You are going to be converting project information only, under the assumption that you’d then batch-recapture your footage in FCP, from your tapes.

by Matt Johnson

Originally Published: Wed, May 01, 2002
Last Modified: Thu, Jan 16, 2003

Moving an Avid project to Final Cut Pro

Matt Johnson / updated May 2002 — for Avid Composer 7, Avid Xpress 2, and Final Cut 3

Yes, it can be done. It isn’t automatic, it ain’t pretty, and some things may get lost in the translation, but if you’ve gotta do it, it is possible. You are going to be converting project information only, under the assumption that you’d then batch-recapture your footage in FCP, from your tapes. If you are wanting to convert media files from Avid to FCP, see the Appendix note.

Very Important Warning.
The process to translate master clips works well. The process to translate sequences also works pretty well. But the process to translate both, and then link the one to the other, is limited and deeply imperfect. In short, it sucks.

In short: there are three different scenarios here we must consider.
A) You’ve only logged footage, but haven’t really begun to edit yet (so you only need your master clips);
B) You’re almost done editing, and you want to use FCP to “online” the nearly-finished program (so you only need your sequence);
C) You’re anywhere between point A and point B… so you need to bring both your master clips (to batch-capture) and any number of subclips and sequences, all of which need to be linked to the master clips.
The short version: if you’re Scenario A or Scenario B, you’ll be OK. If you’re Scenario C, well, you better start lowering your expectations. You’re going to have to make some sacrifices.

Limitations of the translation process:
- Standard dissolves and wipes will survive, but no other effects will.
- No audio mix information (i.e. volume levels, EQ) will survive.
- Titles (from the Title Tool) will not survive, other than their locations in your sequence. Titles imported from Photoshop files can be imported into FCP as well, but must be re-positioned manually.
- Tape names will be truncated to 8 characters (so make sure the first 8 letters of your tape names are distinct).
- EDLs are limited to 1 video track and 4 audio tracks each, so sequences with more than that will have to be exported as multiple EDLs and then reassembled in FCP.
- Subclips and master clips should be divided into separate bins before exporting from Avid. This is because the Avid-FCP translation process doesn’t “understand” subclips, and turns everything into master clips; you’ll get confused which is which and end up capturing the same material twice.
- Your sequences (in Avid) should be linked to master clips only, not to any subclips, before exporting them. (This is easy to do, but remember this means your sequence clips will have the master clip names, not the subclip names.) If you don’t do this, you’ll have a hell of a time relinking them in FCP.
- In general, subclips are extremely painful to transfer. Consider alternatives. One approach is to ditch them entirely, and/or recreate them by hand in FCP. If this would set you back too far (i.e. your “master” clips are just big generic hunks representing an entire 60-minute tape, and all your true “logging” resides in your subclips) one approach is to forget about your old master clips and beknight your subclips (or a selected subset of them) as your new master clips in FCP, to be batch-captured. Make sure there’s not much overlap between them, so you’re not capturing the same footage twice.

Well, enough caveats and warnings ... at last, the procedure.
First, on the Avid:
1. For each bin you want to export, go to “Headings…” and turn off all but the following: Start, End, Tape, and Tracks. (This is the only info FCP will be able to “understand.” However, if you have other info you wish to bring for your own reference, such as comments or other custom columns, go ahead and include these as well.)
2. Do not mix master clips and subclips in bins that you are exporting! FCP can’t tell the difference, and imports everything as a “master clip.” Separate all your subclips into their own bins and name the bin “subclips” so you’ll know the difference after you bring them into FCP. (Or consider forgetting about your subclips altogether.)
3. In each bin hit “Select All” and then select File > Export. Choose the ALE (Avid Log Exchange) format. If you’re Scenario A (clips only), skip to Step 7.
4. For each sequence you want to export, you must first make sure it is constructed only of master clips, not of subclips.
5. Here’s the easy way to do this: Make a new bin. Make a copy of your sequence. Move all of your master clips and the sequence copy into the new bin. Select All. Choose Relink (Bin menu) and check the box “Relink to selected.” The new sequence should now link to your master clips instead of your subclips.
6. Run the program “EDL Manager,” export each sequence as an EDL. Use the CMX 3600 format. Under EDL “Options,” check the box “With clip names.” (Don’t bother with any other options, they won’t transfer.) For sequences with more than 1 video track, or more than 4 audio tracks, export the extra tracks as separate EDLs and indicate what they are (i.e. “V2,” “A5-8,” whatever) in the filename. You can recombine them in FCP.
Next, in a text editor:
7. You can use SimpleText, Microsoft Word, BBEdit, TextEdit, or whatever to do this. If you’re Scenario B (sequences only), skip all this; go to Step 15.
8. Open each of your ALE “bin” files.
9. Delete the first few lines of header information (except for the column names; these should be the first line of your document).
10. Change the column names as follows:
Start fi In
End fi Out
Tape fi Reel
11. Change the formatting of the “tracks” information as follows (you can use Search & Replace). Note: there is no way to import a clip that is A2-only into FCP; pretend it’s A1 for now, and see #18 below.
V fi 1V
VA1 fi 1V, 1A
VA12 fi 1V, 2A
12. If you exported any other columns besides Start, End, Tape, and Tracks, you should rename those column headings as one or more of the following: Comment, Comment 2, Comment 3, or Comment 4. (Once they’re in FCP you’ll be able to name them whatever you want.)
13. Save the edited text files. (Note: if you are using Microsoft Word, make sure you save them as “Text Only” format, not “Word Document.”)
Update:
Recently, somebody has created a small utility which automates the above text conversion. It’s called “ale2fcp” and you may be able to find it on the web, or on the Avid Lab server; the lab manager may be able to help you find it and show you how to use it, but if not, you’re on your own if you want to use it. At last note, it was available from its author at http://www.dharmafilm.com/applescript.
Next, in FCP:
14. For each Avid bin: create an FCP bin with the appropriate name, then double-click it to open it. Import each bin text file using File > Import > Batch List. This will create a bunch of new “offline” clips.
15. For each sequence: import it using File > Import > EDL. (In the import dialog box, press “Options” and then choose “for relinking” and zero handles, if you’re linking to master clips; or set your desired handle size, if you’re batch-capturing the sequence itself.)
16. If a complicated sequence was exported as multiple EDLs, you’ll have to cut and paste them back together into one sequence. (Note: you can’t just drag one sequence into the timeline of another, that will “nest” it. Instead, select all the clips from one, Copy them, switch to the other sequence, choose your target tracks, and Paste.)
17. Every master clip with audio will appear in FCP tagged as either “A1” (Mono) or “Stereo.” If you want a different setting, such as “A2” mono, “A1+A2,” or “Mono Mix,” you’ll find that FCP doesn’t let you alter these settings in your bin before batch-capture. Set these options in the Log & Capture window, and then un-check “Use logged clip settings” when you capture those clips.
18. Batch-capture the master clips, if you’re Scenario A or C. Note that subclips and sequences will still be offline. If you’re Scenario B, batch-capture your sequence and you’re done.
19. To relink sequences to master clips: Right-click on the sequence in the Browser, and select “Reconnect media.” For each clip, locate the corresponding media file, which you just digitized: the names should be the same. (Except master clips which had a name longer than 32 characters, in which case FCP will have truncated the media file’s name, and it will no longer “match” clip name.) You may be able to speed this up with “relink all files in this path.”
20. Troubleshooting: there is a problem where certain clips in the sequence will simply have the name of the tape reel, not the “Clip Name” that was supposed to be exported with the EDL—making it impossible to know which file to choose when relinking them. This seems to be a particular problem with L-cut clips. Check the EDL to see if in fact there was a legitimate clip name. You can also try a different EDL format, or simply try the same thing again. Worst-case scenario, you will have to simply deduce which master clip that shot belongs to, by its timecode.
21. Relinking subclips is a laborious process. For each subclip, first relink it to the media file of the master clip that it belongs to. It’s the wrong length, of course, but FCP will relink it anyway—however, it should now have In and Out points set to the length of the original subclip. Choose Make Subclip. Then delete the old clip.
General warning about FCP’s approach to reconnecting (re-linking) media. It can be a bit of a nightmare. FCP links clips to media files based on one thing only: the filename. If in the “Reconnect” window you select a media file that’s a different length from the original clip, FCP will change the clip’s In and Out points, without so much as a warning message. Compare this to Avid, which ignores file names; it compares the timecode In and Out points of the clip with those of the media file, and if they don’t match, it simply won’t link the two.

In short, make lots of backup copies of your project file as you work through the relinking hell above! It’s easy to wreck your clips and/or sequences.

Appendix: Moving media.

Video: Avid’s media files are in a proprietary format, entirely different than the one FCP uses. It’s much easier, and much better quality, to recapture video from your tapes in FCP. However, if you absolutely must get a piece of Avid video to FCP digitally, then use File > Export and select “Quicktime,” then press “Options” and select the DV-NTSC codec, with a frame size of 720x480, both fields. Time code will not be preserved. The export will take a long time.

Audio: Audio is much easier. If you have non-time coded audio media (from Nagra, etc.) you will need to bring the media itself to FCP, since you can’t recapture. Avid’s “.omf” audio files are actually Sound Designer II files and can be used “as is” in FCP without conversion. However, they’re hard to locate, have weird names, and are probably the wrong sample rate (most Avids default to 44.1 kHz, whereas DV projects are 48 kHz). It’s a better idea to select your audio clips in Avid and use File > Export, select “Audio” format, and choose SD2 format, 48000 Hz. This way you can also name each file with something more descriptive.
As with video, time code will not be preserved. (Remember, for non-timecoded sources, Avid assigns dummy time code during digitizing, and that’s what your sequences have been referring to.) If you want to export the time code information (for example, digitized Nagra reels that have been synced to video) you might try writing down the starting TC number of each clip (or putting it into the filename when you export), and then after importing them into FCP, using FCP’s Modify>Time Code command.

Send Comments, Suggestions, or Changes to David Cox(david_cox@mail.utexas.edu)