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Guidelines for Exporting OMFI and AAF Files
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Guidelines for Exporting OMFI and AAF Files
OMFI and AAF are industry-standard file formats that let you exchange compositions and media
between applications. OMF Interchange and AAF, as implemented in Avid editing applications,
provide two basic methods for exporting files.
When you export to OMFI or AAF, select OMF 1.0, OMF 2.0, or AAF from the Export As menu
in the Export Settings dialog box, and then select other options as described in “Export Settings:
OMFI, AAF, and AFE” on page 1324.
Understanding OMF Interchange
OMF Interchange
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(OMFI) is a platform-independent file format that stores both the digital
media (video, audio, graphics, animation) and the information describing how the media is
edited together to form a final sequence. This editing information, called a composition, is the
OMFI representation of the sequence created in your Avid editing application. The OMF
Interchange format is the result of cooperative efforts of many industry and standards partners
and Avid.
Any other program that supports OMFI can read OMFI files, even if the program resides on a
different computer platform. As a result, with OMFI, you can transfer between different
applications on different platforms without worrying about cross-platform translations. This can
be very effective for importing animation or audio files created on proprietary platforms.
When you export audio to OMFI, the export option splits stereo audio tracks to separate mono
tracks (for more information, see “Splitting Multichannel Tracks to Mono Tracks” on page 785).
The operation also removes any Real-Time AudioSuite track effects.
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To avoid errors and incompatibilities when you import and export OMFI files, observe the
recommendations in “File Format Specifications” on page 1389.
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You cannot export OMFI files that are larger than 2 GB. If you exceed this limit, an error
message appears. For information on exporting large sequences, see “Preparing to Export a
Sequence” on page 965.
Understanding Advanced Authoring Format
Advanced Authoring Format (AAF), is a cross-platform, multimedia file format that allows
interchange of media and composition information between AAF-compliant applications.
There are two general types of data in an AAF file:
• Media such as audio and video
• Composition information, or metadata, that describes how to combine and modify the media
portions of the AAF file to produce a complete multimedia program