Importing an AAF Sequence

Flame Premium supports only AAF files from Avid Media Composer.

To simplify the conform process, when conforming on a Linux workstation, save the AAF to the root of the media used in that timeline: the media should either be with the AAF, or within a folder alongside the AAF. If you are conforming on a Mac, create the AAF project on that Mac. And when exporting the AAF, save the AAF to the root of the media used in that timeline: the media should either be with the AAF, or within a folder alongside the AAF.

To import a sequence using the MediaHub:

  1. Open MediaHub, and set it to Browse for Files.
  2. Review the AAF & XML Import Options. Because you are importing an AAF, pay attention to Preferred Media: if offline intermediates were used during the offline editing, decide now whether you wish to relink to the original media or to the offline intermediates.
  3. Using the file browser, navigate to the AAF sequence to import.
  4. Drag the file from the browser to the Media Library.

    Flame Premium converts the AAF to its sequence format. According to the Media and Relative Search options, the sequence can be relinked or not, and the sources also imported, or not. The media itself is imported using the option file format options defined in the Format Specific Options tab.

You can also import a sequence from Conform:

  1. Open Conform.
  2. Click in the Media Panel the destination for the imported sequence.
  3. Right-click the Events list, and select Load New FCP XML/AAF/EDL...
  4. Set the AAF & XML Import Options.
  5. In the Media Import window, locate the sequence to import using the file browser, and click Import.

You can select multiple sequences to import, using Shift-click and Ctrl-click.

If a source is used multiple times in a sequence, or across multiple sequences, and Save Sources Separately is enabled, only one instance of the source is imported. And the sources are saved in a sources folder.

If you plan on perform a Connected conform, you must import your sequences into a Reel group. Make sure to drag and drop the sequences on top of a Reel group, or to import from Conform. When you import your sequences through Conform, they are always added to the Sequences reel of the default Reel group, making sure you will be able to use the Sources and Shots sequences required for the Connected conform workflow.

Link to Media Files and Search and Import Files

The options Search and Import Files and Link to Media Files are performed sequentially:

  1. If Link to Media Files is enabled, Flame Premium locates the media files based file paths and names found in the AAF.
  2. For the media that cannot be found, and if Search and Import Files is enabled, Flame Premium tries to locate the media files in the location defined by the Directory Up field, trying to match media to segments based on the defined Match Criteria.

About Intermediates Formats

Transcoded intermediates from Avid Media Composer supported in Flame Premium:

Transcoded intermediates from Avid Media Composer not supported in Flame Premium:

When conforming unsupported intermediates, use the Preferred Media > Original Sources option from the Media Import window to link to the original media files. Or from Media Composer, transcode the sources to a supported format.

Sequences made using a unsupported frame rate, such as 48 fps, cannot be conformed in Flame.

Note: In MXF Op-Atom files generated by Avid Media Composer, audio tracks appear in the MediaHub as a single audio channel file (A1). But once imported, the tracks display the original channels.

Working with Path Translation

When you import an AAF or an FCP XML file with Link to Media Files enabled, Flame Premium tries to reconnect to the sources using the paths defined within. But if you are working in a collaborative environment where multiple OSes are used with varying volume mountpoints, or using a dead drop, you will run in cases where the path in the imported sequence cannot be resolved by Flame Premium. Most common case is with an AAF produced on a Mac OS X, where external volumes are mounted under /Volumes/, while on Linux, such volumes can be mounted on any point. This is where path translation comes in, allowing you to convert a path from one format into another. Once path translation is set up, linking and relinking to sources should be seamless.

Note: This mechanism is similar to Lustre's Path Translation functionality.

You set up the path translation in a configuration file, where you define pairs of paths.

To set a path translation pair:

  1. Close Flame Premium.
  2. Open a shell window.
  3. As root, open the following file in a text editor:

    /usr/discreet/cfg/pathTranslation.cfg

  4. Define a Source path and a Destination.

    For example, we need Flame to search media files that was seen from a an offlining Mac at /Volumes/SAN, but seen from the conforming Linux workstation at /ProductionSAN:

    • <PathTranslationTable>
    • <PathTranslation src="/Volumes/SAN" dst="/ProductionSAN" />
    • </PathTranslationTable>
  5. Save and close the file.
  6. Restart Wiretap Gateway using the ServiceMonitor.
    1. In the shell, type: ServiceMonitor
    2. In the ServiceMonitor window, click Restart next to Wiretap Gateway.

Flame Premium will now translate any source path found in pathTranslation.cfg into its paired destination path when you import a sequence or use Link To Media File in Conform.

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