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CS5 OMF Export hangs up
I have edited a feature film which is 1hr 26 mins in length and contains 23 audio tracks and now it needs to go to the sound editor who is requesting an OMF. I have attempted numerous ways to complete this task (see below) without success. I am assuming if the “export” window never closes then the process did not complete even though I can see numerous audio files (1141) or (1310) depending on how I choose options for export. In order to create an OMF, I have read all forum messages I can find and some have stated going thru the audio tracks for problems but I get no indicator that there are any which would cause this process to “fail.” Is there a way to complete this task without going thru all these files/tracks which would be a huge time requirement…plus I am not a sound expert that’s why it’s going to a sound guy….how would I know if there is something wrong with an audio clip?
here are the steps I have taken:
1. With the timeline selected I select “File” “Export” “OMF” – This brings up a window for “OMF Export Settings.” There are a number of different options in this window so the first of 3 attempts I used the options as they first appeared in the window which were: Sample Rate: 48000 Bits per Sample: 16 Files: Encapsulate Format: Here It did not offer a choice Render: Copy Complete Audio Files . Then click and create a separate folder, save. After approximately 2 minutes I get a “OMF Export Warning Message” This seems to be indicating audio problems showing 8 different timecodes and includes the statement that “This is not fatal and export is still valid” and offers how to solve each problem. I click “ok” and then I get a box “OMF File Size Limit Exceeded” stating OMF has a 2 Gig limit for the Encapsulated OMF file. Export preference has been change to External Media Files, I click ok and I get the “Export Media Files to OMF folder.” The progress box shows a “finished converting file __________.aif” and I see the progress bar moving along rapidly. The completion bar gets about ¾ of the way then stops. I tried this process 3 times using the same options and it does NOT stop at exactly the same place each time. I am assuming the process did not complete because the “Export Media Files to OMF Folder” window stayed on screen which is not consistent with how Adobe software functions. However I did notice the folder at the selected destination for all the exported media contains a huge number of audio files. The number of audio files in this folder is consistent at 1141So I tried again however this time
2. When the OMF Export Settings box appeared I selected different settings: Files: Separate Audio Format: Broadcast Wave…I get what appears to be the same OMF Export Warnings” and I click ok. The “Export Media Files to OMF folder” appears and it starts exporting and I see the completion bar moving along with the “Finished converting file” info. The completion bar stops about ¾ of the way and when I go to the import folder I see there are (1141) filesAgain I try and this time
3. When the OMF Export Setting box appears I keep the Format: Broadcast wave and change the Render: “Trim audio files” …handle frames 24 and make a new folder and the process begins again. I get the same Export Warnings and click ok. The export media files to OMF folder appears and it starts exporting. This time the progress bar stops at approximately ¼ and I open the destination folder which indicates 1310 filesI have one more option and this time
4. When the OMF Export Setting box appears I change Format: AIFF and continue with Render: Trim Audio Files …handle frames 24, make a new folder and start the process again. Everything is the same as the 3rd attempt, 1310 files
So, at this point I am out of ideas and I don’t know if the process completed properly or not given the “Export Media” never disappears not matter how long I give it (the first time was over night). -
6 Replies
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I have has trouble with this as well, since OMF integration was introduced. OMF integration simply doesn’t seem to work for me… I have the exact same problem as you – it hangs while exporting – usually at the exact same file (meaning that it might be one clip’s fault, but it’s impossible to tell which one, and it happens in many different projects, so I know it’s a bug and not limited to a bad file or something.)
Are you on 5, 5.5 or 6? I had this problem a lot in 5 and 5.5. Have not gotten it in CS6, but I have not put CS6 OMF export through the ringer tho.
I have found a workaround, though… it sucks, but here it is:
Duplicate your timeline (very important). Hold ALT and hilight you’re ENTIRE timeline’s Audio using the lasso. Clip Menu > Audio Options > Render and Replace. Make sure your audio scratch disks are set right, because you’re about to get a whole lot of file created. Wait, THEN export the OMF from this timeline. I will then just “Undo” and go find all those audio files it just created and delete them.
The disadvantage to this method, however, is that Audio Editors / Mixers DONT GET HANDLES. Which is crap. So, this is really only like 50% of a workaround.
Ryan
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I am on CS5, but have CS6 ordered and should receive it this week. Perhaps I should just wait until I can use CS6. The sound engineer I am working with suggested I render an AAF which I am doing now (it seems to require alot of time). I am guessing but I think the engineer is going to want all the tools available to him which would include handles so your work around probably would not work in this case
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In the last couple of hours, I played around with my project and did some OMFs… it actually worked quite well in CS6 with some complex stuff. It crashed on my 1h40m feature timeline with nested within nested within nested sequences, but normal, 20-minute or so sequences are doing good!
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Just download the CS6 trial and work with that for a week until your new copy comes!
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Now I’m wondering if my project being 1hr 26 min in length (feature film) with 26 audio tracks is going to be too much for CS6 too, any thoughts?
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No thoughts 🙂 Worse case scenereo you could break it out into reels of 10-20 mins in length. A lot of sound mixers I’ve delivered to like that.
The tests I ran were with around 20-track sequences…. 26 tracks tho?!? Wow!
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