Conforming an Avid AAF

If after having imported an AAF some segments are still not linked to their media, use the Conform tab to relink both segments and media.

1. Display the AAF to conform in the Conform tab. Do one of the following:
   • If you imported the AAF using the MediaHub: switch to the Conform tab, right-click the AAF and select Open as a Sequence.
     Note: An AAF dragged from the MediaHub and dropped in the Media Panel is automatically opened as a sequence, under the following conditions:

     • It is dropped in the Desktop section of the Media Panel.
     • It is dropped in the Default Library and Protect From Editing is disabled in the Preferences.
   • If you have not already imported the AAF: switch to the Conform tab, right-click the Event list and select Load New FCP XML/AAF/EDL.

     From the window that appears, locate and select the AAF to conform, and then click Load.

2. Add potential sources to the Conform Media folder.

   You now have two lists: the Events list, displaying all the events making up the sequence, and the Conform Media list, displaying the potential sources you selected, along with information, such as the resolution, bit rate, rate sampling, and the number of video and audio tracks.

   Note: By default, the Conform Media list displays only the sources matching the currently selected event. Disable Options > Filter Potential Matches to view all the possible sources.
3. With Options > Filter Potential Matches selected, click a event from the event list. The sources matching that event are displayed in the Potential Matches list.
   Note: You can also select a segment directly in the timeline. Both the timeline and the event list update to reflect the current selection.
4. What you do next depends on the Status column of each event.

   Match

   Select Link Sources from the Linking combo box. Link Matched Sources links all events with the Match status to their unique sources. Match indicates that Flame found only one source from the Sources list that fit the selected Match Criteria.

   Multiple Matches

   Do one of the following:

   • Select the event, the source to relink, and then select Link Selected from the Linking combo box.
   • Select the event from the event list, right-click the source to relink, and then select Link.

   If there are too many sources to choose from, set additional criteria using the Match Criteria drop-down menu; by trial and error you can reduce the number of matching sources. The event list displays in yellow any criteria with multiple matches.

   In the event list, if the handles amount for a event is displayed in red, than none of the matching sources have enough handles: This usually happens when the AAF references more media than there is media actually available for conform. You can still force a match by manually linking the source to the sequence's event.

   No Match Found

   Either add more sources to the Media folder or modify the criteria selected in the Match Criteria drop-down box. Not Found indicates that either the criteria are too restrictive for Flame to find a match in the available sources, or that the source is simply not there. The event list displays in red any criteria that cannot be matched.

   Unlinked

   Add sources to the Media folder. Unlinked indicates that the event is not linked to any source. It appears only when no sources are available in the Media folder, and the Conform section of the Media panel displays 0 clip total.

   Linked

   Nothing to do: the event is already linked to source. Linked events appear in the Events list only if Options > Hide Linked is not enabled.

5. Once all the events are linked to sources, you are done conforming. You can leave the Conform tab.

Important: No matter the selected criteria, a source cannot be linked to an event if it is not long enough to cover the whole event.

Flame does not automatically cache the relinked media.

To cache the source media once relinked:

• Right-click the source and select Media > Cache Source Media. You can target a segment on the timeline to cache only that segment, or the sequence itself to cache every segment in the sequence.

RGBA media files and AAF sequences:

• Based on the MediaHub Clip Options for RGBA media files, a conformed sequence shows either a regular segment (if the option is set to Ignore Alpha Channel) or a Matte Container (if the option is set to Create Matte Container).
• Use already imported source clips: the status of the clip (regular or matte container) is then used. This applies to any segment in an AAF, including segments with Matte Key effects.

Available Options

Limit Handles

To limit the amount of relinked handles and perform the equivalent of a consolidate on link, enable Limit Handles when linking to the sources. When you need to access more than the consolidated media:

1. Right-click the segment.
2. Select Media > Unlink.
3. Disable Limit Handles.
4. Click Link to Media File.

   The full media is now relinked to the segment.

Save Sources

To save a copy of the source in the Sources reel, enable Save Sources. The source saved is what is relinked to the segment, including the Limit Handles setting.

Caching Sources

Flame does not automatically cache the relinked source media. To cache the source media: right-click the target and select Media > Cache Source Media. You can target a segment on the timeline to cache only that segment, or the sequence itself to cache every segment in the sequence.

Filtering Out Tracks

Filter out tracks from the Conform list by locking them on the timeline and selecting Filter Locked Tracks from the Options menu. This removes the segments of the locked track from the Conform Events list, and excludes matching sources from the Media Panel's Conform area.

Grouped Clips

By enabling the Keep Group as Container option, in the AAF Import menu, Grouped Clips are seen as Containers: the whole group is imported and available inside a Container. When the option is disabled, only the selected part of the group is in the sequence, without a container.

Spanned Clips From Canon C Series

You can conform AAF referencing Canon C series spanned MXF clips by using both the Original Sources media options and the Filename as a Match Criteria. Because AAF files use the name of the first file of the clip as file name, automatic linking of media does not work when importing AAF files.

To link your sequence to the original camera spanned clips:

1. Import the AAF file and set Media Options > Preferred Media to Original Sources.

   If Conform is able to find the media files, events referring to spanned clip will not be matched.

2. Press Set Search Location.
3. Navigate to the location of the media files and press the Set button.
4. Conform matches the clips. You can now relink your sequence.