SOME GOTCHAS ON USING OP1A MXFS WITH AVID MEDIA COMPOSER

Inspired by some comments from Zeb Chadfield on Linkedin, I exhaustively worked on reproducing the troubles he experienced the last time he tried out OP1a MXF media in his Avid Media Composer workflow.

I can confirm: you will run into some of the troubles he outlined in certain workflows.

I’m compiling those troubles here so:

1. You can decide if they’re valid blockers to using OP1a MXFs in your workflow.
2. With the hope the right software vendors will see this and take action.

To that end, here’s an old saying on identifying real money versus fake money:

You don’t have to memorize all the different types of counterfeits out there; you only need to know how real money looks.

Building on that principle, let’s look at this file called P1810409.MOV. ¹

I transcoded it to an OP1a MXF in Media Composer, then used ffprobe to examine it.

Here are the results:

What do we learn?

There are five groups of metadata Media Composer wants from what I’ll call a fully formed OP1a MXF:

1. material_package_name & material_package_umid
2. file_package_name & file_package_umid (per stream)
3. track_name (per stream)
4. reel_name & reel_name_umid (per stream)
5. timecode

Also, the UMID’s – material_package_umid, file_package_umid, reel_name_umid – must be the same.

For testing, I transcoded OP1a MXFs or attempted to add metadata to existing OP1a MXFs using these apps:

• EditReady by Hedge
• Apple Compressor
• ffmpeg - transcoding and adding metadata
• bmxtranswrap - adding metadata only

None of these apps can write all five groups of metadata with matching UMID’s, but there is one app that can: Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve.

Before all you DaVinci Resolve fans come pouring in, let’s make one important distinction.

Fully Formed vs. Valid OP1a MXFs

If a fully formed OP1a MXF has all five groups of metadata with matching UMID’s, why can Media Composer open OP1a MXFs transcoded from EditReady and Compressor?

It seems Media Composer views OP1a MXFs with or without certain metadata to be viewed as valid OP1a MXFs.

That is, Media Composer will successfully index managed media folders and allow the user to successfully open and play back Clips attached to those OP1a MXFs.

Based on my tests and ffprobe reports, here are the criteria Media Composer uses to determine if you’re using a valid OP1a MXF file as managed media:

1. An OP1a MXF contains a material_package_umidand file_package_umid without any of these defined: material_package_name, file_package_name, and reel_name.
2. An OP1 MXF contains a material_package_umidand file_package_umid with this metadata defined: material_package_name and file_package_name.

However, if you define material_package_name, file_package_name, and reel_name, MC will fail to properly index the OP1a MXF. ^{2 3}

Why?

Once you define reel_name in your transcoding app, it seems Media Composer expects track_name to also be explicitly defined per stream.

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Questions

Should I use OP1a MXFs for Editorial with Media Composer?

I still think the answer is, “Yes”.

Or at the very least, “OP1a MXFs are definitely worth testing for your workflow.”

What if I’m using DaVinci Resolve in my workflow?

Check out this section of the DaVinci Resolve Reference Manual (or DaVinci Resolve Manual.pdf):

Chapter 56 > Conforming and Relinking Clips > Importing Clips Before Importing an EDL, AAF, or XML:

• Essential Clip Metadata for Easy Conforming and Relinking
• Defining Clip Metadata When Adding Media to the Media Pool
• How Reel Names are Identified

The messaging’s a bit mixed, but if you concentrate, you’ll see:

“Assist using reel names” is recommended, but not necessary.

Again, I’m not a hater, but if you’re only using DaVinci Resolve to make dailies for Media Composer, there are far easier ways to do so with EditReady, Compressor, and Shutter Encoder.

What could Avid Technology do?

If Media Composer’s Universal Media Engine was built for native OP1a MXF support, and “you can access OP1a originals directly without having to transcode to OP-Atom MXFs as media to get superior performance”, then Avid Technology could:

• Make Media Composer more forgiving when using valid (but not fully formed) OP1a MXFs as managed media.
• Make Media Composer a bit smarter about detecting the number of tracks in an OP1a MXF, then display the correct number of Tracks in a Bin.

Currently, when track_name metadata is missing from an OP1a MXF, Media Composer will display an error:

Exception: CM_LABEL_NOT_UNIQUE, tt:2, lnum:768

And if the user selects Yes, then the Bin displays an inaccurate number of tracks.

Plus, you can’t open the Clip.

What could transcoding app vendors do?

They can make sure their OP1a MXF writers write all five groups of metadata:

1. material_package_name & material_package_umid
2. file_package_name & file_package_umid (per stream)
3. track_name (per stream)
4. reel_name & reel_name_umid (per stream)
5. timecode

With matching UMID’s for material_package_umid, file_package_umid, and reel_name_umid.

I have a ticket open with the ffmpeg dev team – #11226 Add Track Names to OP1a MXF files – but I’m not sure how much traction it will get. It was already tagged as an Enhancement.

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There’s nothing wrong with using OP-Atom MXFs, but it seems OP1a MXFs were meant to be the future… back in 2019.

Imagine being able to easily gather your project media with or without MDV and then use an OpenTimelineIO export to continue editing or finishing in the app of your choice.

In the much nearer future, it’s looking more and more like Media Composer | Enterprise’s High-Resolution Only/Proxy Preferred/High-Resolution Preferred feature will be added to other Media Composer tiers, significantly reducing the pain of a relink or conform phase.

OP1a MXFs – another step toward working how we want and where we want, with the least amount of friction possible.

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1. At the time of writing, I used:
   - Avid Media Composer 2024.6
   - Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve 19.0
   
   Also, if you’re having trouble using ffmpeg to transcode source media to DNxHD- or DNxHR-based media, this may help: 
   https://askubuntu.com/questions/907398/how-to-convert-a-video-with-ffmpeg-into-the-dnxhd-dnxhr-format ↩︎

2. If you’re playing along at home, you can use this ffmpeg command to add metadata to an existing OP1a MXF and move it to a managed media folder under the UME folder. 
   
   ~/Downloads/ffmpeg/ffmpeg -i /path/to/Your OP1a.mxf -map_metadata 0:g -metadata material_package_name="Isaac's Material Package Name" -metadata file_package_name="Isaac's File Package Name" -metadata reel_name="Isaac's Reel Name" ~/Desktop/test.mxf
   
   Now use ffprobe on the resulting OP1a MXF. See? no track_name’s. ↩︎

3. Did you notice I didn’t mention timecode metadata? All transcoding apps listed above will either write existing timecode metadata or let you set a new timecode to the resulting OP1a MXF files. ↩︎

MUST-SEE TV: PODCASTS BY ILM AND BEFORES & AFTERS

Love movies? Love visual effects? Want first-hand accounts of how movies are made from the people who make them?

Check out Lighter Darker with Rob Bredow, Todd Vaziri, and Jenny Ely of Industrial Light and Magic.

Episode 1 is great, and it just keeps getting better.

Also check out Ian Failes' before & afters podcast. I just listened to the ‘Sky Captain’ turns 20 episode with DOP Eric Adkins and it was quite the education.

Absolutely fantastic work from Ross Corman-O’Reilly.

Lego Ideas > Product Idea > August 11, 2023

WIPEOUT - 30TH ANNIVERSARY by Bryan77233

Click Support.

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/2c05ab63-d393-4676-bdda-dbcbc394d638

One thousand percent… yes.

Big ups to Ben Stiller, Steve Conrad, and (of course) James Thurber.

(Spoiler alert: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty)

My daughter just told me this is happening tonight.

If only…

www.brooklynbowl.com/brooklyn/…

Impeccable mix from Shingo Takahashi👌🏽

There’s a story here. Maybe someday…

September 3, 2024

September 7, 2024

September 17, 2024

I’m no AI sycophant, but those are some big leaps in the span of two weeks.

If 1994 Me would’ve had access to this…

WANT BIN LOCKING IN AVID MEDIA COMPOSER? DO NOT USE “ALLDRIVES”.

AllDrives – Allows all drives to act as media drives. (Type ‘AllDrives -1’ for help)

Using AllDrives might seem like a good idea. After all, it allows Media Composer to use any connected volume as a media drive.

If you’re working alone? That might be helpful.

If you’re playing as a band? Not so much.

Here’s why.

“AllDrives 1” ≠ “Avid NEXIS Drives”

If you haven’t already, can you do this? ¹

Launch Media Composer, open Console (Tools > Console), type in this command:

DumpVolumes

Then press Return or Enter.

You’ll see a list like:

Let’s dissect it.

DumpVolumes displays a list of volumes connected to your workstation recognized by Media Composer.

According to that screenshot, six volumes are connected to my workstation. Five of these volumes are local, but one shared volume is mounted over SMB: SMBShare.

Normally, Media Composer would ignore that /SMBShare volume. But right before I used the DumpVolumes command, I executed another command: AllDrives 1.

Media Composer responded:

All drives will be viewed as media drives.

I want Media Composer to see /SMBShare, so it seems like I’m on the right track, yeah?

Well, do you see that column labeled fileSys? Yes, Media Composer detected all connected volumes, but it sees them all as common macOS volumes (i.e. filesys: FILE_SYS_MAC).

“Right! Isn’t that what I want?”

Not if you really want true Shared Avid Project collaboration through Bin Locking (and Bin Refresh). Why? Because Media Composer only allows collaboration on volumes with a NEXIS filesystem, not a common macOS (or Windows) volume.

So how can we help Media Composer see my /SMBShare volume as a NEXIS volume?

That’s where Mimiq comes in. (If you’re playing along at home, you can download a Mimiq trial here.)

Once I relaunch Media Composer with Mimiq enabled, I’ll head back to Console and execute DumpVolumes again:

Do you see that? Media Composer now sees that SMBShare volume with a different filesystem – fileSys: FILE_SYS_AVIDFS. If I’m playing in a band where everyone’s connected to SMBShare and using Mimiq, now we can work together with Bin Locking in place because Media Composer sees /SMBShare as an Avid NEXIS Drive.

“So what’s the problem with using AllDrives 1?”

Mixing Managed Media Folders = A Team Time Bomb

Media Composer stores the underlying media attached to Clips in special folders called managed media folders.

Those folders follow this format:

MXFs (OP-Atom)

• When Working Alone - /Avid MediaFiles/MXF/(N)
• When Playing in a Band - /Avid MediaFiles/MXF/(Someones Computer).(N)

MXFs (OP1a)

• When Working Alone - /Avid MediaFiles/UME/(N)
• When Playing in a Band - /Avid MediaFiles/UME/(Someones Computer).(N)

You cannot mix these managed media folder formats on the same volume.

Well, you can, but if you do… you’ve created your own time bomb, placed it under your chair, and you’re choosing to ignore that ticking sound.

Why?

If someone on your team works without something like Mimiq to tell Media Composer, “That volume is an ‘Avid NEXIS Drive’,” the moment they ingest or transcode media, create a new Title, or render an effect to that volume, Media Composer will make a new (N) folder (where N is a number from 1 to whatever).

Once an (N) folder exists where Media Composer is expecting (Someones Computer).(N), you’ll likely lose a lot of time (and sleep) troubleshooting. Media Composer will start behaving unpredictably, most notably displaying MEDIA OFFLINE errors with Clips where media was once attached.

On top of that, AllDrives is one of the few commands that, when used, sets a persistent value after Media Composer exits.

So using AllDrives 1 with the hope of collaborating through Bin Locking or (worse) attempting a pseudo-collaboration workflow is just inviting Trouble over for dinner and letting them eat your soup straight from the ladle.

What can you do?

Check and Reset “AllDrives”

First, check how you set AllDrives in Media Composer’s Console with this: AllDrives -1

If the last line in the report says:

All drives will be viewed as media drives.

Type AllDrives 2, press Return or Enter, and Media Composer will say:

Only true media drives will be viewed as media drives.

Congrats! You’ve successfully reset AllDrives.

But what if you have an (N) folder where Media Composer is expecting a folder called (Someones Computer).(N)?

Rename Any (N) Folders to (Someones Computer).(N)

Find your computer name and rename that folder accordingly.

For example, the Mac I’m using is named, “Isaac T - MBP Sonoma”. So if that (N) folder was actually named 1, I would rename that folder to:

Isaac T - MBP Sonoma.1.

(Although you can use any number - 1 or greater – in your folder name.)

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If you’re having trouble with Mimiq or some other NEXIS emulation product or service, resist the urge to use AllDrives. Save the suspense for your next Hitchcock viewing; keep it away from your Media Composer workflow.

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1. At the time of writing, I used:
   - macOS 14.7
   - Avid Media Composer 2024.6
   - Mimiq Pro 24.4 ↩︎

IN PRAISE OF OP1A MXFS FOR EDITORIAL USE IN AVID MEDIA COMPOSER

V01.DF338FB9_1F15001F15094V.

A01.DF338FBA_1F15001F150A9A.

Imagine consciously deciding to name your files this way for your day-to-day work. The moment you get back from your coffee break? Instant regret.

And yet, this is how Avid Media Composer works.

You see, that ineffable file name was meant to be read and processed by Media Composer along with some NEXIS storage and/or one of their media asset management products – not you, dear reader.

But what if you could have it your way? What if you could easily identify those MXFs and open them directly from Finder or File Explorer for playback?

This is where OP1a (or OP-1a) MXFs can be a huge help.

One More Time: OP-Atom vs. OP1a MXFs

As a quick refresher, Media Composer transcodes your source media to OP-Atom MXFs by default. One OP-Atom MXF file represents one stream of media, either a video or audio stream. If you decide to open an OP-Atom MXF from Finder or File Explorer, you’ll see something or you’ll hear something, but not both.

On the other hand, opening a OP1a MXF from the filesystem feels just like opening a MOV or MP4 file – you’ll see and hear everything contained in that file.

So why don’t more people use OP1a MXFs in their editorial workflows?

“OP1a MXFs are only for deliverables.”

For years, the prevailing wisdom was: OP1a MXFs are strictly for exports or broadcast deliverables.

However, when Avid replaced Media Composer’s QuickTime-based media engine with their own Universal Media Engine (or UME), native support for OP1a media was cited as a fundamental reason for its replacement:

This process of replacement started with Media Composer 2019.6 and the release of the Universal Media Engine, or UME. This engine is a replacement for AMA (Avid Media Access.) The initial release of the engine provided support for native OP1a media…

In that same Knowledge Base article, Avid fleshed out some major features and “significant performance improvements” that arrived in Media Composer 2020.4 with the Universal Media Engine:

Native OP1a media. UME isn’t just about QuickTime. We’ve leveraged our entirely new media engine to enable native support of OP1a media, something we couldn’t have done with our previous media processing code. Now you can access OP1a originals directly without having to transcode to OPAtom in order to get superior performance.

Yes, Avid initially wrote this article to guide macOS users through the transition from the final 32-bit compatible version of macOS (10.14, Mojave) to the first 64-bit-only version (10.15, Catalina). But why would Avid specifically cite native support for OP1a media as a foundational benefit of the Universal Media Engine if that only meant faster exports?

Doesn’t that sound like OP1a MXFs were intended to solve far more in our workflow?

In my experience? Yes.

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Questions

How can OP1a MXFs help me identify media on the filesystem?

An OP1a MXF contains everything – video, audio, and its metadata. If you open a OP1a MXF in something like IINA or VLC, you’ll see and hear everything.

Transcoding apps like EditReady by Hedge or Apple Compressor use the source media’s file name to rename the resulting MXF file. Since one OP1a MXF file corresponds to one Clip in Media Composer, that means you’ll have a far simpler time identifying and opening a Clip’s underlying MXFs in Finder or File Explorer.

That also makes your MDVx scan results much smaller. 🙂

Does Media Composer have native support for any codec contained in an OP1a MXF?

Media Composer will generate a PMR and MDB file for any OP1a MXFs encoded with DNxHD, DNxHR, and ProRes stored in a managed media folder.

For all other codecs, you can Link directly to that media in Media Composer, then decide to transcode it to a proxy or mezzanine codec later.

In the Source Browser, Media Composer will report “UME Link” under the Plug-In column if it can Link to your media using its Universal Media Engine.

How can I use OP1a MXFs in my editorial workflow?

Place any OP1a MXF files inside one of these managed media folders:

• When Working Alone - /Avid MediaFiles/UME/(N)
• When Playing in a Band - /Avid MediaFiles/UME/(Someones Computer).(N)

Media Composer will generate a PMR and MDB file in that folder, and then you can drag and drop the MDB onto a Bin within your Project.

How can I tell Media Composer to generate OP1a MXF media by default?

1. In Media Composer, go to Settings > Project > Media Creation > Media Type.
2. Under Video Settings > Video Wrapper Format, choose MXF OP1a. (This will also change the Audio Settings to PCM (MXF OP1a).)
3. Done!

I was just given (a folder/drive/link to) some MXFs. How do I know if they’re OP-Atom or OP1a MXFs?

If the MXFs are stored in a folder structure like this:

• When Working Alone - /Avid MediaFiles/UME/(N)
• When Playing in a Band - /Avid MediaFiles/UME/(Someones Computer).(N)

They’re likely OP1a MXFs.

If they’re stored in folders like this:

• When Working Alone - /Avid MediaFiles/MXF/(N)
• When Playing in a Band - /Avid MediaFiles/MXF/(Someones Computer).(N)

They’re likely OP-Atom MXFs.

For a concrete confirmation, use MediaInfo and look for this in its report:

• Format profile: OP-1a or OP-Atom

Are there any Known Limitations?

Anecdotally, I know of only one:

If you add reel_name metadata to individual OP1a MXFs, Media Composer will behave unpredictably. (For any transcoding app vendors out there, reach out for details.)

(But, do you need to bake in reel_name metadata when you could use Media Composer’s Bulk Edit feature in a Bin or an Avid Log Exchange (ALE) file for turnovers or conform?)

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Still not convinced? There’s one more feature I want to show you: you can do an Insert Edit to an exported sequence.

From Media Composer 2024.6’s Help > Performing an Insert Edit to an Exported Sequence:

This is helpful if you only want to replace a portion of a sequence without having to rerender the entire sequence. You can only perform the insert edit on a sequence that has been exported as an OP1a MXF using the MXF OP1a Plug-in.

You can see it in action here, courtesy of Hans Ole (YouTube: Hans the Editor):

Know something I don’t? You know where to find me. 🙂

In the meantime, try some OP1a MXFs in your editorial workflow. You might like ‘em.

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MASAHIRO SAKURAI ON CREATING GAMES

Have you ever played a game starring Kirby? Or any installment in Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series? Then you should know this name: Masahiro Sakurai.

Sakurai-san started a YouTube Channel back in July 2022 simply called, Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games:

https://www.youtube.com/@sora_sakurai_en

If you work (or want to work) in any sort of creative profession, this channel is an absolute gold mine.

It’s not about writing code, but features Sakurai-san discussing principles on:

• What makes a game fun
• Coming up with ideas
• Working together as a team

The videos are in bite-size segments, but don’t underestimate those based on their length. Watch one or two, then take a walk or clean your office. These pieces are made for mental marination.

Also, Sakurai-san’s clear, direct, and empathetic approach make this the gold standard in teaching any subject, let alone something as complex as making a game.

Finally, if you’re a branded content creator, there’s so much to learn from how to produce valuable content here. There’s a consistent format with clear indications of a beginning, a middle, and an end. And he gets right into the topic – not one wasted moment.

Here are a few examples to whet your appetite:

Remarkably, none of this is behind a paywall – it’s free.

Even the opening and closing music cues are special, composed by none other than Yuzo Koshiro.

And this is just scratching the surface.

My highest recommendation. Thank you, Sakurai-san.

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SHUTTER ENCODER MAKES THE DAILIES FOR AVID MEDIA COMPOSER

In July 2020, a developer named Paul Pacifico revealed on Reddit:

Hello video editors, I made a software called Shutter Encoder for transcoding any video to DNxHD/R OP-Atom for Avid. Software is recommended by Avid Media Composer. Here is the tutorial : https://youtu.be/bmrSGWlNt2o

Of course, in July 2020, we were all squarely in The Pandemic. It’s a shame most of us likely missed Paul’s announcement because Shutter Encoder had plenty to offer. Thankfully, Paul has continued to develop Shutter Encoder since then.

It’s a shame most of missed Paul’s announcement because Shutter Encoder has plenty to offer.

Yes, Shutter Encoder can transcode media to a variety of codecs and containers. But it can do so much more.

Also, unlike EditReady by Hedge and Apple Compressor, Shutter Encoder is available for macOS and Windows.

Finally, Shutter Encoder is available at no charge. Paul does accept donations, which you can see he’s put to good use through continuous app and website improvements.

How can you make dailies for Media Composer with Shutter Encoder? ¹

After you launch it, choose your source media, then set these options:

1. Choose Function > DNxHD or DNxHR
2. Choose Function > DNxHD | DNxHR > (the bitrate)
3. Image > Scale - the frame dimension that matches your Avid Project and desired Avid codec.
4. Advanced features > Generate in **OP-Atom** format ²

Once you press Start function, Shutter Encoder dutifully transcodes your source media to OP-Atom MXFs in the Output destination folder.

When you drop those MXFs into a managed media folder:

• When Working Alone - /Avid MediaFiles/MXF/(N)
• When Playing in a Band - /Avid MediaFiles/MXF/(Computer Name).(N)

Media Composer generates a PMR and MDB file in that folder.

Then an Assistant Editor can drag the MDB to a Bin and boom: there’s a Bin full of Clips. (And those Clips are identifiable by name on the filesystem.)

For those who like their Reel Names baked into their MXFs, Shutter Encoder defines the OP-Atom MXF’s Reel Name using the source media’s file name, which will appear under the Tape Bin Column in Media Composer.

These Advanced Features also make Shutter Encoder worth a serious look:

• Colorimetery & Image Adjustment - for deep color correcting, grading, or applying a Lookup Table (LUT) to transcoded media.
• Display timecode / file name / text - for text burn-in’s.

Plus, Shutter Encoder can download videos from YouTube (and a few other sites) here:

Choose function > Download: Web video

Yes, “With great power comes great responsibility.” But working in the world of corporate video, requesting source footage or media from product managers often resulted in a link to a video. Having Shutter Encoder for such occasions would’ve made life so much easier.

How fast is Shutter Encoder? If you fire up Activity Manager in macOS or Task Manager in Windows, you’ll see it uses all available CPU resources while transcoding.

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At first glance, Shutter Encoder may feel like a bit much. Also, you can tell it’s meant to be cross-platform as it feels less refined than other macOS apps.

But if you just want to make dailies for Avid Media Composer, Shutter Encoder can do just that. It’s a transcoder first, then a workflow app. That focus removes the burden of learning how to navigate to a few specific areas in a deep video editing platform just to transcode media for Avid’s ecosystem.

In my opinion, Paul Pacifico’s trying to do right by the production and post-production communities with Shutter Encoder. Consider donating something to Paul so he can continue his work:

https://www.shutterencoder.com/#contact

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1. At the time of writing, I used:
   - Avid Media Composer 2024.6
   - Shutter Encoder 18.4 ↩︎

2. Shutter Encoder cannot currently transcode media to OP1a MXFs. ↩︎

PSA: Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color is available on Netflix.

www.netflix.com/title/817…

godzilla.com/blogs/new…

📽️🍿

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH REEL NAMES IN AVID MEDIA COMPOSER CLIPS?

Inspired by some comments from Jamie Dickinson and Ty Delgaty on LinkedIn, I wanted to answer this question: 

Why is adding a Reel Name to MXFs for Avid Media Composer dailies (or rushes) so hard?

“Really? You think it’s hard?”

Ok… I have a confession. I know of DaVinci Resolve, I’ve tinkered with DaVinci Resolve, but I have yet to complete a project in it.

That said, I know the fandom is real and I’ve been around long enough to know: Blackmagic Design took an expensive piece of software aimed squarely at one user and made it a super-capable, multidiscipline tool, if not a whole platform. And (holy moley)… it’s free.

However, if you’re a Digital Imaging Technician (or DIT) who just wants to make some dailies, do you have to learn Resolve? Should you?

Let’s see.

But first, let’s clear up a few things. ¹

Bins and Tapes and Reels

Media Composer’s workflow is built using these metaphors:

• You create a Project.
• You create or add Bins to your Project.
• You add Clips to your Bins, then organize your Clips in those Bins.

When you create a Bin in Media Composer, a number of Columns are available so you can organize those Clips. 

For dailies, you’ll likely be interested in these four Columns: ²

1. Reel
2. Reel #
3. Tape
4. TapeID 

Of course, reels and tape and bins are metaphors from the pre-digital era. So when users try to describe their workflow troubles to software engineers and engineers try to address their troubles, things can get confusing in a hurry when people mix and match language.

To wit: those four Columns.

Reel vs. Tape

Of those four Columns, you can change the values of only two of them through Media Composer’s UI. Those are:

1. Reel
2. TapeID 

The other two are Read Only… to you.

But to apps that can generate MXF files?

Assist Using Reel Names

DaVinci Resolve can generate MXFs – OP-Atom or OP1a – that are usable in Avid Media Composer.

Also, DaVinci Resolve can add metadata (i.e. the M in MXF) to the MXFs it creates.

The prevailing wisdom among those who create dailies for Media Composer in DaVinci Resolve is: make sure you add Reel Names to your Clips. 

You can do so in two ways:

1. Through Project Settings (DaVinci Resolve Manual > Chapter 2: Setup and Workflows > General Options > Assist using reel names from the:)
2. On a Clip-by-Clip basis (DaVinci Resolve Manual > Chapter 22: Modifying Clip and Clip Attributes > Reel Name Attributes) ³  

With these Reel Names baked into the MXF files, your dailies now have that specific piece of information needed so an Editorial, Color, or Finishing team can relink lower-resolution media files to high-resolution media files for Color, Visual Effects, and other phases of the Finishing process.

“I know. What’s the problem?”

The Real Reel

There are a few ways to fill a Bin with some Clips in Media Composer, but let’s do it this way: drag and drop a MDB file generated by Media Composer from a managed media folder in Finder or File Explorer to a Bin inside Media Composer.

Now I just need a MXF file.

I exported a OP1a MXF from DaVinci Resolve. I set Reel Names in both Project Settings and Clip Attributes. For Clip Attributes, I chose User Defined: and set the value to “Slusho”.

The name of the exported MXF was Timeline 1.mxf.

I dropped Timeline 1.mxf into a managed media folder, Media Composer successfully generated a MDB file there, and I dropped that MDB into a Bin I named “OP1a”.

I now have a new Clip called Timeline 1.

Remember those four interesting Bin Columns? Which Bin Column in Media Composer contains the Reel Names I defined in DaVinci Resolve? Oh I don’t know… the Reel column? Perhaps even Reel #?

No. Tape.

Can you edit the Tape column? Nope.

So Reel Name equals Tape in Media Composer… 👌🏽

What About Slusho?

Remember: we defined Reel Names for this MXF in two places in DaVinci Resolve.

Where’s that Reel Name I defined under Clip Attributes: ”Slusho”?

If I open this MXF in MediaInfo, I can see the metadata’s there as “Timeline 1 / Slusho” under Package name.

How can we make “Slusho” appear as our Clip’s Reel Name instead?

Behind the Scenes

Using the lesser-known ffprobe (as in ffmpeg), you’ll see the Reel Names I defined in DaVinci Resolve – “Timeline 1” and “Slusho” – appear in three places:

1. material_package_name
2. file_package_name
3. reel_name

When I saw material_package_name and file_package_name were the same, I thought: what if I changed the MXF’s filename and re-ingested this into Media Composer using the same steps?

In the managed media folder, I renamed Timeline 1.mxf to Slusho.mxf, deleted the PMR and MDB, had Media Composer generate a new MDB, then dragged that MDB into a Bin.

What’s my Clip called now? Slusho. 

And where does my Reel Name appear? It’s still under Tape, but now the value is “Slusho”. 

Let’s Make Your Life Easier

Going back to our question at the outset: when making dailies (or rushes) for Avid Media Composer, why is adding a Reel Name to MXFs so hard?

I’d ask: why add Reel Names to MXFs at all?

Some say it’s for conform or turnover reasons.

But did you know you can relink Clips to media based on any available Column in a Bin?

Also, did you know Media Composer 2020.4 added a feature called Bulk Edit that lets you… edit Bin Columns for a whole group of Clips?

You can even change Bin Column values based on existing Bin Column values!

Do you actually want to see a reel name under Reel? Now you can. No need for DaVinci Resolve, no need to bake a Reel Name into each MXF.

And, have you seen these articles in Avid’s Knowledge Base?

• Exchanging Sequences with DaVinci Resolve
• Importing color-corrected sequence from DaVinci Resolve to Avid Media Composer

Before you accuse me of hatin’ on DaVinci Resolve, I tested defining a Reel Name for transcoded MXFs in other dedicated transcoding apps, including:

• EditReady by Hedge
• Apple Compressor
• Shutter Encoder

If they can successfully add a Reel Name in the resulting MXF’s metadata, the Reel Name shows up under the same, Read-Only Bin Column in Media Composer: Tape.

And That’s Realer Than Real Deal Holyfield

Of course, if you’re doing anything workflow-related for Media Composer, it will be more difficult than necessary.

And if you’re a DIT or Dailies Technician, the reality is: Assistant Editors will likely define these Reel Names in the course of their work.

That said, this may all be moot if Avid decides to fold in a feature once reserved only for NEXIS | Edge and Media Composer | Enterprise users – toggling between High-Resolution and Proxy media without additional relink or conform steps:

At Your Leisure

The more I researched this article, the harder it became to pare down.

However, I want to acknowledge three excellent resources you might want to check out:

1. The Beginner’s Guide to Conforming with DaVinci Resolve by Dan Swierenga 
2. Transcoding and Working with Proxies by Ian Killick - only accessible from The Wayback Machine, but still the clearest demonstration I’ve seen on relinking Clips to media in Avid Media Composer.
3. LosslessCut - yes, you can perform lossless video/audio editing and add/edit metadata in existing MXFs.

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If you’re happy using DaVinci Resolve to make dailies for Media Composer, I won’t change your mind. Just know there are simpler, high-performance, low-cost options out there.

Also, you’re not hallucinating: your MXF’s Reel Name isn’t under Reel, it’s under Tape.

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---

1. At the time of writing, I used:
   - Avid Media Composer 2024.6
   - Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve 19.0 ↩︎

2. If you’re playing along at home, launch Media Composer, open a Bin, Control-Click or Right-Click a column, select Choose Columns…, then select those four columns.
   You can also click All / None, then select those four columns. ↩︎

3. You don’t have to add a Reel Name to your Project and Clips, but you can, if you wish. ↩︎

9.9.99 X 25 = 🌀

During the Playstation 2 era, I really enjoyed finding those titles people were sleeping on. Games like Katamari Damacy, Gitaroo Man, and this strange little title that seemed custom-made just for me.

Here was a game being treated like… an instrument? With its own light show? Who in the world made this?

That’s when I became a Sega Dreamcast fan.

Of course, I bought Rez for the Playstation 2 circa 2006 and Sega had stopped making the Dreamcast and (sadly) any new hardware by then. But the more I looked into the Dreamcast, the bigger a fan I became.

The development teams seemed more like boutique art studios.

The console was way ahead of its time, and we’re still learning how far ahead of the curve it really was:

And that startup sequence? 🤌🏽

My love for the Dreamcast is well documented, so I won’t bore you with the stuff you can easily find. But here are a few specialty items you might enjoy today:

• Woofmute - a talented developer who tinkers with Sega Dreamcast titles in interesting ways.
• Modern Vintage Gamer - some Dreamcast tinkering, some reporting.
• RetroFighters - makers of fantastic controllers.
• Racketboy - loads of great reviews and lists on some hidden gems.

Finally, if you haven’t seen it, Archipel’s The Dreamcast (née A Dream Cast) is still available on YouTube at no charge:

▶️ Part 1

▶️ Part 2

Happy anniversary to the Sega Dreamcast and shout out to all the teams who made it a magical platform. Going into 2025, perhaps I’ll have the time and resources to convert a well-known computer into something like a Divers 2000 CX-1 experience:

Or maybe Sega will decide to bring Segagaga to the masses. 🙂

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📷

J DILLA'S BASEMENT... ON YOUTUBE

If you’re a James Dewitt Yancey fan, this is the motherlode – J Dilla Basement on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@jdillabasement

What makes this different from all the other Dilla stuff on YouTube (including the excellent La Fuerza channel)? It seems to be officially supported and updated by his family – Ma Dukes and Illa – with loads of unreleased tracks, Behind the Scenes photos, and interview clips.

I don’t wanna spoil it, but I found this remix he did as part of The Ummah for an MJ track and… wow:

Of course, there’s this classic from ATCQ’s The Love Movement (which some of you might remember from a live Apple Motion demo I did at the 2020 FCP Creative Summit 😁):

There’s also a link to the James Dewitt Yancey Foundation, but it appears to be defunct. Perhaps this will draw some attention to it and some new merch can be made to celebrate the work of Mr. Yancey.

Happy digging. 🎧

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The UMC’s – Fruits of Nature… a forgotten hip-hop classic.

Man… now I’m 12 again flipping between One to Grow On and Blue Cheese on my buddy’s bookshelf stereo.

🎵

Never realized this video was a oner.

Congratulations to Ms. Mlynarski; a childhood dream come true.

Trying out Pixelfed based on Elena Rossini’s article:

blog.elenarossini.com/the-futur…

Seems pretty sweet!

📷

OF HUCKLEBERRIES AND GRAMMAR RODEOS

Most of my time at Hedge was spent talking to teams about their post-production workflow needs while my teammates in Europe were rightfully enjoying their evenings or fast asleep. If an incoming email dropped even the slightest reference to a Media Composer workflow, as one of the resident Avid experts, those inquiries typically went straight to my Inbox.

So when Hedge acquired Mimiq in September 2022, I was thrilled.

Mimiq is a focused, rock-solid, reputable app that solves an evergreen problem for Media Composer teams, “How can we work together using non-Avid (or non-NEXIS) storage?”

As part of the acquisition, I was appointed as its Product Specialist, which meant shepherding customers with their Mimiq usage and providing related workflow advice.

One day I received an email from this team with a peculiar name: Huckleberry Industries.

Huckleberry Industries was still using Media Composer 2018.x and macOS 10.14 (Mojave) along with some newer combinations of Media Composer and macOS.

I guided them on which Mimiq licenses were best to purchase for their circumstance and supplied some workflow advice. Then… radio silence. This was usually a good sign with Mimiq customers – it meant they quickly hit their stride and got to the real work of editing. 👌🏽

A few months later, the good people of Huckleberry Industries returned for more Mimiq licenses but under a new (and equally peculiar) name: Grammar Rodeo.

OK… curiosity: piqued.

A quick DuckDuckGo search revealed:

• Project Huckleberry was the codename for a TV series called The Mandalorian.
• Grammar Rodeo was the codename for a secret project with Jon Watts at the helm, but it’s now known as Skeleton Crew.

And that’s how I played a teeny, tiny part in making some Star Wars. 😁

🎥

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One of my kids received Clairo’s Charm album on vinyl recently. Listened to the whole thing while playing some Othello.

Not one weak track on it.