Avid AAF cut killer multitrack @ Chanel NY

2025-12-01

The goal here was to reuse my tool to generate AAF avid projects (with clips, group clips, timeline with cuts, etc.), but to handle 3 timelines in parallel.

The show took place in the New York subway and was so large that we had 3 directors, one for each section of the underground venue.

So I had to monitor each cut and aggregate them all properly within the AAF. I had all the clips within a group clip, and then one timeline per ATEM ME. This way, the post-production team could realign everything for the final film quickly.

The goal being as usual to produce a film as quickly as possible:

• we do the show, monitor LTC, monitor cuts, Avid Nexis
• at the end of the show, I generate an AAF
• this AAF is used by the post-production team on site to start working on the final film that will be used for the live stream.

You can see here the control room with its U-shaped layout, one team per ME, for a total of 3 PGMs done in parallel.

During the show, my tool runs, monitors the clips being recorded in Avid Nexis, ingests LTC to be frame accurate and monitors ATEM to get the actual cuts.

And at the end of the show, I generate an AAF that can be dropped into Avid:

• all clips, automatically relinked
• a group clip
• a timeline with cuts (from the group clip)

This process is fast, only a couple of seconds, and makes the rest of the job really easy: adjust cuts manually, change angles with a right click on each cut and choose from the list of cameras in the group clip.

Acknowledgments

This project would not have been possible without the exceptional support and expertise of several key partners:

• Plani and Walter Films for their continuous help and support.
• Ben Tess Services for EVS wizardry.
• Maelstrom Studios for their invaluable expertise in Avid Media Composer and post-production workflow optimization.