Have you ever had to deal with a new version of a Picture Lock after post-production sound has already begun, forcing the mixer or composer to manually sync everything to the new version? Today, we explain how EDL files can make your life easier in such situations.
First of all: what is an EDL? It’s a file that contains the time code information for the clips of a video edit, so it can be sent to the post production team to pass on changes to the editing.
In this tutorial we will show you how to export EDL files and how it behaves in Nuendo.
Davinci Resolve:
- Here we are in a short video project in Davinci. There are 3 video clips and one audio track, and as you can see, the video clips are on different tracks, as it would be the case in a regular editing session.
- In order to generate the EDL file to be sent to the audio post team, you absolutely need to have one video track and one to four audio tracks. If you don’t want to affect your main editing session, create a copy of your timeline and bring the video clips to a single track, the V1.
- Once this is done, simply click on “File”, then “Export” and select the “Timeline” option.
- Now choose the folder where your EDL file will be saved. Try to use a name that makes it easy to find your way between versions, using letters or numbers for example, because the principle is that you will generate an EDL for each change that affects the audio post.
- Then, in the desired file type, you will click on the first option “EDL file”, because the “EDL With Audio” is not going to be useful in this context.
- Press save, your first EDL file that you will now send to audio post, along with your editing video and your OMF or AAF.
- Now let’s take the following example: production asks for a correction or you decide to make changes to your video project for aesthetic reasons.
- To simulate this kind of change, we will decrease the length of the 2nd clip, and then let’s say….we will even move it to the end and bring the 3rd clip back here. We’ll adjust the length of the music to make it fit and that’s it! Let’s assume that this is the new picture lock version. All you have to do is export the EDL file again, as we did with the first one.
- Remember to clearly identify which version it is to make it easier for everyone.
- When you go to your export folder you can see that both EDL files are present.
- If any other changes are made, just follow the same steps and send the new EDL files, along with the video and the OMF or AAF.
Premiere Pro :
- For Premiere, we have a similar project to the one we had in Davinci, with 4 video clips and an audio track. Make sure you have everything on one video track. If you don’t want to affect your main editing session, create a duplicate of your timeline and bring the video clips down to a single track, V1.
- This project has only one audio track, but in case you have several tracks for dialogues or sound effects, you can always create a copy of the project as a safety backup.
- Next, in the menu bar, click on “File”, then “Export” and select “Final Cut Pro XML”. Even though the EDL option exists in Premiere, for some reason there seems to be a discrepancy of about 5 frames in the EDLs generated directly from Premiere.
- Now choose the folder where your EDL file will be saved. Try to choose a name that makes it easy to find between versions, using letters or numbers for example, because the idea is that you will generate other EDLs each time you change. Select the file type as XML.
- For the second version of the edit, we’re going to go back into our Premiere Pro session and shorten a clip, then move the whole thing around a bit and why not delete one of the video clips altogether? We’ll make sure to adjust the audio.
- Once the Timeline is set up, repeat the export steps and name your file number two in order to send it to Davinci Resolve.
- Then repeat the previous steps by importing the Timeline XML into your Davinci session, then create the EDL corresponding to this version.
- Now open a blank project in Davinci Resolve. Click on “file”, then “import timeline” and select the XML file you created from your Premiere session.
- Make sure you set the import details (framerate, etc.).
- You will now see on your Timeline, an exact reproduction of what was in your Premiere session. Take the time to check that everything was done correctly, and once you’ve checked, click on “file”, then “export timeline” and choose the EDL file type. Name your file appropriately, and now you can send your EDL file with the edit and the OMF assigned to it.
Final Cut Pro:
Like for every editing software we covered, import all your files into your working directory and create a Timeline where there is only one video track. We have made for the purpose of this video, a fairly simple project with 3 video clips and one audio track.
Once the project is ready to be sent, click on “File” then “Export XML”. As with the other examples, be sure to identify your files to keep track of the working versions.
Make sure you have as file type, the .XML file, then save it in the appropriate folder and then you’ll only have to import the timeline into Davinci. The steps are the same afterwards to create the EDL file.
Bonus : Nuendo
Now here is what the process looks like on our side on Nuendo.
- You can see a working session with a video, a music track and 3 ambiences that match the different scenes in the video edit.
- What we are going to do is import the EDL files in order to compare the editing versions. To do this, in the menu bar, click on “Project”, then on “ReConform”. Click on the MORE icon in the top left box, then click on the folder icon, and finally select your EDL file that matches the first version of the video edit. Do the same process, but with the top right box, and select the EDL file that matches the second version of the layout. Make sure you have imported the video edit of the second edit into your Nuendo project beforehand.
- Once you have imported both EDL files, make sure that all the dots are green. If you see any red dots, you can click on the relevant lines and change the timecodes displayed. Once you’ve made your verification, click on the “Generate” button and you’ll see what looks like two timelines stacked on top of each other in the bottom window. These are in fact the two versions of the video edit, each block corresponding to a scene or clip.
- Click on the gear icon and check that the settings are as shown on the screen. You need to identify which video track displays which version of the edit, and you can select in the bottom window which file will be considered the new video version. Also pay attention to the start timecode. Here we have changed it to 01:00:00:00, because our Davinci project started at this mark. However, your projects could start at the 00:00:00:00 mark or even 10:00:00:00, so make sure you have the right settings.
- Now we’ll move the window so you can see what happens when the “Generate” button is pressed. Note that there is a “Preview” button, that allows you to preview the changes that will be made without committing to them. However, for some unknown reason, sometimes this option does not accurately reflect reality. So we’re going to press the “ReConform” button directly. And that’s it! As you can see, our work session has been reorganized and the scenes have been moved and rearranged on our timeline.
- You will notice that a gap without sound has been created in the middle of the timeline. We can assume that this is a new scene that has been added to the edit and that we have not yet worked on. Consequently, it has no sound design or music, which explains the hole created. Please check that everything is correct. Here you can see that it is indeed a new scene.