Bei Omf Manual

8/3/2019 Bei Omf Manual

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Creating OMF/AAF

from Cantar-X Audio

by

THE Tim Coston

BlahBlahBlah Entertainment, [email protected]


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Creating AAF/OMF from Cantar-X Audio files 03-01-08

Welcome

This manual is merely a guideline to creating OMFs and AAFs from the Cantar-X audiofiles (BWF Broadcast Wave File). Use with caution and free from alcohol.

Programs:

The foremost program is Pro Tools (www.digidesign.com). You can use LE as long asyou also purchase a DigiTranslator license for $495.

An iLok is a hardware USB dongle that accepts license chips for software authorization.An iLok holds over 150 authorizations from anymanufacturer. They retail for approx. $40. Some storesinclude them with the purchase of DigiTranslator.

Step 1:

From the Main Pulldown Menu select File->NewSession to open a new session in Pro Tools.

Click New Folder to create a directory at the toplevel of the drive called Pro Tools files.

Then double-click that new folder name Pro Toolsfiles.

Once inside that folder, make sure the settings atthe bottom are: Audio File Type: BWF (.WAV) Sample Rate: 48 kHz Bit Depth: 16 bit I/O Settings: Last Used

Name your Session whatever you want. ClickSave.


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Step 2:

Modify your Session Settings for your project.

From the Main Pulldown Menu, select Setup->Session

Within the Session Settings area, ensure the followingsettings:

Clock Source: Internal Feet + Frames Rate: 24 Time Code Rate: set to your desire

The Time Code Rate should be set to whatever yourproject was recording at on the Cantar-X duringfilming.


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For recording in the field to the Cantar-X, the following chart is useful and meant as aguideline only if your Post Production Supervisor tells you differently, listen to them.

Lastly, you need to set your Session Start to the hour mark of your first audio file.

For example, if your firstCantar-X Audio Filebegins with a timecode of17:04:24:10 then youwould make your SessionStart 17:00:00:00


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Step 3:

Importing the Cantar-X audio files (BWF).

You now have a Pro Tools session like this example saved as TimCoston_Sample

The Left window is a list of your activetracks.

The Middle window is your actualaudio tracks timeline.

The Right window is your audio fileworkspace, or Region.

From the Main Pulldown Menu select File->Import->Audio.

Select the Drive on the left where the filesare kept. Then select the Cantar-Xdirectory ending in .CA1 typically.

Highlight ALL the .wav files that you wantto import. These will show up on the lowerleft box.

Then click Copy and they will show up inthe lower right box.

Now click Done


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Now you will be asked to Choose a Folder. This is a folder where the converted audiofiles are kept. It will automatically create a folder called Audio Files underneath yourProject or Session directory accept this as the default.

Your Cantar-X BWF files will now be imported and converted for use in your Pro Toolssession.

Perfect time for a bathroom break, or go grab some coffee. Do not go bother otherpeople with stories of your weekend that would be called anti-work.

Once the files have been completely converted you will be asked if you want them toeach reside on a new track? Or for Pro Tools to just put them in the Region List.

You want to just put them in the Region List:

This allows you to manually put them on the correcttracks since the Cantar-X doesnt have to burn all 8-tracks all the time. But you already know that if you arereading this manual.


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Step 4:

Creating separate tracks for your audio. Your current session should look something likethis:

In the right window you will see the Cantar-X audio files you just imported. The middlewindow is blank because you havent created any tracks for your sessions yet.

Ah-ha! But now you will.

From the Main Pulldown Menu select

Track->New


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The New Tracks window will pop up and you should create as many Mono tracks as thegreatest number you recorded on the Cantar-X in the field.

For example, I only used tracks 1 5 in the field, sometimes turning OFF a track or two,

but my highest track was Track 5, the boom. So I created a Pro Tool session with 5Tracks.

Later you will see that we move each Audio File to its specific track.


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Step 5:

Placing, or Spotting your audio files into the Pro Tools Session Timeline.

First, click on the Spot button in the upper left corner (Orange in color below). Thendrag-and-drop ONE of the grouped files in the Region List. In the example below, Idragged MP0896 group which consisted of two files track 1 and track 5 (MP0896.A1and MP0896.A5). When you first Spot them on the timeline, dont worry that theyarent on the corresponding track, we will move them later.

Place them ANYWHERE on the track as long as it does not overlay audio that is alreadyon the timeline.


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The next dialogue box that will pop up is the Spot Dialog.

The default values that are put into the Start and Sync Point boxes correspond to

wherever you placed the graphic representation on the timeline. In this case, it was atminute marker 0:10.752.However, that is NOT the correct place on the timelinethat the clip belongs. You can see that by the OriginalTime Stamp value of 0:40.000.

This is where spotting comes in to play. You will nowclick on the UP ARROW button next to the value of theOriginal Time Stamp in this case 0:40.000.

This will fill the values with the Original TimeStamp value of 0:40.000 like the image to theright.

Once you click OK, the graphic of the audiofile in the middle window will move to theappropriate timecode on the timeline.


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Now that you have the two audio files in the correct spot on the timeline, you need tomake sure they are on the correct TRACK. So in this case, we need to move the greenclip on Track 2 down to Track 5. The giveaway is that the file name is A5 as inMP0896.A5, which means Track 5.

First click the upper left corner to highlight Slip like below in green.

Then drag the clip on Track2 down to Track 5 makingsure to drag STRAIGHTDOWN so that you dontshift its timecode.

Now you can reset the upper left button to Spot and repeat Step 5 for other audio filegroups in the Region List.


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Step 6:

Preparing your timeline for export.

If you were to Spot all of the files in your Region List and then export an AAF/OMFfile, the size would be approximately equivalent to the sum total of those files.

For example, if your Cantar-X directory was 6.4 Gigs then when you went to export theAAF/OMF of all of those files on the timeline, your AAF or OMF file would be around6 gigs. This is too large of a file to handle copying across hard drives and forapplications to pull in like Avid. Its better to keep all exported files under 2 Gigs.

So! For this, we do some ballpark math. And I dont mean like 4 hot dogs and 2 beerskind of math, I mean just some quick rough estimating.

Take a look at your Cantar-X Sound Report and see the file sizes. Now, you need tomultiply the file size by the number of tracks because EACH track file is that big.

In this case, all of the files in my Region List add up to less than 2 Gigs so I can do allof them.


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Step 7:

Exporting an AAF/OMF file.

From the Main Pulldown Menu selectFile->Export->Selected Tracks asNew AAF/OMF

The verbage Selected Tracks refers to the Tracks that are Selected on the left windowof the Pro Tools session window in our case, it is 5. If you de-select a track in thatwindow it will disappear from the timeline. So general rule is WYSIWYG What YouSee Is What You Get if you see 5 tracks on the timeline, you will get 5 tracks in theexport.

The Export window has quite a few options:

This image to the left is the default Export toOMF/AAF settings window.

We will have the following settings (change whereneeded):

Export as: AAF Enforce Avid Compatibility: CHECK Target project time code format: 29.97 Non-Drop Apply SRC: uncheck Audio Format: Embedded Audio bit depth(s): 16 Select: Consolidate from source media Handle size: 1000


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So our final window looks like this:

Once you click on OK you will see the Publishing Options dialog box:

You can leave the Sequence Name the same name as your project.

Next will be the Save dialog box:

This is where you name the actualAAF file that you will be saving.

Typically I name themAAF_Project_date forexample,AAF_TimCostonSample_1215.Or as you can see previous files inthe window ofAAF_Monsters_0226-A.aaf

Click Save and grab some snacks! Your final window will be the Processing Audiobox.


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As you can see, the AAF file I created with this sample came out to be 1.91 Gigs:

Now go make fun AAF files and save some money on Post!!

I hope one day you are lucky enough to meet me, and if you are, I like Jameson whiskeyand Guinness. Come by Tom Bergins pub on Fairfax south of Wilshire to buy me a drinkor seven.

THE Tim [email protected]


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FAQs and Troubleshooting:

FAQ:Why is your website named SoundSuper.com instead ofSuperSound.com?

Tim:Uh, because its short for Sound Supervisor, which is what the site and my peopleare dedicated to that and sound mixing, but I had to choose ya know.

FAQ:What if my Pro Tools craps out when I am exporting? Everything lookedperfectly fine when it was processing at the end of Step 7 in the Processing

Audio window. Then I went to grab a snack like you said and when I got back it

was done, but there was no AAF file in the directory! Weird eh?

Tim:Yes and no. Yes that is weird that you are trying to actually hold a conversationwith me in an FAQ area and no, it is not weird that it happened. If you were good atmath, it would not have happened. Basically it means that you had too many clips of

audio on your timeline and the resulting AAF file was way over 2 Gigs, possibly over 3Gigs. I have created files that were like 2.3 Gigs in size and had to go back and remove

some clips and re-export the AAF. It happens.

FAQ:Why do you call yourself THE Tim Coston?

Tim:So that you dont get me confused with Tim Koston or Thames Coston or otherweird people like that those guys are freaks!

FAQ:Is there a difference in running Pro Tools LE versus a full version copy?Tim:Yes there is. In either instance you will need DigiTranslator to be able to exportAAF/OMF files. You can get that with a single DigiTranslator license, or the DVToolkit

license comes with DigiTranslator. But the main difference in LE and full version is theability to actually SEE the timecode on the timeline. If you notice, Pro Tools LE timeline

is Min:Secs and not actual frame rate timecode.

More FAQs coming soon and by soon I mean as soon as someone

asks me and I update this manual.


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Appendix A:

AAF

An AAF is a sequence file format. AAF sequences are the best way to exchange

projects and maintain valuable metadata. An AAF sequence can refer to OMF and/or

MXF media files, or have OMF and MXF media files embedded within them. There is no

such thing as an AAF audio or video media file. DigiTranslator 2.0 or higher is required to

import and export AAF sequences with Pro Tools.

Pro Tools will import, play back, and export an AAF sequence that either links to

media files or has audio embedded within it. When you import an AAF file with

embedded audio into Pro Tools, the audio will be extracted into mono tracks using the

current sessions audio file format.

MXF

MXF is a media file format. There are MXF video files and MXF audio files, but there

are no MXF sequences. An AAF sequence may refer to or include MXF media

files, but OMF sequences cannot refer to or include MXF files.

Pro Tools can import and play back MXF audio and video files created in Media

Station/PT or other Avid applications.

To export MXF audio files from Pro Tools, DigiTranslator 2.0 or higher must be

installed.

Note: Video files digitized in Pro Tools are technically in the MXF format,however they are not intended for export.

OMF

OMF is both a media file and sequence format. OMF media files can be audio or video,

and Pro Tools can import and play back OMF audio and video. Pro Tools can also export

OMF audio, but not OMF video.

Pro Tools can import and play back OMF audio and video files created in Media

Station/PT or other applications. To import OMF sequences, or to export OMF audio

files and sequences from Pro Tools, DigiTranslator 2.0 or higher must be installed.An OMF sequence cannot reference or have MXF media embedded within it.

Pro Tools can import an OMF sequence with embedded audio, but not embedded video.


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WEBSITES

Tim Costons sound website: www.SoundSuper.com Resources for fellow Audio Nerds: www.SoundSuper.com/nerd/

DigiDesigns - www.Digidesign.com Aaton www.aaton.com Post area of Aaton post.aaton.com Wow and Flutter post audio facility, Ryan Rees www.wowandflutter.com

Date post:	06-Apr-2018
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