Blackmagic Forum

The new changes in Resolve 17 are great, but in order to test if the Fairlight Page in Ver17b3 is now OK for me to start using in audio post production, I have experimented with importing an old set of AAF files from a past UK TV show of 1 hour length.
The AAF's are in two parts, audio only and I initially had imported them into Resolve Vers 16.3 and although they all arrived at my timeline cursor position of 09:30:00:00 instead of their 'real' timecode start times of 10:00:00:00 (standard start for a UK TV show), I was able to slip them into place with the separate guide video .mov file I also imported.
All 9 tracks arrived, but when importing the Part 2 AAF audio files, they also went to the project start time of 09:00:00:00 and arrived as another set of 9 audio files.
All OK though as after a few tweaks I could start tracklaying.

However doing the same import into Ver17b2 and then 17b3 fails. I get one track, the first one only and if I then try and bring in the Pt2 AAF's, it crashes to the desktop.

My old copy of Nuendo 5.5 imports both sets perfectly, all correctly placed along the timeline and in fact if I export them back out of Nuendo as AAF's, now Resolve V17b3 imports everything in the correct place. Something got fixed by Nuendo obviously.
I am not able to run both Resolve V16 and 17 and certainly wish to use the new bussing and editing improvements in V17 and going through Nuendo is a needless fudge of course.

The difficulty in competing with the video facilities running much cheaper 'mouse and keyboard' based, mainly Pro Tools rooms meant that I had to close my beautiful Constellation XT equipped suite a few years ago. However as a Fairlight user since I got my first MFX3Plus in 1996, I am keen to get back to using the brilliant Fairlight designed control panels that made it the best DAW for fast, ergonomic operation and the fact that BM have produced an 'Xynergi' type editing panel makes Resolve a must for me to use at sometime when the software is truly robust.
The old Fairlight Dream II software always imported these AAF's perfectly of course.
I can upload them via WeTransfer if the Resolve Fairlight team wish to try them.

Dave Taylor
Windows 10Pro/Xeon X5450@ 3Gb/RAM24Gb/NVidia GeForce GTX460

Still the same audio AAF problem now I have v17b4 alas
DT

Further investigations:
I un-installed Resolve and rolled back to Vers16b3 and noticed that, in addition to 'Import AAF to existing Timeline' option, there was a 'Import Timeline-AAF, XML' option. Choosing this for the first 'Part 1' audio AAF's, allowed the AAF files to all arrive at the correct timecodes.
Following I tried to import the 'Part 2' AAF's into the same timeline, using 'Import -AAF's to existing timeline. Alas that failed so I then did the same 'Import Timeline-AAF' and got a second timeline with the Part 2 files, also correctly positioned, ie now starting at 10:27:22:00.

Re-installing my Resolve version back to Vers17b4 , I now saw that there is a change in the wording of 'Import Timeline' and it no longer mentions AAF or XML.
However, trying the same AAF importing again, worked for the 'Part 1' AAF's, but every time I then tried to get the 'Part 2' files into a second timeline, V17b4 crashed....however it always did it 'nicely', by offering to save the project before dropping me to the desktop.

As a 'poor soundman', not very savvy in video editing, I am a little confused by the whole 'timelines' thing. In the 'old Fairlight' and in other DAW's, we always worked with 'projects' and yes they had a timeline, but not 'multiple timelines' as Resolve uses.

Dave Taylor

Hi David -

Good to see you on here.

I'm having equally frustrating problems importing an AAF in to DVR17. The option is greyed out for me using the usual method of File > Import > AAF to current timeline.

I really hope it's something I'm doing wrong; because to get to V17 and to not be able to reliably import an audio AAF is putting a huge hole beneath the waterline of Fairlight as a DAW.

It must, surely, be something stupid at my end...

Regarding the timelines thing, once you get your head around them, they're relly useful. In old parlance, think of it as a 'project' within a project...

Partial progress and yes, it was ME being stupid... I forgot to create an intial 'empty' timeline to import the AAF into... So zero points to me!

However, successfully getting the AAF import dialogue box up, pressing OK to start the import causes the programme to hang. Further investigation on my part to see what else I might be doing wrong will now follow. (By the way, I know the AAF is 'good' as it imports straight away into Xynergi.)

Hi Neil,
Aah....so I'm not the only one having trouble importing audio AAF's into Ver17b!
Something ' got broken' between V16b3 and V17b, as I got the AAF's OK in 16; .well I did once I had realised the menu I needed to use was 'Import Timeline- AAF', which placed the AAF's at their designated start TC.
That menu dropped the reference to 'AAF' in V17b, becoming just 'Import Timeline', however in V17b I'm getting only I track, instead of the 9 that I expect.
As my project had been exported from FCP in two parts, trying to bring in the 2nd part, to either the existing timeline, or a new one, crashes Resolve everytime.
Hopefully Renaud Venter will pop up soon and help. He has organised a small group of Fairlight Control Panel users, but I don't think we see anything from the old Fairlight.au team across this forum alas.
Fairlight was such a demon at importing AAF's, even those from PT, with all the 'extra' fade handles, I remember.

Dave T

V17 seems to do OK for me.

Import Timeline imports and places it at the correct timecode in a new timeline.

Import AAF to Current Timeline seems to place the AAF start time at the current timeline's start time. Which seems like a bug unless there is a reason an editor wouldn't want the correct timecode....

Embedded and referenced have worked. Clip gain and crossfades came over. Not trying anything long form at the moment but I have successfully opened a feature length referenced AAF from Premiere. But I'm sure it varies wildly with the source sequences. I've seen colorists have trouble with imports from Avid and Premiere.

AAF export is a very mixed bag.