About Final Cut Pro Sequences and XML files

Here is an incomplete list of things that are assumed about the sequence exported from Final Cut Pro.

• No transition effects have been used. XMiL Sequencers can not process them.
• The name of the sequence will be the name of the tape in the ALE file. It can easily be edited in the file itself.
• Audio processing is limited to the first 12 audio tracks. The Avid may only accept 8 audio tracks.
• The start of the logged clip is always the first frame of the video clip.
• Pre-lapping audio will be ignored.
• 'Post-lapping' audio (audio that starts after the video starts) will be logged as beginning at the video start point, with the appropriate time code adjustment.
• Sound segments are continuous. If they are not no sound time code and reel information will be logged.
• After each video clip detected by the XMiL Sequencer will look for audio-only clips before the start of the next video clip. This means that no audio only clip will be found before the first video clip of the sequence.
• Generator clips, including text generators and Motion templates, are ignored.
• Nested sequences and off-speed clips are ignored.
• Bars and Tone, still frames and the active angles in multiclips are processed.
• There is currently no conversion of time codes between 23.98 fps and 29.997 time codes. (If you are interested in such a feature please send an email to info@xmil.biz.)
• Only the first sequence found in the XML file is analyzed, all others are ignored. All non-sequence items in the XML file are ignored as well.
• The source reel information in the ALE columns "Tape", "Labroll" and "Soundroll" is derived from the source reel information of the Quicktime files used in Final Cut Pro. If no such information is found, the name of the source file will be used.
• XMiL Sequencer has been tested with Final Cut Pro version 6.0.2, using the Apple XML Interchange Format version 4 (with latest clip metadata), under Mac OS 10.4.11 and Mac OS 10.5.2.

User Interface Options

Click the button "XML file" to select the file that contains the XML export from Final Cut Pro.

Click the button "ALE file" to select the target file.

Use the drop-down menus in "ALE Header" to set the frame size and frame rate for the footage in the Avid. These values can easily be edited later in the ALE file's header. No cross-check with the footage described in the XML takes place. The correct values solely depend on the Avid project settings. Here is a table of Avid project types and their frame sizes and frame rates:

Avid Project	ALE frame size & rate
1080p 23.976	1080 23.976
1080p 24	1080 24
1080p 25	1080 25
1080i 50	1080 25
1080i 59.976	1080 29.97
720p 23.976	720 23.97
720p 29.97	720 29.97
720p 50	720 25
720p 59.94	720 59.94
23.976p NTSC	NTSC 24
24p NTSC	NTSC 24
30i NTSC	NTSC 29.97
24p PAL	PAL 24
25p PAL	PAL 25
25i PAL	PAL 25

The RED One camera records two different time codes in the R3D original files in the camera. One is a time-of-day time code, the other is a continuous time code. If the box "Read Secondary TC from R3D files" is checked, XMiL Sequencer will attempt to locate the original camera source files to read the alternate time code directly from those files.

For a successful search the first 16 characters of the names of the QuickTime file and the R3d file have to be identical. The R3D file name must end in '.R3D', and the time code found in the QuickTime file will has to be present in the R3D file as one of the time codes.

The first location XMiL Sequencer will look for R3D files for is the directory of the QuickTime file used in Final Cut Pro. If this fails, the application will search in the directories added by the user.

Press the button "Search locations" to add directories to be searched for R3D files. These directories will only be searched after the search failed in the directory of the QuickTime file used in Final Cut Pro.

In the window that subsequently opens, click "+" to add a directory, or highlight an entry in the list and click "-" to remove it. The directories listed here will be searched in the order they are listed. Click "Cancel" to leave the list unchanged.

Check the box "Extend clips for trailing audio" to have the application shift the outpoint of the clip to where the audio ends if that is later than the video outpoint. For an extension to occur the audio has to be continuous, and without a 'fake' edit, for the duration of the video. Any extension will be noted in the column 'XMiL Message' in the ALE file, e.g. 'Extended clip by 298 frames at tail.'. See also the section 'About Sound'.

To receive warnings when the ALE file will be overwritten, check the box "Warn when overwriting ALE file".

Check the box "Show error log" to see the error log after an XML file has finished processing.

If you want to retain the text of this log click the button "Save as...", otherwise click "Close". You can not retrieve the log at any later time. However, the ALE file contains a column 'XMiL Message' that lists the same errors in an abbreviated form. The error log will be displayed, even if the corresponding box is not checked, when certain more serious errors occur.

You can click all XMiL logos as well as the text "www.xmil.biz" to have your web browser open to this website.

Settings are retained

The application will remember all settings set in the application window when it is next launched. The settings are automatically saved each time the "Go" button is pressed.

Launching XMiL Sequencer for the first time

When the application is launched for the first time it will ask for a registration number. You can obtain such a number on this website, and enter it into the window that opens.

Click "Register" to start using XMiL Sequencer. If you don't have a registration number yet you can continue in Limited Mode. This will be indicated in so many words at the bottom of the main window.

Running in Limited Mode will only process up to 10 video clips, but produce a valid ALE file of those clips.

Information in the ALE file

The ALE files made by XMiL Sequencer contains these columns:

Name	clip name as assigned in Final Cut Pro. Usually, but not necessarily the same as the name of the QuickTime file.
Tracks	video and/or audio tracks to digitize in the Avid
Start	clip start time code (was 'record' TC in FCP)
End	clip end time code (was 'record' TC in FCP)
Auxiliary TC1	start time code from Quicktime (was 'source' TC in FCP)
Auxiliary TC2	start time code from R3D file (was 'source' TC in FCP), empty if not found
Labroll	source reel of QuickTime used in FCP
Sound TC	dual system sound start TC, if synched in FCP
Soundroll	dual system sound reel, if synched in FCP
XMiL Message	errors encountered by XMiL, pertaining to respective clip
A track sources	list of Audio source tracks used in FCP. "1:1 3:4" would indicate that the audio on track 1 came from track 1 of its source, the audio on track 3 came from track 4 of its source.
A tracks from video	list of audio tracks that came from the same QuickTime file as the video for this clip
QT file name	name of QuickTime file used in FCP
QT file path	file path to QuickTime file used in FCP

Note that Avid EDL Manager can create EDLs based on Auxiliary and Sound time codes, as well as Soundrolls and Labrolls.

About Sound

XMiL differentiates between 'synch audio' and 'dual system sound' by comparing the source files with the source of the clip's video. It recognizes one other source and records the time code and reel information in the appropriate columns in the ALE file. However, once one source of dual system sound is found, all other external sound will be assumed to come from that same source file, and any divergence in time codes will be ignored.

Here is a look at how XMiL Sequencer treats the audio tracks it finds overlapping with any video clip. In the most simplistic case audio and video come from the same source and are in synch, are of the same length, and start and end at the same time. Note how the red frames around the clips in the Final Cut Pro timeline show the boundaries of the clips logged in the ALE file.

Clip in Final Cut Pro timeline

Clip as logged in ALE file by XMiL Sequencer

The start of the video determines the start of the clip

Audio starts later than video, the logged clip starts where the video starts. The sound time code is compensated so that it stays in synch.

Audio starts earlier than video, the logged clip starts where the video starts. The sound time code is adjusted accordingly.

Dual system sound

Dual system sound can be mixed with synch sound and will be logged accordingly. (Clip is extended for trailing audio.)

Sound is tracked correctly, no matter what order the sound tracks are put into. The "A track sources" column contains a list of the audio tracks and their original source tracks. (Clip is extended for trailing audio.)

When synch audio from the video QuickTime file is shifted out of synch in the timeline XMiL Sequencer will treat the tracks in question as dual system sound and log the time code in the "Sound TC" column. (Clip is extended for trailing audio.)

However, XMiL Sequencer only considers one single source for dual system sound. All dual system sound is assumed to come from the same source and all tracks to be in synch with each-other. In example above, the sound on track 2 would determine the time code and source reel information logged in the "Sound TC" and "Soundroll" columns, the sound on tracks 5 and 6 would be reported as having the same time code and source. (Clip is extended for trailing audio.)

Extend Sound for trailing audio

The logged clip ends where the video ends with "Extend clip for trailing audio" NOT checked.

With "Extend clip for trailing audio" CHECKED the same clip ends where the audio ends.

When the audio overlaps, or even exceeds to the next video clip that video will be included in the logged clip (Clip 1 above). The data for the second clip included in Clip 1 will be incorrect. A second clip (Clip 2, in blue) will be logged with correct data. (Both clips are extended for trailing audio.)

In a situation like the above it is better to break the long sound in several segments. XMiL Sequencer will then log the footage as three separate clips, shown here in blue, red and green.

Multiple Sound Segments

When several sound segments are encountered for a video clip, no matter if they are continuous or not, no time code information will be logged in the "Sound TC column" of the ALE file. However, all sound tracks with something on them will be turned on for digitizing, and an error message will be entered in the error log and in the "XMiL Message" column.

Sound Only Clips

Sound only clips will be logged as such, as long as they don't overlap with a video clip, or with another audio clip.

When audio only clips overlap each-other they will be logged as one single clip. Only the highest track's information will be logged, the other track's information will be discarded.