Guide

Install & first run

Move AAF Everything to your Applications folder (macOS) or run the installer (Windows), then launch it.

Quick start

• 1 — Drop any mix of .aaf, .xml, .fcpxml and .fcpxmld files into the window (or click Choose… and multi-select).
• 2 — Pick a target under Convert to, set the frame rate, choose media handling. Optionally pick one output folder — otherwise every result lands next to its source.
• 3 — Convert. The whole batch runs with live status per file; a plain-text report lands next to every output. Existing files are never overwritten.

Common routes

Every conversion is source file → target format. Two decisions matter: which file you export from the source editor, and which format the target reads. The short version of both:

Step 1 — Get the timeline out of the source editor

• DaVinci Resolve: export an AAF from the timeline (File → Export). Resolve can also write Final Cut 7 XML, but its AAF carries more — use the AAF.
• Premiere Pro: File → Export → AAF — Premiere’s own audio hand-off, sample-accurate. Don’t export Final Cut Pro XML from Premiere if you can avoid it: that dialect is frame-quantized and carries less. It is what we write into Premiere (because Premiere reads no foreign AAF), not the recommended way out. It works as a fallback when a sequence uses features Premiere’s AAF export chokes on.
• Final Cut Pro: File → Export XML… — .fcpxml or the .fcpxmld bundle (FCP 10.6+). Break apart compound/multicam clips first (see Editor notes).
• Avid Media Composer / Pro Tools / Nuendo: the AAF export of the app.

Step 2 — Convert to what the target reads

• → Premiere Pro: convert to .xml. Premiere imports no third-party AAF (it rejects even Resolve’s), so the converter hands it its own dialect — real stereo tracks, crossfades as Constant Power transitions, fades and clip gain as volume keyframes.
• → Final Cut Pro: convert to .fcpxml or .fcpxmld. Crossfades arrive as true overlapping blends; with Collect, the media packs into the bundle.
• → Resolve, Avid, Pro Tools, Nuendo and other audio-post apps: convert to .aaf — with pan and volume automation intact where the source carried them.

The routes in practice

• Resolve → Premiere: Resolve AAF → .xml.
• Resolve → Final Cut: Resolve AAF → .fcpxml / .fcpxmld.
• Premiere → Final Cut: Premiere AAF (File → Export → AAF) → .fcpxml / .fcpxmld.
• Final Cut → Premiere: FCPXML → .xml.
• Final Cut → Pro Tools / Resolve / Avid: FCPXML → .aaf.
• Premiere → Pro Tools / Resolve / Avid: honest note — these apps read Premiere’s AAF directly, so for a single hand-off you may not need a converter at all. AAF Everything earns its keep on this route when you want the batch, a collected turnover package, MXF→WAV handling or a per-file report — or when the same sequence must also go to Final Cut or back into Premiere.

Choosing a format

• .aaf — the recommended interchange. The audio-post standard, read by DaVinci Resolve, Avid Media Composer, Pro Tools, Nuendo and virtually every audio-post app. Sample-accurate; the only format here that carries pan and volume automation — plus fades, real crossfades, clip gain, markers and the picture reference track. Prefer AAF whenever the target reads it.
• .xml (Final Cut 7 XML) — the delivery format for Premiere Pro, because Premiere reads no third-party AAF. Frame-quantized (the format counts in frames); fades and crossfades arrive as real transitions, clip gain as volume keyframes, tracks come in as real stereo pairs. No pan or volume automation. Choose it when the target is Premiere — not as a general interchange.
• .fcpxml — the format for Final Cut Pro. Sample-accurate rational times; fades and true overlapping crossfades, clip gain, markers, video, tracks as audio roles. No pan or volume automation.
• .fcpxmld — the same content as FCPXML, packed as the modern Final Cut bundle (10.6 +) — the format Final Cut itself exports today. With Collect, the media travels inside the package.

What transfers — an honest matrix

No converter can move what the target format cannot hold. This is the matrix we work from, verified against real imports in Pro Tools, Resolve, Media Composer, Premiere and Final Cut — it’s the same information the conversion report prints per file.

¹ Premiere XML counts time in frames — the format itself is frame-quantized. ² Render or consolidate retimed material in the source editor first; the report flags it rather than converting it wrong.

Editor notes

DaVinci Resolve

• In: File → Import → Timeline and pick the converted .aaf. If clips show offline, right-click → Relink — the AAF carries the full media paths (or use Collect for a self-contained package).
• Out: export an AAF from the timeline. Two Resolve limitations to know (they are Resolve’s, not the converter’s): Resolve writes no pan and no volume automation into its AAF exports — everything else comes across.
• Resolve often wraps audio in MXF; the converter transcodes it to WAV automatically, or leaves it untouched if you pick reference as-is (Resolve and Avid read MXF natively).

Adobe Premiere Pro

• In (delivering TO Premiere): use .xml. Premiere cannot import third-party AAFs — it rejects even Resolve’s own. Import via File → Import…; sequences arrive with real stereo tracks, crossfades as Constant Power transitions, fades and clip gain as volume keyframes. Media relinks from the original location or the … Media folder.
• Out (coming FROM Premiere): use Premiere’s AAF export (File → Export → AAF) — sample-accurate and the route we test hardest. A sequence exported as Final Cut XML is accepted as a fallback, but it is frame-quantized and carries less — not the recommended way out.
• Premiere XML is frame-quantized by nature; clip edges snap to the sequence frame rate. Fine for picture; if sample-exact audio placement matters, deliver that leg as AAF.

Apple Final Cut Pro

• In: File → Import → XML… — pick the .fcpxml or the .fcpxmld bundle (FCP 10.6+). Tracks arrive grouped by audio role (Final Cut organizes by role, not by track number); crossfades come in as true overlapping blends without a level dip.
• Out: File → Export XML…. Compound, multicam and synchronized clips do not expose their contents to any converter — select them and use Clip → Break Apart Clip Items before exporting; the conversion report flags any that slip through.

Pro Tools

• In: open the converted AAF via File → Import → Session Data (or drag it into the session). Named tracks, fades, crossfades, clip gain, pan and volume automation come across.
• Out: Pro Tools’ AAF export carries pan and volume automation, so more survives than from Resolve.

Avid Media Composer

• Avid is the reference AAF implementation — named tracks and sample-accurate positions transfer cleanly in both directions. MXF-wrapped media can stay untouched (reference as-is) since Avid reads it natively.

Nuendo and other AAF-capable DAWs

• Apps that read and write standard AAF generally work in both directions. What transfers depends on the subset the app writes into the file — the conversion report tells you per file.

Applies to every route

• No MIDI, no plugins, no mixer settings — the interchange formats carry clips and edits, not processing.
• Time-stretched material should be rendered in the source editor first; the report flags it.
• Timecode starts at the source’s session start; the frame rate you pick affects the timecode track and video edit snapping — audio placement stays sample-accurate at any rate.

Media handling

• Link to original media (default): the output references your files where they are — ideal when both apps see the same drive.
• Collect media next to output: every referenced audio file is copied into a … Media folder beside the output (into the package for .fcpxmld) and the output points at the copies — one complete, movable turnover package.
• MXF handling: MXF audio transcodes to WAV automatically. Switch to reference as-is if your target reads MXF natively (Resolve, Avid) and you want untouched originals.

Frame rates

23.976 · 24 · 25 · 29.97 DF · 30 · 50 · 59.94 · 60 · 120 — plus none (no timecode track) for audio-only AAF deliveries. The frame rate affects the timecode track and how the editor snaps video edits; audio placement is sample-accurate regardless. Rates a target cannot express are adjusted automatically and noted in the report.

Demo & license

• The demo is the full app: unlimited conversions, each output covers the first 120 seconds with the complete track layout.
• A license unlocks full-length conversions: enter your key once (internet needed for that moment only) — afterwards the app runs fully offline.
• Moving to a new computer: Deactivate this computer in the license panel, then activate on the new machine.

Troubleshooting

macOS: “App from an unidentified developer”

That’s Gatekeeper being cautious because we haven’t finished the code-signing yet (see Install & first run for the two-click fix). We’re a small independent studio — the signing is on the way. The app is completely safe, runs fully offline, and your timelines never leave your machine.

“N file(s) could not be collected”

The source timeline references media that no longer exists at the recorded location. The output still works and references the original paths — relink in the target editor, or restore the files and convert again.

Premiere won’t import the file / “unsupported format”

You are probably handing Premiere an AAF — Premiere imports no third-party AAFs. Convert to .xml instead and import via File → Import…; that is the dialect Premiere reads.

Final Cut rejects the XML

Make sure you import via File → Import → XML… and that your Final Cut version matches the file: .fcpxmld bundles need FCP 10.6 or newer — for older versions convert to plain .fcpxml.

Clips show offline after import

The target app can’t see the media at the recorded paths (different machine or drive). Either relink in the target — every output carries the full original paths — or convert again with Collect media so the output travels with its own … Media folder (packed into the bundle for .fcpxmld).

Something is missing in the target

Open the conversion report next to the output first — it lists per file what could not travel and why (for example pan or volume automation into an XML target, or a compound clip that needed Break Apart). That is usually faster than comparing timelines by ear.