fcp2aaf — convert Final Cut Pro timelines to AAF for Pro Tools (Mac, Apple Silicon)

[Cesareho]

Hi everyone,

 

I'd like to introduce fcp2aaf, a native Mac app (Apple Silicon, macOS 14+) that solves a well-known problem in post-production sound: Final Cut Pro cannot export AAF. fcp2aaf reads the FCPXML that Final Cut exports and builds a standard AAF ready to open in Pro Tools (also compatible with Nuendo, Fairlight, Reaper and DaVinci Resolve).

 

A few things that might be relevant for this forum:

 

- Before converting anything, a window opens showing the whole session: tracks by role, fades, markers, clip gain, volume automation, and you can play any clip to check everything lines up before handing it to the mixer.

- It resolves compound clips, sync clips, multicam and multitrack recordings, delivering every voice rather than just the active angle.

- Audio can be embedded inside the AAF or exported alongside it, and a report of what did and didn't travel is always generated.

- It finds media files automatically from the paths written in the FCPXML, and lets you relink if material has moved.

 

Here's a demo video:

 

There's a free tier with no time limit for timelines up to 5 minutes with every feature enabled, plus paid licences (a 3-day pass or a lifetime licence) for longer projects.

 

Website: https://fcp2aaf.com

 

Happy to answer any questions or hear your feedback.

 

 

 

[Jason Nicholas]

This is very welcome. I was recently presented with a feature doc that’s been edited on Final Cut. It’s a fairly straightforward edit but, because of the way it’s been set up in FCP, I’ve spent painful hours just trying to get it into a form I can work with in Nuendo and Resolve.

[Philip Perkins]

Thanks for this--I look forward to trying it.  For forever X2Pro has been the only way of getting FCP project audio exported.  It seems to work ok but requires that the "exporter", ie the editor, buy, learn and use it and I have encountered some resistance to this, since the "pro" version is really needed for complex work and costs $160.  (One also needs to construct the FCP project audio with eventual export in mind!).  One small correction: Reaper will not open AAFs directly.  I recommend using AATRanslator to convert the AAF to an .rpp project.   This works really well--I do it for every job we do here these days.

[Cesareho]

On 9/2/2026 at 9:07 PM, Jason Nicholas said:

This is very welcome. I was recently presented with a feature doc that’s been edited on Final Cut. It’s a fairly straightforward edit but, because of the way it’s been set up in FCP, I’ve spent painful hours just trying to get it into a form I can work with in Nuendo and Resolve.

 

On 9/3/2026 at 10:45 AM, Philip Perkins said:

Thanks for this--I look forward to trying it.  For forever X2Pro has been the only way of getting FCP project audio exported.  It seems to work ok but requires that the "exporter", ie the editor, buy, learn and use it and I have encountered some resistance to this, since the "pro" version is really needed for complex work and costs $160.  (One also needs to construct the FCP project audio with eventual export in mind!).  One small correction: Reaper will not open AAFs directly.  I recommend using AATRanslator to convert the AAF to an .rpp project.   This works really well--I do it for every job we do here these days.

Thank you both very much! I really hope fcp2aaf can be helpful for your workflows and that you enjoy using it.

 

Jason, I hope it can save you some of those painful hours getting your Final Cut project into a format you can comfortably work with in Nuendo and Resolve! In fact, specifically for Nuendo, we have just implemented the ability to export markers as CSV and MIDI files, so they can also be imported into Nuendo.

 

Philip, thank you as well for the clarification regarding Reaper and AATranslator — that's very useful information. And regarding the workflow you mentioned, that is actually something we had in mind when designing the preset system. The person handling the audio workflow can create and export a preset with the appropriate settings, send that preset to the editor by email, and the editor simply needs to import it into fcp2aaf, click Convert, and that's it.

 

If you run into any issues, have questions, or have any suggestions after trying fcp2aaf, I'm always keeping an eye on the support email and I'll be happy to help however I can.

 

Thanks again, and I hope it proves useful to you both!