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Alternative Workflow from FCP to ProTools besides OMF?
I have a friend who’s volunteering his time to help me sound mix a video project I’m trying to release early next week. In the past, I’ve always prepared an OMF file for the professional sound guys I’ve worked with and have had no issues. My friend has ProTools, but I’ve just been informed that he wasn’t able to open up the OMF file that I gave him because he doesn’t have the Digitranslator plugin, which costs $500.
Is there an alternative method/workflow exporting audio tracks for sound mix from Final Cut for ProTools besides OMF? Or is paying the $500 for the Digitranslator plugin pretty much our only option? I don’t really want to send him every track of audio & music separately and write down all the specific times when the music fades in, out, etc. It just sounds like a recipe for disaster, not to mention how inefficient this method would be.
Thanks in advance for your help!
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4 Replies
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Avid has killed support for OMF within Pro Tools. They recommend using an AAF instead, which is honestly a much better format. I switched to the greener pastures of FCPX a year and a half ago, so I use X2Pro for all of my AAF generation, but back in my FCP7 days I’d use Automatic Duck. Check them out, they’ve got you covered.
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Avid MC, PPro CS6, FCP7 – wasting away on my SSD.
I just can’t quit X.
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[Tiffany Chung] “My friend has ProTools, but I’ve just been informed that he wasn’t able to open up the OMF file that I gave him because he doesn’t have the Digitranslator plugin, which costs $500.
“If your friend can’t take an OMF or AAF, you might want to think about finding someone else to mix this. Its a pretty basic thing for a sound guy to be able to do. Pretty much any tv or film project would need to use one of these formats for interchange.
Okay. Here are some other options..neither are very good.
1) Export each track individually, as an AIFF with no fades or effects baked in. Also, export your temp mix as a guide track. He’ll line up each track in ProTools and mix. You will not have any handles on each clip and he will have to recreate every fade based on what you did in the guide track. Not pretty, but thats how they did things in the pre-OMF days. Or they conformed from an EDL…don’t ask.
2)Have him do the mix in Soundtrack Pro, which can take an FCP timeline directly or via OMF. You can also import into Adobe Audition, which is a little better. Neither are as good as ProTools.
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Thank for the recommendations and suggestions. After talking to my friend some more about this today, we’ve decided to just go ahead and get his really old version of ProTools upgraded and up to date. I think it’s a necessary and smart decision, especially if he wants to pursue a career in sound production.
Thanks again!
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