Where AAF Export Lives in Media Composer
In Media Composer, AAF export is accessed in two ways.
The first: right-click on the sequence in the bin and select Output > Export to File. In the Export Settings dialog that opens, select AAF Edit Protocol as the format type.
The second: with the sequence highlighted in the bin, go to File > Output > Export. This opens the same Export Settings dialog.
What to avoid is the Send to Pro Tools command, also found in the Output menu. This is a separate workflow that uses a proprietary protocol to build a Pro Tools session file directly from Media Composer. It works in environments where both applications share the same Avid ISIS or NEXIS storage. For everyone else, including facilities where Pro Tools runs on a separate system without access to Avid shared storage, the manual AAF export is the correct path. The manual export also gives both the picture editor and the audio post team explicit control over handle length, media copying, and format settings that the "Send to Pro Tools" workflow may handle differently.
The Critical Export Settings and What Each One Does
Handle Frames: Setting Them Correctly
Handles in a Media Composer AAF export are set in the Export Settings dialog as a frame count, under the handle length field in the AAF Edit Protocol settings.
At 24fps, two seconds of handle equals 48 frames. Ten seconds, which is the standard target for dialogue editing at professional facilities, equals 240 frames. At 25fps, the same time values are 50 and 250 frames. At 29.97fps, 60 and 300 frames respectively.
The default handle value in Media Composer is typically zero, or whatever was entered in a previous export session. Zero handles is not a usable handoff for dialogue editing. The audio stops exactly at the frame of every cut, leaving the dialogue editor no room to move an edit point, find a clean breath to preserve, or pull audio from before the first frame of a section. The handle value must be set explicitly for every AAF export.
For facilities where picture editorial and audio post have established a working relationship, the handle convention is set once as part of the project's technical spec and confirmed before the first handoff. The dialogue editor communicates the required frame count once; the picture editor sets it in the dialog and exports consistently.
Track Naming in Media Composer: The Best Case Among NLEs
Track naming is where Media Composer produces a fundamentally more useful AAF than any other NLE in regular post production use.
The format was developed for broadcast and film workflows. Editors in those environments follow audio track naming conventions that carry real information to the audio post side. A standard Media Composer sequence in narrative or broadcast work typically has: A1 for boom dialogue, A2 for lavalier, A3 for backup or ambient recording, A4 for guide music or playback, with additional tracks for production effects or reference material. Some facilities and editors use full labels: DX for dialogue, MX for music, FX for effects.
None of this naming is enforced by Media Composer. An editor who has never worked in broadcast may have eight tracks all labeled Audio 1 through Audio 8. But in the professional post facility environments where fPost operates, Media Composer editors tend to follow naming conventions that make the AAF more legible to audio post from the moment it arrives in Pro Tools.
This is in direct contrast to DaVinci Resolve, which defaults to A1 through A8 with no further labeling, and Adobe Premiere Pro, where naming conventions vary widely and rarely map to audio post expectations. Even a Media Composer AAF with useful track names still requires content-level verification and clip sorting in Pro Tools. A track labeled DX can have five different types of audio on it because the cut required it. But the naming reduces the unknown quantity.
Stereo Handling in Media Composer: Where It Works and Where to Check
Media Composer handles stereo more reliably than Premiere Pro. When a stereo clip is on a stereo sequence track and exported as AAF, it typically arrives in Pro Tools as an interleaved stereo file, not as split mono pairs.
The specific situation to verify is clips placed on mono tracks. If a stereo production recording was imported and placed on a mono track in Media Composer, the track format controls what exports: one channel, not both. This is not the Premiere dual-mono problem, which creates two files falsely appearing as a stereo pair. In Media Composer, a mono track configuration simply drops the second channel from the export.
Multi-channel recordings from dual-channel field recorders are common on narrative, documentary, and commercial productions. In Media Composer, these are typically handled via multi-channel clip groups. How those groups export depends on how the editor configured the sequence track format when the clips were placed. For projects where multichannel source material is in use, the picture editor should confirm before export that each channel in the field recorder file is represented in the sequence, not just the primary channel the editor was monitoring during the cut.
Inactive and Locked Tracks: The Silent Export Gap
This is the Media Composer-specific issue that creates the most unexpected handoff problems. Inactive tracks and locked tracks do not export in a Media Composer AAF.
Media Composer allows editors to mark individual audio tracks as inactive. Inactive tracks play back in Media Composer and appear in the timeline, but they do not participate in exports. A picture editor who has marked guide music, temp score, or reference audio as inactive because those tracks are not intended for audio post will produce an AAF where those tracks are simply absent. Audio post has no indication they existed in the sequence.
Locked tracks behave identically. A track locked to prevent accidental editing during picture cut does not export.
Before running the AAF export, the picture editor should check every audio track in the sequence for lock icons and inactive markers on the track selector panel at the left of the timeline, and enable any track that should be included in the handoff. The check takes under a minute and prevents the situation where a dialogue editor discovers a missing scene or missing production recording mid-session, requiring a re-export and re-delivery.
Pre-Delivery QC: What to Verify Before Sending the AAF
Run a test import in Pro Tools before delivery. Open the AAF via File > Import > Session Data on a clean Pro Tools session. Confirm that clips load, audio plays back at the expected positions, and the timecode matches the video reference. Finding a problem here costs five minutes. Finding the same problem after the audio post team has started work costs a session.
Confirm handles are present. In the test import, scrub to an edit point and listen past the cut. If the audio stops at the exact frame of the cut, the handle length was set to zero. A re-export with the correct frame count is needed.
Count the tracks. Compare the track count in the Pro Tools test import to the track count in the Media Composer sequence. Differences indicate either inactive tracks that did not export, or multichannel clip handling that collapsed channels during export.
Check stereo integrity. Look at adjacent track pairs in the Pro Tools import. Clips with identical waveforms on two consecutive mono tracks with .L and .R suffixes indicate a false stereo export. This is less common from Media Composer than from Premiere but can occur when clips were placed on a stereo sequence track and the export settings split them instead of interleaving.
Include an EDL and a video reference. Export a CMX 3600 EDL alongside the AAF as a separate text file. This is the recovery document when AAF metadata is incomplete or timecode is unreliable. Include a low-bitrate QuickTime reference at the same timecode as the AAF. The audio post team works against the QuickTime, and sync problems between the two are much faster to diagnose when the EDL is available as a third reference.
Verify media accessibility. If the export used link-to-source-media instead of copy-media, confirm the audio post team has access to the storage location where the source media lives before the session begins, not during it.
Why a Clean Avid AAF Still Requires Post Prep
A correctly exported Media Composer AAF, with handles, active tracks, interleaved stereo, and good track naming, is the best starting point audio post receives from any NLE. It is still not a session ready for creative work.
The content is organized around the picture editor's workflow. Clips are distributed across tracks in the sequence order the editor used, not the dialogue editor's layout. Routing does not match the facility's Pro Tools template. Color coding, folder structure, and bus assignments are not present. Even a clearly labeled DX track may contain boom dialogue, lav dialogue, and production effects on different clips because that is where the picture edit placed them. Before any creative work, the audio post team needs to verify clip content at the region level, sort material to the correct track positions in the facility template, and rebuild the routing that makes the session usable for mix.
That prep typically takes two to three hours per session across facility sizes from London to Los Angeles.
fPost handles this step for Media Composer AAFs as it does for any NLE source. The AI-R content analysis classifies incoming audio as dialogue, SFX, or music based on what the audio actually contains, independent of what the track names say. That analysis maps the session to the facility's Pro Tools template, applies color coding and folder structure, and preserves Import Session Data including timecode, automations, and timeline positions. The untouched original is saved alongside the organized session.
Forte AI is an official Avid Technology Partner, meaning fPost has been validated against the Avid ecosystem and Media Composer is a confirmed, tested source for AAF import and organization.
The AAF workflow guide covers what a properly organized session looks like after import and what the prep process involves from first AAF receipt through to a session ready for creative work.
How Media Composer Compares to Other NLEs for Audio Post Handoffs
Each NLE produces a predictable and different set of handoff problems.
Avid Media Composer is the most reliable AAF source for audio post. The format was designed alongside Media Composer, and the implementation reflects that. Track naming is the most useful of any NLE. Stereo handling is predictable when the sequence is configured correctly. The specific issues to watch are handle frames set to zero, inactive or locked tracks excluded silently, and multichannel clip handling that may not export all channels.
Adobe Premiere Pro is the most common source of split-mono stereo problems. Premiere's sequence audio format and clip interpretation settings interact to produce dual-mono output regularly. The Premiere AAF export guide covers those specific settings and how to prevent the most common problems.
DaVinci Resolve produces the least predictable track naming of any NLE in regular use, with every track arriving as A1 through A8 and clip names from field recorder file numbers. Resolve also introduces the risk of Fairlight-processed audio in the export, which is a problem unique to that NLE.
Final Cut Pro X has no native AAF export. The standard path is via X2Pro from Marquis Broadcast, which converts an FCP XML to a Pro Tools-compatible AAF.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the AAF export in Avid Media Composer?
Right-click on the sequence in the bin and select Output > Export to File. Alternatively, with the sequence highlighted in the bin, go to File > Output > Export. In the Export Settings dialog, select AAF Edit Protocol as the format type. This is different from the "Send to Pro Tools" command in the Output menu, which uses a different transfer method and requires both applications to share Avid network storage.
What is the difference between AAF export and "Send to Pro Tools" in Media Composer?
"Send to Pro Tools" uses a proprietary protocol to build a Pro Tools session directly from Media Composer, typically on the same network storage. Manual AAF export gives both the picture editor and the audio post team control over handle length, media copying, and format settings. For facilities without shared Avid storage, manual AAF export is the standard path.
Why are some of my audio tracks missing from the Pro Tools import?
The most common cause is inactive or locked tracks in the Media Composer sequence. Both track states exclude tracks from AAF exports. Check the track selector panel at the left of the sequence for lock icons and inactive markers. Enable any track that should be included before re-exporting.
What handle length should I set for a Media Composer AAF export?
Set handle length to 240 frames at 24fps. That equals ten seconds, which is the professional standard for dialogue editing. At 25fps, the equivalent is 250 frames. At 29.97fps, 300 frames. The default handle value in Media Composer is typically zero and must be set for every export.
How does Media Composer handle stereo audio in an AAF export?
Stereo clips on stereo sequence tracks export as interleaved stereo in the AAF, which is the correct behavior for Pro Tools. The issue to verify is mono sequence tracks: if a stereo recording was placed on a mono track, only the configured channel exports. For multi-channel field recordings, how channels export depends on how the editor mapped them to the timeline track format.
Does Forte AI work with Avid Media Composer AAF files?
Yes. fPost imports and organizes AAFs from Media Composer as it does from any NLE source. AI-R content analysis classifies audio as dialogue, SFX, or music based on audio content rather than track names, and maps the organized session to the facility's Pro Tools template. Forte AI is an official Avid Technology Partner.
fPost automates AAF import and session organization for Pro Tools, including AI content classification, template routing, stereo and mono correction, and Import Session Data preservation. It works with AAFs from Media Composer, Premiere Pro, and DaVinci Resolve. Demo at forte-ai.com/demo.
