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Avid to FCP 7 via Automatic Duck Question
Trying to export an avid project to FCP 7 via AAF and automatic duck. Wondering if anyone was in the know on this.
The Avid project is all AMA stuff linked to huge masters of all file types all over the server, so…
On AAF export, I’m consolidating to DNxHD 100, 60 frame handles, all to one folder and it mentions some files are different time base, etc. and if I want to convert. So I let it and all seems well. I get an AAF file and a folder of Avid Media Files.
In FCP, I’ve installed the Avid Codecs. And automatic duck. So I use the Automatic Duck import, choose “use existing” and it imports and creates .mov references to the avid mxf files.
The resulting sequence audio is perfect. But I get the big duck on the screen that says it’s files that automatic duck can’t understand. The titles came across, and all the crops, moves, etc. came across, but all I can see is a wireframe with the big duck.
Everything seems perfect. Just can’t see the media/codec for some reason. Do I also have to install some mxf plugin? Like I said, so far we have the duck and avid codec plugins.
We also installed the CalibratedQ plugin trial. We can play the avid mxf files in the finder.
This is all on the same computer too if that helps.
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5 Replies
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If there is a mix of media types and frame rates, consolidate/transcode may not work completely on the first pass.
Select “skip media already on the target drive” try again. To check to see if you completely have new media, take the original media drive offline and see if anything in the sequence is offline—if there is , this means there are still clips referencing the original media. Do this before doing anything with Automatic Duck. -
Everything seems to be linking to the folder that automatic duck created with the .movs, and those are linking to to the Avid Media Files folder that was created on the AAF export. Both have around 150 files so it seems to be lining up. All the files in the Avid Media Files folder play in the finder, even though they’re mxf. And they’ll play in FCP if I drag them to FCP. On export to AAF I did say to convert any mismatches in frame rate to the project frame rate and it spent some time doing so. So, it doesn’t appear anything is linking back to originals at all.
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Honestly, Automatic Duck has been End of Lifed for quite awhile now. Really hard to debug what’s going on, as there are a lot of variables. Unfortunately, since its been discontinued, you won’t get any support from the defunct company that created it.
Maybe download the trial for Boris’s product that does much the same thing. At least they are still updating and supporting the product.
The trial is free and fully functional. Maybe it will work better for you,
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We did do the Boris Transfer. But even when exporting a consolidated project, it either linked to nothing, or linked to the originals, completely ignoring the mxf files it had made completely. It supported the text better than the duck, but all the scaling effects and cropping fx were gone. Automatic Duck kept all the motion Keyframes, cropping, audio, and scaling perfectly, but we just got the duck image for the visuals. Boris also linked to the wrong part of the originals when it did link.
In the end it was a lost day. I think that Boris and Automatic Duck especially aren’t really ready for the whole AMA thing. But my Avid skills are ancient so…
The whole thing wreaks of some of the same issues Walter Buscardi’s group was having with AMA and trying to go to Resolve. Avid even came down and they never resolved it and they ended up switching to Adobe Premiere.
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What happens if you change folder name in mxf folder from 1 to 2 and try to relink the files from the folder? I have experienced the same thing when doing an aaf export from avid and import into after effects. Everything sits in order, but none of the videos show up, although – if I do the same thing inside of premiere pro, batch-relink and then drag the sequence to ae, no problem.
Im wondering if some metadata inside the aaf is telling the other software that codecs or whatever are a mismatch?
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