need help exporting audio files out of Vegas for mixing in top pro mac based studio

Deuceofspades

Deuceofspades

Veteran
So here we are, getting ready to cross that bridge. It is time for me to start planning for the mixing of the film's many scenes, and then the overall mixing / mastering of the entire film.

My friend patrick has volunteered to help, but the files (scenes) will have to be moved to his studio (he is working with mac system and "Nuendo")

We will start by mixing each scene seperately. I will need to figure a way to get my audio tracks exported somehow so that the pro studio can open the multi tracks and do a final mix down of each scene.

I talked to Patricks' techs today and we were brain storming. Trying to figure out how to do this. I am going to ask them to post on this thread directlty so that they can ask their specific questions, hoping David can help ? :)

In talking to them a bit today, it seems they were hoping vegas could export audio files in an AAF format.

I am clueless when it scomes to this stage of the process of making a film, so I am unable to help them.

ANY ASSISTANCE GREATLY APPRECIATED. I want DEUCE OF SPADES to sound good, so getting them to help with the mix is essential.

THANK YOU!
 
You can save as AAF. Whether or not it will work correctly is another question.

But unfortunately, this very thing has caused people in your position many headaches. You're about to go up against Vegas's major drawback.

Anyway, here's the section in Help about exporting AAFs.

Importing and Exporting AAF Files If you intend to export your project as an AAF file, please note the following usage guidelines and plan your project accordingly:

  • Audio and video cuts are preserved.
  • Track-based audio gain and panning are preserved when saving or importing AAF files.

    Select the AAF Export - Use clip-based audio envelope check box on the General tab of the Preferences dialog if you want to combine track and event gain envelopes and save them as clip-based gain envelopes in the AAF file. When the check box is cleared, track envelopes are saved as track envelopes, and event envelopes are saved as clip envelopes.

    When exchanging AAF with another application, refer to its documentation to determine whether audio gain and panning changes are supported.
  • Muted audio tracks are not included in the AAF file.
  • When you import an AAF file, the track- and clip-based gain envelopes are combined and imported as track envelopes.
  • Audio and video effects are ignored.
  • All video transitions are exported as AAF Video Dissolve transitions.
  • All audio crossfades are exported as AAF Mono Audio Dissolve transitions.
  • Time-stretched video is exported using the AAF "Video Speed Control" effect.
  • Time-stretched audio is not supported: audio events that are time stretched will play at their original speed, and time is added to the track to represent the stretched duration; audio events that are time compressed will play at the original speed, but the event is trimmed to match the compressed event length.
  • Any track that has mono and stereo audio will be ignored; the AAF format does not allow mono and stereo audio on a single track.
  • Still images will be exported as 1,080,000 frames (the AAF specification does not allow media with a length and frame rate of 0).
  • Track order in your exported AAF will not match your Vegas project: in the Vegas track model, the first track represents the foreground; in the AAF specification, the first track represents the background.
  • Audio is exported using frame units when the AAF Export - Use frame unit for audio check box is selected on the General tab of the Preferences dialog. Clear the check box if you want to use sample units for exported audio (use this setting only if your project contains audio only or if you know the application that will import your AAF supports frame units for video and sample units for audio).

  1. From the File menu, choose Save As. The Save As dialog is displayed.
  2. Select the drive and folder where you want to store the project.
  3. Type a name in the File Name box.
  4. From the Save as type drop-down list, choose Edit Protocol Compliant AAF File (*.aaf) or Avid Legacy AAF File (*.aaf).
  5. Select the Embed WAVE/AIFC Media check box if you want to embed audio that uses the wave or AIFC codec with your AAF file.

    This check box is available only if Edit Protocol Compliant AAF File is selected from the Save as Type drop-down list.
Only individual audio files that use the wave or AIFC codec will be embedded. Audio streams from video files of audio that does not use the wave or AIFC codec will not be embedded.

  1. Type a name for the file and browse for a destination.
  2. Click Save.


 
We went through this with our film last year. We never did find a way to export as OMF or AAF - we ended up rendering three separate files, from three different tracks of dialogue, music and effects. We copied them to DVD-Rs, mailed them to our post guy (Mark Kondracki @ OutLoud Audio in Manahattan) and he did the mix in ProTools. Not ideal, but it worked.

When he was done, he mailed them back to us as three re-mixed audio files, and we dropped them back onto the timeline.

I certainly do wish Sony would bring Vegas into the professional arena and improve it's AAF / OMF capabilities.

And I would be very curious if you find a better way to handle this.

The story has a happy ending though: We ended up playing over 50 US and international film festivals (still playing internationally) came out on DVD last week and can also be watched via many download and alternative distribution media, including iTunes and the Playstation store.

Mark Holmes
Producer
www.readyokmovie.com
 
Hello, this is Andy at Electric Entertainment. We're going to be working with Faith on her Deuce of Spades project. She was kind enough to refer us to this forum which I can see will be most helpful!

We've loaded a build of Vegas on a PC here at our facility (I believe it is Vegas Pro 8.0c) and I've been doing some AAF export tests to see if I can get our software (Nuendo 4.2.2) to open the Vegas tracks properly.

For my first test I simply recorded some empty audio files into three stereo tracks, put in some random fades and adjusted clip gain and exported the AAF. In my preferences, I had the "AAF Export - Use clip-based audio envelope" and "AAF Export - Use frame unit for audio" boxes both checked. When I imported the AAF into Nuendo I got mixed results. Most of the time, Nuendo would crash before completing the import process, but twice it worked and it looked like the tracks came in correctly. However, both times when I attempted to zoom in to check out the tracks more closely Nuendo crashed. Maybe it did not know how to display the envelopes properly or there was something else wrong with what was in the audio regions. I've never seen something cause Nuendo to crash by simply zooming in.

I'm going to alter the AAF export in Vegas a bit, ie maybe unchecking the two AAF export options in the preferences, and see what happens.

Any other tips on successfully exporting audio tracks from Vegas in hopes of importing them into Nuendo would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
-Andy
 
Got it to work! Nuendo successfully opened my test AAF from Vegas maintaining the correct audio, clip names, clip gain, and fades.

Make sure these check boxes are NOT checked in preferences regarding AAF exporting:

"AAF Export - Use clip-based audio envelope" - this may have been what was causing the crashing.
"AAF Export - Use frame unit for audio" - we are only dealing with audio for our AAFs so the manual suggests not checking this if that is the case

Save As Edit Protocol Compliant AAF File and check the Embed WAVE/AIFC media box.


Now to try a session with many more tracks and clips...

-Andy
 
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