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ALE and AMA – feature post
Avid Cows,
I’m transfering film via Spirit HD direct to drive in ProRes 444 format. I then sync the audio in Avid and make new bins and subclips. Here’s my problem, the ALE file requires a tape # but AMA can not import a file with a tape number. I can not merge the ALE file with the AMA media to bring the meta-data (KK #, transfer reel, etc.) across for editorial.
Any suggestions? We want to make telecine tapeless.
Thanks, Film Joe
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7 Replies
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Open the ALE in a text editor, and in the column section of the file, change “Tape” to “Source File” and it will work.
Michael
Michael Phillips
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Michael,
Thanks for your feedback. I have another complex audio problem on a studio feature that you might have some solutions for that no one else tried to answer.
1. I have a PlayBack music track and a dialogue track to sync to a digital shoot. The dialogue starts and half way into the take the PB track starts. When I sync them in the time line, I cannot make a subclip since there is no audio at the head of that PB track. Any way to solve this?
2. I did a telecine transfer with some PB tracks to HD tape so I get the TC burn in for the editor. But I have other takes on that tape that have dialogue only so it’s faster to sync that manually after I digitize. But after I sync the dialogue only tracks, and make subclips for those, and make subclips on the takes with PB, the audio TC metadata is missing in this new bin. If I post-sync in Avid the whole tape, there is no problem, but is some clips that were digitized have audio, then it can not match TC on the other takes that I post-synced audio. Why would the bin data care when making a subclip bin if there was some audio digitized in the master clip?
We’re always trying things that are outside the norm. Thanks for any ideas you might have.
Thanks, Film Joe
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Let me think about these questions. Playback and timecodes do cause some extra headaches, especially in the file-based world. What version of Media Composer are you running?
For question #2 – if working in a pre-v5 version of software, sound TC had some dependencies such as there always needs to be an A1 track on the source file, and there has to be a soundroll value defined before timecode could be applied. Do any of these apply in your case?
Michael
Michael Phillips
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Michael, apparently the previous AMA issue did not work. My tech tells me we are on v. 5.5. Here’s what happened when we edited the text file.
Okay the ALE will still not link with the AMA media, but now I’m getting a different message at least (and this could ultimately be related to the other issue)Now when I try to merge the ALE with the AMA file I get the message:
‘Exception: Expected sourceMob edit rate does not match the actual edit rate on the sourceMob’
The ALE and Avid project are 23.976 … QT reports the .mov as 23.97 … when I AMA the QT file into Avid and put it on a timeline Avid reports it as 23.96
I have tried editing the ALE to be 23.97 and 23.96 and both give me the same error message.
As noted before I am also getting a Timecode discrepancy when I AMA the file … while in Final Cut and Quick Time the punch is at 1:00:00:00 the punch on the AMA is reporting 00:59:59:22 (or on some files 21) …. I can modify the timecode in Avid to line the timecode up at the punch, but it drifts out if I put it on a timeline – that is to say if I look at the timeline TC and the AMA TC they both start at 1:00:00:00 but several minutes down the timeline the timeline will be (note numbers are rough examples not specific instances) 1:04:00:00 and the AMA TC will show 1:03:59:22 … further down it may even be Timeline 1:06:00:00 AMA 1:05:59:23 (again these are not numbers I’m pulling from avid so it isn’t nessicarily a 1 frame per 2 minute drift I’m just illustrating the issue.)
The same quicktime file on a 23.976 timeline in Final Cut the timecode tracks frame for frame as would be expected.
As I haven’t tried other media via AMA I don’t know if that is just normal behavior (which I would doubt as it would cause problems matching back to the material as needed) … if it’s because it is ProRes 4444 material (more likely) … or if it’s another issue entirely (the answer I expect).
Thanks, Film Joe
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Some questions back to you:
Was the project you are in started in a different project format> For example, NTSC 23.976 and now 1080p/3.976? There has been a long standing bug that if you flip project format, the ALE will not import. Only in the format of the original project creation.
As far as the timecode drift, that is quite strange. Try entering the same sync (punch) timecode into one of the AuxTC columns and see if that tracks properly. And of so, how does that compare to the START?
Lastly, I would need a sample file and ALE to really get down to the bottom of the issue.
Michael
Michael Phillips
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Michael,
We’re trying that technique. To send you a file, it would be a camera roll. Is there an ftp site we can send it to? Also, this may get more complicated than a Cow answer and perhaps we could contact via email if there needs to be a broader consulting fee arrangement.
I can be reached in Atlanta at https://www.cinefilmlab.com
Thanks, Film Joe
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Hi Joe –
my email is michael(at)24p(dot)com.
email me there with your email, and I will set up a share folder on my PogoPlug for you to copy to. A consulting fee would be good as I am no longer at Avid as of last Wednesday’s RIF. Before that, I would have looked into it as part of the job… you missed by one week! 😉
Michael
Michael Phillips
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