Dropped an embedded AAF (from MediaComposer) into the NEW timeline. It won’t match-back to external files (asks to be linked to files first, of course). It obviously doesn’t link back to the embedded AAF. I attempted to link it to the audio files created when importing the AAF into ProTools, but this doesn’t work either. Potentially due to the .A suffix that ProTools appends to the filename?
I’m probably doing something terribly wrong here but I don’t know what that is.
Embedded AAFs are not supported as the audio is literally written into the AAF file itself.
Extracting via Pro Tools just creates new files so that’s not much help.
You could potentially import the extracted tracks from Pro Tools to Matchbox using the “Import Selected From DAW” action. It has limitations though (no crossfades, no overlapping edit mode)
Or just stop using embedded AAFs. There’s no reason I know of to keep using them.
Apologies - it also seems there’s a similar question just recently posted.
Perhaps it’s the wording of this part of the user manual, but it does read like this is something that Matchbox can do?
22. Match-back To External Audio Media
Matchbox 2 introduces a new workflow which enables you to take some media from inside Matchbox, and match it back to a collection of media outside in the file system somewhere. Matchbox will use image or audio matching techniques to find any sections of any files which look or sound the same, and assemble them all on the timeline in Matchbox.
MATCH-BACK FOR AUDIO
There are 3 main use cases here:
Assembling original production audio for a reel, when only a complete rendered guide track is available. Perhaps you were not given an AAF or it is corrupted in some way. Matchbox can analyse the dialog guide track and go hunting for the original production media which was used to create the guide audio.
Assembling original production audio for a reel, when the AAF is embedded or has destroyed the timestamps and other metadata in the audio files it references. Matchbox can use audio matching to find the original source of each clip in the other-wise useless AAF.
Finding alt takes or channels for a line. Matchbox can run a more “Tolerant” search, scouring your production audio files for anything which sounds similar. The “Correct” take will usually be found easily, and often alternate performances will also be collected.
Hmmm yeah it does read a bit like that. I guess it’s technically true if you go through pro tools to get the thing extracted, but misleading for sure
Okay great, thanks for your help.
I thought the functionality might be creeping up on AAF/EDL conform tools (Ediload, Kraken etc), and I guess you could do an assemble from DAW to get something like that workflow from an encapsulated AAF, maybe outside the useful scope of the program.