Introduction to XMLPro

What is XMLPro ?

XMLPro is a very simple concept. It converts XML audio sequences exported from Final Cut Pro into Pro Tools sessions and AES31 ADLs. The main focus in the conversion is to maintain direct references to the original media, and also to include level automation in the conversion.

Who needs to use XMLPro ?.

Modern post production workflows vary a great deal, but in the case of large projects such as motion pictures, it is often highly desireable to maintain references to a single set of media throughout the picture and sound editorial phases. Traditionally, EDLs were been used to communicate edits between picture and sound editorial, which required audio post to completely reconstruct the sound before continuing with their job. In recent times, this process has been improved using turnover of edit and media using an OMF file. However, the OMF export from Final Cut Pro has some limitations, and it is these which are primarily addressed with XMLPro. The main issues are as follows:

1) Embedded media only. The OMF export from Final Cut Pro does not support a composition only OMF file. All media used in the sequence must be copied and embedded into the OMF file. This has several disadvantages, including the extended period taken to export, since all media must be copied, and file size limitation of 2GB which can easily be exceeded on a long, multichannel sequence. In workflows where there are likely to be a series of changes to the picture, this means that audio post must start over each time a new OMF is created, since the new OMF will not refer to the media created in the last export.

2) For more elaborate workflows, where there may be a desire to reconnect to additional audio channels, not cut in the video edit, the OMF provides no way to refer back to original media in order to establish a track to the alternate tracks.

3) No level automation. Although Final Cut Pro supports sophisticated clip and keyframe based level automation, which is commonly used by video editors to make a rough mix, this data is not passed through into the OMF, and hence any guide levels are lost when turning over to audi post, which can waste alot of time rebalancing levels.

XMLPro addresses these issues by cutting a Pro Tools session, or AES31 ADL which links back to the original audio media placed into Final Cut Pro, and as a composition-only object there is no file size limitation. Also, XMLPro maintains the level automation in the exported objects.

Convert your first sequence

The first step is to export an XML file from Final Cut Pro. XMLPro has been designed to work with FCP HD 4.5 or later. Earlier versions of Final Cut may work fine, but they have not been tested and are not officially supported for use with XMLPro.

To export an XML, Control Click on the sequence you want, in the FCP browser, then select the Export submenu, and finally the XML menu item. Alternatively you can select the sequence and choose File->Export->XML from the FCP menu bar. Normally, you should make sure that all your media is online and connected, before exporting the XML file, in order to make sure of good file connections in the XML.

This operation will write an XML file which contains the sequence selected.

Now, run XMLPro, and press the 'XML to Pro Tools' or 'XML to AES31 ADL' button, depending on what sort of file you would like to produce.

XMLPro is very fast, and it should take less than 30 seconds to read and convert the XML file into you chosen format.

That is it ! You should now have a Pro Tools session or AES31 ADL ready to load into your audio workstation. The file will point directly to the original audio files used in the Final Cut Pro sequence, and you should see the volume automation converted from the FCP sequence into your new audio session.

Advanced users may want to consider incorporating Gallery's MetaFlow into their workflow design. Metaflow complements XMLPro and adds extremely powerful reconforming functionality to automatically cut in alt tracks, perform bit rate exchanges, and much more. See http://www.metaflow.info for more information.

Note:

There are several important considerations when performing the XMLPro conversion. These are discussed later in this documentation. Please ensure that you read all the considerations before proceeding.