Feature request: media linked rather than embedded

Dawar,

Thank you for that clarification, I now understand exactly what you want, and why you think it would be useful.

I have added it to the list of feature requests.

Hi Graeme,
thanks for your answer.
What I'm talking about is not referenced audio which points to the original media.
In Avid, when exporting an AAF with consolidated media (trimmed media in X2Pro), you have the option to embed media in the AAF file (like X2Pro) or to put the consolidated media in a folder.


The audio files are created in the same way than the embedded option, but placed in a folder next to the AAF file.


Some sound engineers prefer to work with this kind of AAF files, especially for feature-length work, i.e. large files, as the import process seems more reliable...

So i was wondering if a such option would be possible.

Hi Dawar,

X2Pro is able to create an AAF with referenced audio (this feature is not available in the LE version) but there are some limitations:

* When referencing audio, the AAF that X2Pro creates will point to the original clips, not trimmed versions of the clips.
* By default X2Pro will only reference single channel WAV files because Pro Tools will not import all the audio channels from referenced multi-channel WAV files. This setting can be overridden in the X2Pro preferences, but is likely to create an AAF that references audio that Pro Tools will not be able to use properly.
* If you choose to reference WAV files, X2Pro will generate an error if you have used audio in your project that is not from single channel WAV files (e.g. from MOVs or R3D files). There is an option in the X2Pro preferences to embed any media that cannot be referenced (instead of generating and error), but this doesn't seem like it will help you.

As you can see, referencing audio files can be quite complicated, and also creates a collection of files that are somewhat harder to transport that a single AAF files.

But...

When you generate an AAF with embedded audio and then open that AAF in Pro Tools, Pro Tools extracts all the audio to single channel WAV files in a folder that the user specifies at the time of import, then creates a project that uses all those extracted audio clips. If you chose to trim embedded audio (a feature that is not available in the LE version), all the WAV files that Pro Tools creates will be trimmed versions. It sounds like this is exactly what your sound guy is looking for, so unless I have misunderstood what you want, the feature that you are asking for is already present.

Does this help?

Hi,
I was told by a sound engineer that he prefers AAF with external media rather than embedded media.
The audio files can be trimmed, but are stored in an external folder, next to the AAF file.
Avid has an option to create such AAF files.
It seems more reliable for feature length works.
It would be great to see this option in X2Pro with a future update.
Thanks.