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32bit Workflow


codyman

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I'm predominately a production sound mixer although I dabble doing post audio for little documentary shorts.  One of my clients has been using a MixPre 10 II to record their audio due to the fact that they shoot a lot of pretty intense sports where people can be yelling at any given moment etc.  They've been editing in Premiere using a 32bit timeline and it has worked out for them in that they've been able to use the 32bit files to recover info from those tough moments that normally would have been blown out.  The problem we're having though is that when they go to send an OMF/AAF to me so I can load it up in Pro Tools, well the only export supported is 24 bit.  They say they've been adjusting the gain (actual gain not through the faders) in Premiere to "fix" the peaked out portions however when I get the files, they seem to still be peaked out in terms of audio quality but aren't peaking out on my meters.  Any thoughts on how to make Premiere talk to Pro Tools better in this 32 bit audio world?

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I might have to create a 32 bit Pro Tools session, import their 24 bit AAF, and then use field recorder guide to re-link the actual 32 bit files it seems.  Alternatively I am also having the editor use "normalize max peak" to -0.2db on just the clipped clips in his timeline to see if that helps (that setting doesn't normalize all the audio but instead keeps all the volume relative to each other in the particular clip but just makes sure that nothing exceeds that value - all via gain rather than through faders).

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You will have to re-conform the timeline with the original files using Ediload, Titan or any other conforming tool.

 

In my experience,  AAF from Premiere don’t  keep the reel name in the metadata, so you will not be able to expand tracks directly in Protools.

 

 

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Just now, Derek H said:

I’d say the most sensible thing would be to just record in 24 bit. Plenty of loud things get recorded at 24 bit and it works out ok. 

Coulda woulda shoulda however the bigger issue is that they were utilizing some of those new Tentacle Sync E recorders since they had mountain bike riders scattered over 200 miles across a desert (recordings actually do sound good when you listen back to them and do help with yelling / loud noises given the 32bit flexibility).

 

It's looking like I'll need to purchase AATranslator which supposedly can export out from Premiere/Audition a native Pro Tools 10+ 32 bit session without having to convert via OMF or AAF.  $199 and I've sent the creator an email to double check before I plop the credit card down but if it does work, would come in handy anyways given most of my editors utilize Premiere and I'd rather have them spit out an Audition Session Export from Premiere, use AATranslator to create a PT session rather than utilizing the ancient OMF/AAF workflows that come with their host of problems to boot.

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In this particular case, I would  recommend to  try Ediload that is a real Swiss Army Knife regarding conforming and versioning. 
You can download a fully functional temporary licence for free and, if it does the job for you, you can rent it on the next projects. It’s worth trying it.
https://www.soundsinsync.com/products/ediload

By the way, you will still need the AAF for the sounds added by the editor (musics, fx, temporary voice overs, ...)

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6 minutes ago, Philip Perkins said:

The AAT folk swill do a test for you free before you buy, and get back to you really fast.   I very much recommend them--AAT has been the silver bullet for my export monsters on nearly a daily basis for many years.

Yeah I just talked to Michael Rooney actually and I'm going to send over a little sample session later today.  He feels confident it will be able to go from a Premiere/Audition 32 bit session to a 32 bit Pro Tools 10+ session no problem.  If that's the case, I'm sold as I can just tell all my Adobe Premiere clients to spit out an Audition export and I can handle the rest rather than the usual back and forth of dealing with OMF/AAF files which clearly are relics that keep on "working" with much to be desired.

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I wish there was another export format for audio.  AAF is really a disaster, so much more complex that what is needed for sound.  OMF was never really finished or standardized, AAF even less so.  We had a great simple reliable export protocol: AES31, but Avid refused to take it up.  It would be great if there was a new, lean, clean and reliable utility that would do this, but (as Mr Rooney could tell you) the work is really gnarly and no one wants to put any money into it. 

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OMF always worked good for me in PT's, Reaper and Vegas Pro, aside from 2GB limitation, but OMF files can exported/imported in multiple time segments, tracks or w/o embedding the audio. . In my experience, AAF has been problematic outside of Avid software. AATranslator has worked good for me when a conversion is needed.

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You've been lucky.  Over the past decades I've had spectacular failures and hassles with both OMF and AAF using several DAWs.  AAF is now the only way to get files from FCPX/X2Pro (a terrible but real fact of life in post nowadays), and is also the only way to get exports out of Resolve.   The OMF limitation to 2GB can be gotten around by having the editor export in the "separate" style--this is currently what works best for me with Premiere shows, esp long form (90+ min) projects.   But AAT has become a mission critical app around here: no matter what NLE has made whatever style export for me there is always the possibility of a flat tire during the process.   This includes Avid AAFs going to PT, BTW.   We deserve a better export utility than OMF/AAF but no one wants to take this up.

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Michael was a huge help over there at AATranslator.  He was able to take my 32bit Audition session and sent me back a 32bit Pro Tools session that loaded up perfectly fine with no missing files or anything.  I'm definitely going to pick up an enhanced copy Friday when I return to my studio and will have clients that use Premiere send over Audition sessions instead of OMF/AAF's from now on.  Hopefully one less headache in the post workflow!  Now if only there was a piece of software that fixed "Yeah the files are now coming tomorrow but the deadline remains the same" then I'd really fork over some $$$ 🤣

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  • 1 year later...
On 3/8/2021 at 5:23 PM, codyman said:

I might have to create a 32 bit Pro Tools session, import their 24 bit AAF, and then use field recorder guide to re-link the actual 32 bit files it seems.  Alternatively I am also having the editor use "normalize max peak" to -0.2db on just the clipped clips in his timeline to see if that helps (that setting doesn't normalize all the audio but instead keeps all the volume relative to each other in the particular clip but just makes sure that nothing exceeds that value - all via gain rather than through faders).

Hi there!

I'm having this same issue but, sadly, I can't afford AATranslator (and also I only have a mac computer so it wouldn't run). 
Did the "normalize max peak" thing in premiere work for you? that normalization passed correctly into protools without distortion?

Thank you!

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6 hours ago, nicoguga said:

Hi there!

I'm having this same issue but, sadly, I can't afford AATranslator (and also I only have a mac computer so it wouldn't run). 
Did the "normalize max peak" thing in premiere work for you? that normalization passed correctly into protools without distortion?

Thank you!

I never tried the normalize peak deal, just used As translator.  Try the normalizing trick though, worst case scenario you revert it back.

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