Confusion With Boris AAF Transfer Workflow

[Peter Mcauley]

Hi Michael,

In order to transfer MXF media files, you will indeed have to have Calibrated installed on the system where you are importing the exported AAF file(s). There is really only one thing that you need to do in order for this to work, which is after you have installed Calibrated software and have restarted your system, you need to navigate to the directory containing the MXF files, then select one of them and open it with Quicktime. You need only perform this action once after you have installed the Calibrated software.

Other than that, as long as you have followed the export / import procedure that is listed in the help files then you should be able to continue to edit the MXF media inside of FCP.

Please let me know how this works for you.

Cheers,

Peter.

[Michael Thibault]

Thanks for the help. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to work for me. I imported the AAF as recommended and then went and opened the MXF files in Quicktime as you suggested. They open and play just fine. But when I go back into FCP, either by directly switching or even restarting, every clip still has a red slash thru it and is unlinked.

BTW the Calibrated {Q} MXF component works just fine if I simply drag the MXF clips straight into FCP. Everything links and plays without issue. So I’m thinking this must be a Boris AAF Transfer glitch.

To be a little more clear: When I import the AAF it seems to create clippings of some, not all, of the video clips. So, for example, if I have a clip named 6E-1.new.02 then I also get an additional subclip named the same. And strangely enough, they seem to want to reconnect to separate media items.

In this case the subclip wants to relink to:

Online Files:
Avid 5:Avid Mediafiles:MXF:1
Kj19A01.C965AF8E_4C4D406F7C

Offline:
Unspecified path:
ACAM0041_SCEBE_0006_TAKE_0018_canmA_1464637.dpx

You can see a screenshot here: https://f1.creativecow.net/file/1592/1592_fcpreconnect.jpg.zip

The subclip WILL FIND and relink to the online MXF file, but, like the master clip, cannot find the DPX file (The master clip only wants to reconnect to the “offline” DPX file).

What DPX file? (Or, to be specific, the “dpx.mov” file that FCp is actually looking for.)

So, basically, none of these clips will relink because they’re tied to these DPX files that, as far as I can tell, don’t exist.

Frustrating.

Here’s a thought: Could my problems have anything to do with having my media on an external firewire drive? Does Boris AAF Transfer require the media to be on the same, internal disk it’s installed on?

Or is Boris AAF Transfer just not ready for prime time? I cannot believe I’m the only person out there having these issues.

Again, thanks for your help!

MacBook Pro, 10.6.6, Core i7, 8GB DDR3, FCP 7.0.3, Avid Media Composer 5.0.3

[Peter Mcauley]

Hi Michael,

Could you please send me the aaf file that you are attempting to import into FCP? I don’t need any associated media elements, just the aaf file. You can send that to me privately via email at peterm@borisfx.com.

Also, when you send me the file, could you also please send me your phone number as we would like to call you to work through the issue with you.

Thanks,

Peter.

[Michael Thibault]

On its way. Thanks for the help.

MacBook Pro, 10.6.6, Core i7, 8GB DDR3, FCP 7.0.3, Avid Media Composer 5.0.3

[Wolfgang Beck]

Dear All,

I have a similar problem. Setup is this:

I have an Avid MC 4.05 and export my sequence as AAF, but consolidate the data with 50 frames handles. I first tried to embedde the files into a single AAF file (would be the best) but didnt work. So I used the folder option, which created a “Avid Media Files” folder with all the files in it. Relink only does not work for me, since the FCP is installed on a different machine.

FCP is Version 7.03. I installed the Boris AAF Transfer Plugin 2.04 and imported the AAF. In the plugin dialog I was able to relink the files by pointing to the “Avid Media Files” folder. When I opened up the sequence, all files were offline. When I tried to relink from within FCP I noticed it was looking for files, which had the names of the clips within AVID. I attached some screenshots.

[Peter Mcauley]

Hi Wolfgang,

The problem sounds simple – what is happening is that Apple FCP cannot natively read Avid .mxf files, so it lists them as offline. To help FCP read the mxf files you need to install Calibrated {Q} MXF onto the system that has FCP. You can download a trial version of the software from their site here:

https://www.calibratedsoftware.com/MXFImport_Mac.asp

I hope this helps.

Cheers,

Peter.

[Wolfgang Beck]

Yeap thats what I just downloaded – will run to the other facility and try it out. Would be nice if this will be the solution.

What about the avid codec pack – I might need that too right? Somebody please program a one click solution – embedded aaf file – import to fcp – click yes – done 😉

[Wolfgang Beck]

it did not work… i installed calibrated Q – and was able to playback the mxfs in preview and see thumbnails of the files… but when using the boris aaf transfer the same problem…

importing goes well… boris aaf transfer dialog showing the files as online… but fcp still showing them offline… when i open relink dialog from fcp… i see fcp wants to relink it to a mxf file which has the same name as the clip… when i want to point to the right mxf… mxf is greyed out (option all video files)… when i say show all files… i can click on the mxf… press ok and nothing happens.

[Peter Mcauley]

Hi Wolfgang,

At this stage I’m going to have to hand this over to support, who will be happy to walk you through the process of getting this to work. Please send them an email (support@borisfx.com) with your contact information and a brief description of the problem (you can point to this thread) and cc me (peterm@borisfx.com) on your message to them.

We will make this work for you – it’s just a matter of getting the steps right.

Cheers,

Peter.