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williamp93350174
Participant
April 6, 2020
Question

Premiere AAF export with Merged Clips FIXED

  • April 6, 2020
  • 6 replies
  • 14069 views

Unable to export an AAF from Premiere having used Merge Clips? 

 

If you've found out not to use merge clips too late, I think I’ve found a solution to the issue. The feedback from my sound team has been positive and they do not seem to have had any issues with my AAF in Pro Tools.

 

SIMPLY:

1. Export your edit xml from Premiere.

 

2.a) Download the free version of  DaVinci Resolve.

 

2.b) Import the premiere xml into DaVinci Resolve 16.0 - ( be sure to check files - mine thankfully had relinked to their pre merge clips state)

 

(2.c) It may be possible to export an AAF or OMF at this point directly from Resolve. I did not try and decided to head back into premiere.

 

3. Export your xml from DaVinci Resolve.

 

4. Import the Resolve xml into premiere. - My video media/scratch track had gone offline but my edit was in tact had reverted to its un-merged state.

 

5. Re-link any media/ missing assets resolve could not process.

 

6. Export AAF

 

This solution has allowed me to essentially un-merge clips and avoid having to rebuild the edit from scratch. It’s far from a perfect workflow but it worked for me.

 

I additionally noticed that the process unlinked any scratch tracks from the original video footage. I was able to re-link them along with external audio. This makes me believe it may be possible to avoid the need for merge clips entirely. By this I mean a possible workflow could be:

 

A) Sync audio and video in premiere.

B) Follow steps 1-5.

C) Link A/V clips rather than group or merge them.  (Select clips/audio. Right-hand click. Link)

D) Edit as usual and export an AAF without issues of merge clips.

 

In theory, the metadata should remain intact and AAF exports won’t be a problem. And Metadata is the main issue with merge clips.

 

Having read other horror stories about this exact issue, dating back years. I’m shocked that Adobe (SHAME!) hasn’t implemented a fix. Fortunately Resolve - the free version none the less has provided a fix that paid software could not.

 

Frankly, syncing video and external audio has been a nightmare within premiere. From my research, AVID has much better and effective tools for this whole process that work and save time. The following is a great explanation for managing media. Well worth the watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNpgl7weKEY (Especially for you Adobe).

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

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    6 replies

    B
    bmacneel
    Participant
    July 12, 2022

    Can Confirm. This worked. Thanks so much.

    D
    defaultia0xhqls9gui
    Participant
    July 9, 2021

    I could not make an AAF because of merged clips.  I found this solution.

    Create and EDL and import it into a NEW PROJECT.  Then relink the media where needed. 

    The audio was seperated and I was able to create the AAF.

    You will have to relink some media. But that's not bad compared to rebuiding your show.  Make sure to take a pass  through the timeline as you may find some audio that needs tweeking.  

     

    There really should be a warning about merging clips.  I had not edited in many years and followed forums etc. to find a workflow.  Mergimg took a lot of time and so did finding a cure for it.  I hope this helps anyone in the same boat.

    Sergio Venturini
    Sergio Venturini
    Inspiring
    October 7, 2020

    I've made some code that unmerges clips, using XML exports. Does anybody know if new premiere does channelization right? https://github.com/sergeiventurinov/Racoon

      Gui Carl
      Gui Carl
      Participating Frequently
      October 4, 2020

      I have another suggestion, which I just tried and seems to be working for my post sound team.

       

      Create an audio only timeline, then select all and unlink everything, then export aaf. Somehow this seems to have worked for everyone, and I just sent a separate video for reference.

       

      Hope that helps!

        lehestro
        lehestro
        Inspiring
        October 4, 2020
        My god, if this works, I will track you down and kiss you.
          A
          alconcal
          Participating Frequently
          July 24, 2020

          Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!

          Just had this issue after trying to export an AAF for a short film of which I'd synced everything via merging clips. Followed your steps above and it worked perfectly. Thank you so much.

           

          What's the best way to sync picture and sound in Premiere if merging clips causes this issue? 

            lehestro
            lehestro
            Inspiring
            July 24, 2020

            Alternative methods I've seen are: 

             

            1) making nested sequences/multicam sequences instead of "merging" them. You can basically treat them like clips. This is probably the route I'll be doing in the future.

             

            2) Using string-out timelines and avoiding the project window almost entirely. An editor friend creates a string-out timeline, wherein all clips are strung out and synced and linked to their corresponding audio tracks. He then just keeps his "source" timeline (aka, the string-out) window above his edit timeline window, and scrubs through and pulls down whatever he needs from the "source" timeline. This way the audio and video are linked, but never merged.

              P
              Community Expert
              Phillip HarveyCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              August 22, 2020

              Yeah, agree with that. 

               

              I think merge is fine if you're not going to be leaving Premiere. But if you're in a professional setting and working with other people - like colorists and audio engineers - it's not great to use some Premiere-proprietary features. Merge clips is a habit I fortunately steered clear of.

                lehestro
                lehestro
                Inspiring
                July 8, 2020

                I'm trying this method, but when I import the XML into Resolve, all audio channels are set to the first channel (notice in the image how every track is set to channel MixL). This means I have to go through every clip and reassign each clip to the correct channel. It's really tedious. Any way to avoid this?

                 

                D
                DevoCam
                Participant
                August 22, 2020

                Same thing happened to me when trying the Resolve solution. I went another route that worked, you can send your sequence to Adobe Audition which will create new audio files with handles based on your edit, then export an OMF out of Audition. It's not quite as good as an AAF but will still work for your sound mixer.

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