John 374 Posted January 3, 2019 Cakewalk needs to support AAF. The Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) is a multimedia file format that allows you to exchange digital media and metadata between different systems and applications across multiple platforms. Metadata include fades, automation, and processing information. Cubase supports it so does Studio One. Please support it. 7 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Vogel 249 Posted January 8, 2019 I thought it was added ages ago! will have to check Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msmcleod 2,059 Posted January 8, 2019 45 minutes ago, MUDGEL said: I thought it was added ages ago! will have to check You're probably thinking of OMF. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Vogel 249 Posted January 11, 2019 (edited) No. Not thinking of OMF. Probably thinking of a different DAW. Edited January 11, 2019 by MUDGEL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
midist 0 Posted January 12, 2019 It may be similar to XML file in StudioOne and Steinberg. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John 374 Posted January 12, 2019 OMFI (Open Media Framework Interchange), or OMF for short, and AAF (Advanced Authoring Format) are both professional file formats intended to interchange session information between various audio and video applications. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msmcleod 2,059 Posted January 12, 2019 3 hours ago, midist said: It may be similar to XML file in StudioOne and Steinberg. Unfortunately it's nothing like XML. It's more like a complete file system within a file, with various object types stored inside. The specs for the container system is here: https://www.amwa.tv/downloads/specifications/aafcontainerspec-v1.0.1.pdf All the other specs are here: https://www.amwa.tv/projects/amwa_projects.shtml Given its complexity, I'm not surprised that not many DAWs support it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Vogel 249 Posted January 13, 2019 I rechecked my facts, it was Cubase 10 that added AAF support. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azslow3 137 Posted January 14, 2019 That is good in theory, from http://www.aatranslator.com.au/ Quote Huge variations in implementation between AAF files means many NLEs/DAWs are unable to read each other's files. So at the moment reasonable results can be achieved using: Cakewalk -> OMF -> (AATranslator) -> AAF (or target program own format) or Cakewalk -> CWP -> (REAPER) -> RPP -> (AATranslator) ->AAF (or target program own format) The second approach can preserve more information. REAPER has free demo and AATranslator provides test conversion service. So anyone can try how good or bad that works. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Some Guy 80 Posted January 19, 2019 Why pay $200 for that when you can just buy Studio One or Samplitude for "not much more" and have a better, more robust user experience - especially if you use a DAW for audio post interchange with an NLE? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daryl L. Samuel 8 Posted January 23, 2019 Sure. I vote for AAF. +1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pwalpwal 1,035 Posted January 23, 2019 as i understand it, aaf is more aimed at video post production? (of course that includes audio, who watches silent movies these days?) i'd be surprised but impressed, considering the huge effort it would take, and considering the current video capabilities (somewhat lacking), if it gets added to cakewalk... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Some Guy 80 Posted January 23, 2019 7 hours ago, pwalpwal said: as i understand it, aaf is more aimed at video post production? (of course that includes audio, who watches silent movies these days?) i'd be surprised but impressed, considering the huge effort it would take, and considering the current video capabilities (somewhat lacking), if it gets added to cakewalk... The only thing the DAW needs to do is play back video. That's about it. You render out a low resolution reference video to load in the DAW for timing, but the AAF is used for moving the Audio Timeline between DAWs, NLEs, etc. Cakewalk plays back the video fine 😉 Adding AAF support has literally nothing to do with the video capabilities, because the current video capabilities are more than sufficient and - therefore - non-factor in regards to film post production. The problem is that it's impossible to get the Audio Timeline from most NLEs to Cakewalk because it has no AAF support, and NLE developers aren't going to waste resources implementing OMF support - as it's a practically dead interchange format. That's why AAF is needed... because OMF simply isn't usable for most people. The only NLE that seems to work well with OMF is Premiere Pro CC, and most of those users will just use Audition (unless they're working on something higher budget, where Pro Tools is fairly de facto). Outside of that, the need to round trip to a DAW is lessening as more NLEs are incorporating the functionality needed for Audio Post. VEGAS Pro was way ahead of the curve, by virtue of its heritage. Resolve 14 added Fairlight to that DAW. MAGIX's NLEs are also pretty good with Audio, in addition to round-tripping natively with their DAWs (i.e. Video Pro X <-> Samplitude Pro). AAF is necessary, otherwise the time you waste trying to move things around manually is going to cost more than the retail price of a DAW that actually does support AAF; and you'll eventually start losing money doing it "the hard way." 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt Nielsen 0 Posted December 22, 2020 I'd love to see AAF support! I work with BM Resolve Studio and now some other audio tools and would find it helpful to speed up workflows. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maestro 80 Posted December 22, 2020 You don't need to go from Resolve Studio to a DAW for Audio Post. You actually give up a lot of useful tools doing that. Better to just keep that stuff in there. I think AAF needs to be licensed, anyways. I can see going from something like HitFilm Pro to Cakewalk for Audio Post, though, since that NLE is so bad for Audio 😛 But not Resolve Studio... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Fogle 508 Posted December 27, 2020 I can understand professional mixers that want to use Cakewalk by BandLab desiring AAF compatibility. Wikipedia has a concise overview description of the AAF file format +++HERE +++. From this article it appears that AAF and OMF are becoming the two premier file formats to exchange files between DAWs while retaining project data. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msmcleod 2,059 Posted December 27, 2020 I suggest looking over the docs for AAF, in particular: - aafcontainerspec-v1.0.1.pdf - aafobjectspec-v1.1.pdf - aafstoredformatspec-v1.0.1.pdf Maybe you'll get some idea of how ridiculously complex & over-engineered it is. Couple that with no real support for MIDI tracks (the best you'll get is a single SMF file at the end), and the fact that all DAW's implement it slightly differently... it's difficult to claim this as any real improvement over OMF. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maestro 80 Posted December 29, 2020 OMF and AAF were designed primarily for the post production industry. They don't support MIDI by design. Sharing audio between DAWs is a relatively simple use case for these technologies. It's definitely going to seem overengineered, from that standpoint. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
