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MATLIN RECORDING, INC

23 East 31st. Street
14th floor Penthouse
New York, NY 10016
212-696-2772

Audio & Video Post Production

OMF INSTRUCTIONS

OMF is a utility that is built into the Avid Media Composer and Final Cut Pro, (and other non linear systems.) This utility allows for easy conversions from one digital system to another. Avid sequences can be converted into Digidesign Pro Tools sessions.

OMF has come a long way. At one time, you were lucky if your OMF's would open at all, but with newer software on the Avid and Digidesign side, we have had great success. Never use OMF version 1. Some digidesign programs won't even attempt to open these up anymore. EMBED the media into the OMF. It works better. Final Cut Pro Only allows for Embedded OMF's. This is Good!


	On the Avid: Select your sequence that you want to OMF and make a copy. Using the copied sequence, delete the video track. Select the sequence in the appropriate bin and under FILE, select EXPORT. There you should find an option for OMF. ONLY USE OMF 2.0, select EMBED audio.... there may be other options depending on the version of Avid software you are using. If in doubt, check with the sound engineer that is receiving your OMF file. Fades, and volume levels will be transfered in the OMF file. On Final Cut Pro: It is always wise to copy the sequence before creating your OMF file. Using the copy, under the File menu, select Export OMF. Currently, all OMFs created in Final Cut will Embed the audio. Currently Fades and Level Changes DO NOT transfer in the OMFs created in Final Cut. This is expected to change in a new release of Final Cut.

INSTRUCTIONS:

It is important to remove any EQ, or plug in effects that you have put on your timeline before creating your OMF file.

Never combine 44.1kHz and 48kHz media on the same timeline. You may not know it's there, but if this is the case, your OMF will not open on the ProTools end.

Copy your video sequence, delete the video track and embed the media into the OMF.

Make sure the final OMF file does not excede 2 Gig. The OMF will fail if larger than 2 Gig. Break the project into smaller sections, and create multiple OMFs if this is the case.