Quantel today announced new AAF offline-to-online interchange tools from Avid Xpress Pro and Avid Media Composer Adrenaline to its eQ and iQ Post and DI systems. Both eQ and iQ can now directly import useful AAF V1.1 metadata created during offline—a significant step forward in simplifying on-line sessions.
The metadata set includes segment names, effects transitions, complex effects descriptors, audio splits and fades, time stretch commands, layer event timings and layer priority data. Existing eQ and iQ tools like Reel Lock and Resolution Co-existence then allow lo-res offline images to sync on the fly to the online conform, making last minute checking easy. All eQ and iQ V3.5 users will receive these new tools free of charge and the full toolset will also be incorporated into the new Quantel Pablo color-grading suite. Delivery is expected by end of November 2005.
This new implementation of AAF was previewed at IBC showing interoperability from Apple Final Cut via Automatic Duck and adds to existing AAF interchange with Digidesign Pro Tools and Sadie digital audio workstations.
"The AAF Edit Protocol hits the sweet spot for edit interchange," said Brad Gilmer, Executive Director of the AAF Association. "It is great to see these core post-production systems adopting it."
"The attraction of AAF is its comprehensive data model which is applicable to a wide range of post-production workflows," said Phil Tudor of BBC R&D who heads the AAF Engineering group. "By using a single interchange standard between many applications, integration is simplified and metadata is less likely to be lost."
Mark Horton, Quantel Marketing Manager for Post, added, "This is another step forward in the general industry adoption of AAF. We have found AAF to be an open and practical format, which allows us to address the real needs our customers have to build a pipeline around multi-vendor solutions.
"The AAF engineering team has done a great job on V1.1. As the more forward-looking vendors are now offering AAF technology on their products we look forward to adding further AAF workflow tools for our customers. As AAF is a working, open, genuinely multi-vendor technology, it is the logical choice for collaborative Post," Horton concluded.
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