2009

Import an Edit Decision List from another application
The Edit Decision List (EDL) format is one of the oldest and most widely supported project
interchange formats for editing. EDLs are formatted as plain text documents, which can
be output and read by most editing applications. Because they’ve been around for so
long, they describe only the most basic components of an edited project, namely audio
and video edits, basic transitions (from a list of SMPTE standard transitions), and
superimpositions (called key edits). EDLs date from a time when all video came from tape.
Each edit in a sequence is called an event and is represented by a separate line in the EDL
that contains the reel number and timecode information necessary to relate each video
clip to the source tape it came from. Additionally, EDLs generated by nonlinear editing
applications like Final Cut Pro usually include the name of the clip as an optional comment.
Despite their age, EDLs are still widely used for moving basic projects between applications,
and either recapturing the source media from tape or converting the media using a
third-party utility for relinking.
Additionally, EDLs are often used after the offline edit has been locked to reconform a
project on another system for color correction and finishing. In Final Cut Studio, EDLs are
used to conform an offline edit to the originally scanned DPX or Cineon image sequences
in Color when following a digital intermediate workflow.
Import XML projects
The Final Cut Pro XML Interchange Format was designed to describe every element in a
Final Cut Pro project in an XML-based format. Because XML is an easily decipherable
format for programmers, the Final Cut Pro XML Interchange Format facilitates the
processing of Final Cut Pro projects using external utilities (if you’re ambitious, you can
develop your own methods for editing and processing XML projects using text editing
tools) and enables more sophisticated project interchange with third-party applications.
Final Cut Pro can import and export this format, and there are an increasing number of
third-party utilities for processing and exchanging XML project files in different ways.
XML is also used extensively among Final Cut Studio applications to move project data
around. For example, when you send a Final Cut Pro sequence to Color, XML is used to
translate the project data from one application to the other.
Import projects using third-party utilities
There are dedicated third-party utilities designed to facilitate project interchange, such
as software from Automatic Duck. Also, many third-party editing and color correction
applications are developing the means to import Final Cut Pro XML Interchange Format
files to better facilitate project exchange.
51Chapter 3 Integration During Editorial Development