Online from DIT Dailies to Native

[Michael Hancock]

I’m unclear what you already have. You have the Avid media and Avid project and you’re wanting to export an AAF to link back to the Alexa footage? Or you already have the AAF and native Alexa media?

If you already have an AAF, set your preferences in Resolve to use the reel name embedded in the source clip, import the native Alexa media into Resolve first, then import the AAF and tell it to link to the source original files (uncheck the “automatically import media” box when you import the AAF into Resolve). It should relink to the Alexa footage.

If you don’t have an AAF already and need to generate one to go into resolve, just export one from Avid. You shouldn’t need to relink it to the native media in Avid first – that can be done in Resolve.

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Michael Hancock
Editor

[Michael Phillips]

The big questions is when the DIT made the Avid dailies, what was assigned as REEL ID which then becomes TAPE in Media Composer. Display the column “Tape” and “Source File” in your bin. Open a bin with the master clips created by the DIT. One of those two columns will have a value in it which either reflects the embedded REEL of the Arri material or the filename itself. If the fields are blank or Tape shows MSMMOB. something, then the DIT did not create proper dailies bu not declaring REEL as part of the process.

Send screenshot of a bin with these two columns as we can better help.

Michael

[Evan Griffin]

Thanks for the replies.

@Michael
I had to make the AAF myself. I have one drive that is dedicated only to the files used in the edit and all projects and bins associated with the edit. Then I have two separate external drives that were the dumps of all Native and Dailies from set.

Not sure I found the reel name preference in Resolve, but I followed the rest of your suggestion and did manage to import the AAF and many things did link up to the native in the cut. However, some things didn’t link, such as nested clips, which is understandable. But, from just skimming through the entire timeline, repeatedly in a number of scenes, some clips linked to a shot from a whole other scene, and some of them have conflict resolution badges, but when clicked, the other clips it lists in the conflict resolution dialogue (sometimes 2 or 3 other clips) are not the correct one either.

So, I’m not sure what happened there. If the metadata it needed wasn’t there, perhaps Resolve just linked from timecode? I don’t see how that would explain the wrong clips it sporadically linked to, though, because I don’t believe there was duplicate timecode, but I’ll look closer.

Here is a screenshot of some of the dailies inside Avid

Here’s a screenshot of some of the Native that I brought into Avid via AMA link (as the editors did not import the native into the Avid project at all)

[Evan Griffin]

I think something went wrong with the second image. Here it is

[Michael Phillips]

You are running into one of my bigger bitches with Avid and their lack of extracting embedded REEL ID from the .mov file (7 years counting with AMA). The embedded REEL ID is an 8 character version of the longer filename and was designed to support CMX EDL workflows that only allow up to 8 characters. Avid has long eliminated the restriction of standard CMX and can go up to 129.

But – other systems can easily work with both, and in this case, during the dailies process, embedded was chosen which is fine when going back to Resolve for a conform, but not good for a conform within Avid via AMA since it does not support embedded… GRRRRRR.

Would you happen to have the ALE files that were created in camera during the shoot for these dailies as part of the backup/archive? You can do an ALE merge to get that 8 character REEL into an Avid column so that you can do a relink. If not, you can generate an ALE from Resolve and merge it into your AMA linked files and do it that way.

If it is only a handful, you can do it by hand as you can see the pattern that is being used to create the 8 character version. Log that into either the Labroll or Camroll and use that column to relink.

Michael

[Evan Griffin]

Thanks Michael, super helpful. All of the native folders do contain those .ale files as well as FCP XML.

I do like the idea of doing the conform in Resolve, because in theory that seems much faster, but as I mentioned, it got a bunch of clips wrong. Not sure if that was a problem with the DIT or a lack of metadata or parameters to control that relink when importing the AAF into Resolve. And since it’s a feature, it is a little maddening to have to go through everything and reconnect those. At the same time, I’ll have to spot-check everything anyways so maybe it doesn’t really matter. I wish it just “worked”, but I don’t think anything will be 100% with a feature conform workflow into Resolve.

Perhaps, though more tedious, getting the online right in Avid could be the more solid, successful way of getting the conform right for Resolve.

[Michael Phillips]

It all starts with the dailies process and ensuring that there is a consistent method by which REEL ID is going to be defined. Some camera formats have an 8 character embedded (Red and Arri for example), while others let the user define it at time of shoot (Blackmagic Cinema cameras, etc.). Then you have to watch for cameras like the Canon 5D, Sony a7, etc that may start naming the files the same way when the camera shuts down for the day and you end up with duplicate file names. These need to be dealt with before dailies via a rename method.

One of the challenges is the amount of users who have access to a free Resolve to make “dailies” without really understanding everything that entails. Transcoding media is only part of the process.

Michael

[Robert Ober]

I did not see it mentioned but were the dailies created in Avid or Resolve or something else?

Does where they are created matter?

And by the way, as MP knows, some versions of Resolve roundtrip better than others. I suppose their may be some blame for Avid in this as well.

Good Fortune,
Robert

Robert A. Ober
IT Consultant, Vidcaster, & Freelancer
http://www.infohou.com
Houston, TX