Problem with AAF from Davinci

[George Glou]

Hello everyone..... I saw all the posts/pdfs/tutorials concerning workflow from Edius to Davinci 12 and back to Edius.
I have my sequence....export to AAF.....NO PROBLEM
I open Davinci....I apply one Lut that I like...I go to deliver,select Grass Valley HQX and so on.....it renders and then I go to EDIT panel...and I export AAF to the folder that the rendered files from Davinci are...
I open Edius import AAF file and there is no change to my clip what so ever.....No LUT....nothing. same clip as the original one.
I go to the rendered folder of Davinci and the files that Davinci rendered are ok , I mean with the lut applied.
What am I doing wrong here?

[George Glou]

No one????

[alanlacey]

I hope you get an answer to this George as this is my plan also for the future. Although I've not started investigating the 'round trip' methods yet.

[David Clarke]

The AAF you are exporting from Resolve must be linking to the wrong clips - i.e to the original ones not the exported ones.

What settings are you using on Export? What names are the files being given? Also try moving the original clips that you imported into Resolve (or renaming the folder in which they are located) and then see what happens when you open the new AAF in EDIUS. If it cannot find the clips any more you may be able to relink to the correct ones.

[George Glou]

David...I screeshot almost every single step i did.....

[George Glou]

next steps

[George Glou]

almost there......

[George Glou]

last steps

[George Glou]

So where exactly I make the mistake?
Is it because I export the aaf from Edius to a totally different folder that the Edius project is?
I have created one folder generally for Davinci and there I have 2 subfolders. One from EDius to Davinci and another from Davinci to Edius.
So I thought that after exporting aaf from davinci , Edius will import the aaf from that folder and will automatically read all the changes that have been made....

[NakedEye]

When exporting from resolve use the avid aaf delivery preset from the delivery page. Give the aaf a unique name for your own reference. If you do not have workgroup then you can change the render codec in resolve to hqx but if you do have workgroup then the dnx mxf option is fine and holds accurate gamma.

I suspect by going back to the edit page to export your aaf you are simply replicating the imported one hence linking to the original files.

Try it and see what happens.

Davids suggested method of off lining the files and relinking to the new ones should also work for you but can get messy.

Best regards Dave.

[George Glou]

Its funny....since yesterday I exported all the possible combinations from Davinci. Nothing worked. On half of the exported files, Edius would import the file but with no change at all (lut or colour correction) On the other tries Edius would open the restoration window but with no file there to be missing....
HANDS UP!!!!!!!!
Does it matter that I have somewhere else in the disc the folder with davnci export files and the AAF saved?
Is it right to export the filename same as source?(eventhough I also tried to change the name but it didnt work)

Any other idea?

[NakedEye]

Did you try my suggestion? Export via Avid AAF preset from the delivery page it will save an AAF with the rendered files from Edius choose Import and browse to the folder you chose for your export from resolve and select the AAF. It works I do this weekly.

[David Clarke]

That will not work. I just tested it with EDIUS Pro and the Avid delivery option creates MXF files which will not load into Pro.

Some of the export presets make AAFs (or XMLs) and some of them do not. I tried the ones which do but EDIUS Pro did not like them

The other thing mentioned in this thread is that when you export an AAF from Resolve from the edit tab then it will be exporting what is on the timeline and not something which links to the new movies you have made. This is in fact what is happening. What you need to do is to "regenerate" the AAF so it exports and links to the right things. It is explained on page 1022 of the Resolve manual.

The best method I have found is:

1. Import the EDIUS project and grade it.
2. Export the timeline as a series of clips as you have done. Use the same settings.
3. Go back to the edit tab, right click on the timeline icon in the bin and click on timelines-export-generate New AAF.-see the attached picture.
4. when prompted give the AAF a name. I also keep mine next to the clips.

Load this new AAF into EDIUS and it should link to the new clips you have made.

I would make the exported clips first as the new AAF decides what types of clips it is expecting to link to based on the settings in the output tab. For example, it was set to make MXF files the new AAF would be looking for MXF files rather than Quicktime files.

Exporting files first means that the output tab is set to the types of files you have just made.

The Resolve manual says you only have to remake the AAF if you have not edited the timeline. It does not include grading as changing the timeline. If you trimmed clips or moved them around you would not have to remake the AAF. I did not actually test this.

I am sure you did not have to do this in Resolve 11 which is why a lot of people will not realized it. Or if they are using one of the pre-made export templates such as the export to AVID one, it will sort it out itself. I could not find a way to make an "Export to EDIUS" setting that would include an AAF.

I could make a comment on how it does not seem that clever to hide something which would appear to be fairly fundamental to a colour work flow on the edit page rather than the deliver page and in a menu 3 layers deep, but I won't. ;-)

Hopefully this works.

Most of the time I do not do AAFs from Resolve. I make a bunch of clips and get Resolve to put a prefix on them so they get names "1XXX" "2XXX" and then when I bring the made files to EDIUS I just put them in name order in the bin and drop them on a new timeline. This does not help if you adding transitions and other stuff, but is easier. It also works best if you just have one video track. I can explain further if needed.

[NakedEye]

Hi David!

Yes this does create DNxHD in MXF and avoids QuickTime issues with gamma shift and for me it is the only viable workflow with Edius and Resolve. But you are correct the DNxHD MXF files won't work without the Avid option for 7.5 Pro or having Elite 7.5 or Workgroup 8.

And yes it is odd that you cannot customize the AAF output on the delivery page to change the codec/format etc but keep base settings as I am sure this was possible in earlier versions. Also no comment on the fact you have to export the timeline via media pool to get the re-generate AAF option.

Best
Dave.

[George Glou]

Thank you David and Dave,
To day I will have the time to test everything you mentioned.
I will try and let you know.
Thank you so much.