Exporting AAF files

Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) is a multimedia file format that allows you to exchange digital media and metadata between platforms, systems, and applications. Authoring applications that support AAF, such as Avid Media Composer, read and write the data in AAF files to the extent that they support the format.

Ensure that the project you want to export conforms to general AAF specifications and is compatible with an Avid Media Composer product. Consider each of the following:

  • The AAF files exported by Premiere Pro are compatible with the Avid Media Composer family of editing products. These AAF files have not been tested with other AAF importers.

  • Transitions should appear only between two clips, not adjacent to the beginning or end of a clip. Each clip must be at least the same length as the transition.

  • If a clip has a transition at both its In and Out points, the clip must be at least the same length as both transitions combined.

  • When naming clips and sequences in Premiere Pro, avoid using special characters, accented characters, or characters that affect the parsing of an XML file. Some characters to avoid include /, >, <, ®, and ü.

  • AAF files exported from Premiere Pro and imported into Avid Media Composer do not automatically relink to the source footage. To relink the footage, use the Batch Import option in Avid Media Composer.

Note: In Premiere Pro CS5.5 and later, merged clips are not supported when exporting an AAF file.

For more information see “Round-tripping with Avid Media Composer” by Maxim Jago and Video2Brain.

Export an Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) project file

  1. Choose File > Export > AAF.
  2. In the Save Converted Project As dialog box, browse to a location for the AAF file, and type a file name. Click Save.
  3. In the AAF Export Settings dialog box, select either Save As Legacy AAF, Embed Audio, or neither. Click OK.

    Premiere Pro saves the sequence to an AAF file at the specified location. The AAF Export Log dialog box opens to report any exporting issues.

About the AAF plug-in

The AAF Export plug-in converts Premiere Pro projects as follows:

Cuts-only mono/stereo audio and video
The plug-in fully supports these elements of a project. The plug-in does not convert audio pan, gain, and level changes, and 5.1 audio. Stereo audio channels are separated into two tracks in the Avid Media Composer sequence.

Clip speed
The plug-in converts video clip speed changes (slow, fast, reverse playback) to the Avid Media Composer Motion Effect, which is the only supported effect. Clip speed applied to nested sequences is also converted. Avid Media Composer does not have an equivalent to Motion Effect for audio. If the speed change makes the audio clip longer than the source media, the plug-in stretches the audio clip to the same length as the rest of the source media. The plug-in begins at the StartTime, and places filler in the gap. You can fix these portions of the sequence manually in the Avid editing system.

Batch captured or redigitized files
The plug-in retains the tape name specified in the AAF file. Use the Batch Record capability in Avid Media Composer to recapture the media from tape.

Footage of varying dimensions
The plug-in exports the project at its full resolution. However, importing scales all footage according to the resolution specified in the Avid project.

Nested sequences
The plug-in builds the master composition from the nested sequences recursively (because Avid Media Composer does not support linking to the nested sequences). Therefore, in the AAF file, there’s no linking between the master composition and the nested sequences.

Titles
The plug-in converts titles to offline media in Avid Media Composer.

Bin hierarchy
Avid Media Composer places all items into a single bin. Projects with multiple bins convert into one bin.

Graphic files
The plug-in saves a reference to all original files, but compatibility in Avid Media Composer is limited to the formats that it supports. (See the Avid Media Composer documentation for information on supported graphic file formats.)

Project elements
The plug-in converts synthetic clips, such as Bars and Tone, Black Video, Color Matte, and Universal Counting Leader to offline media in XDV.

Sequence and clip markers
The plug-in converts all sequence markers, except the sequence In and Out markers, to locators on the timecode (TC1) track in Avid Media Composer. The Chapter, URL, and Frame Target fields are not converted because Avid Media Composer has no equivalents. The plug-in converts clip markers to segment markers in Avid Media Composer.
Note: The AAF Export plug-in ignores markers located beyond the end of the sequence.

Current-time indicator position
In the exported file, the current-time indicator retains its original position if it is within the duration of the sequence. Otherwise, the plug-in places the current-time indicator at the end of the Avid Media Composer sequence.

Grouped clips
Upon import, all grouped clips are ungrouped and treated separately.

Transitions and effects
Transitions and effects exported from Premiere Pro to the AAF format are identified uniquely in Avid Media Composer.