/PPS — which Haven automates.
FAQ · Sony
Common questions
Does this work with FX6/FX9 XAVC-L and Cinema Master?
Yes, both the Long-GOP variants (XAVC-L) and Intra (XAVC-I) are supported. Cinema Master (XAVC-S-I on the FX3) too. Important: submit a reference file with an identical bitrate class.
My FX3 file comes from a DiskDrill-recovered card. What are the odds?
Very high with an intact mdat block — the typical DiskDrill damage is zero-padding at the start and a corrupt uuid. Haven can rebuild both from an intact reference file.
Is timecode recovered as well?
If the timecode track (tmcd) still exists inside the mdat, yes. On badly damaged files the start timecode may be set to 00:00:00:00 — which is visible in the preview before you export.
Do I also need Sony Catalyst?
No. Haven is a complete solution. If you still do colour grading after the repair, Catalyst can be handy — but it is not needed for the repair itself.
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