how well does OMF work?

**matt thomas** · 17th July 2005

How well does OMF work? what are the limitations? anything I should know about it?

Can it effectively transfer between two platfroms, like for eg. Pro Toold HD on a Mac to Cubase on a PC? Does it deal with midi too?

etc.. etc..

I've just never used it before and I may have to in the near future.

Thanks guys!

theblue1 · 17th July 2005

I haven't used OMF but I looked into it a few years ago when it looked like I might do some work on a project started in Pro Tools. My DAW, Sonar, supports its import/export natively, as do, I think most other non-PT DAWs.

But Pro Tools (or at least Pro Tools LE, not sure about the 'full' version that comes with hardware systems) requires (or did at the time) a fairly expensive add-on (around $500 if I recall correctly).

Which is moderately amusing, since, if I understand the history on this, it was video production software comany Avid (which now owns Didigesign) that heavily pushed OMF (presumably so they'd be able to work with Pro Tools projects in their own video production software).

Before Avid bought Digi and PT, they seemed to be all about 'open standards' -- but after they owned Digi, looks like their story changed substantially...

[If I've got any inaccuracies, there, I'm happy to be corrected. I'm pulling this off the top of my memory... which is always a bit risky.]

Bob Olhsson · 17th July 2005

OMF in my opinion is an obsolete exchange format because virtually everything including Pro Tools can read and write time-stamped broadcast .wav audio files and there are no longer the disk space issues that made converting edit decision lists necessary.

dharma one · 17th July 2005

ive used it a few times between cubase and logic and protools and logic. its not perfect but it does align the takes where they should be

as far as i recall no midi

hociman · 17th July 2005

Here's the truth about OMFI.

OMFI was developed by Avid, long before Avid owned Digidesign (1991-2). OMFI uses something Apple developed called Bento. Bento, IIRC, is a container format. Because OMFI uses Bento, and Apple learned from the biggest mistake it ever made with its lawsuit against Microsoft in the 1980's, OMFI was never able to become a standard to the extent that it was ratified and approved by AES, SMPTE, etc.

OMFI, being a de-facto standard, was always subject to interpretation. It did evolve a bit in the late 1990's, and that evolultion is what is known as OMFI type 2. When working with OMFIs using a modern DAW or NLE (by modern I mean software version), always request an OMFI type 2. Why? OMFI type 1 is so different from OMFI type 2 that the code any DAW software uses to open an OMFI has to be for either OMFI type 1 or OMFI type 2, but not both. No DAW software that I am aware of will open both types of OMFI. This includes Avid and Digidesign software.

OMFI only supports mono tracks. If you are using stereo tracks, it will split them up during the export process. It does not support MIDI. It does not support plug-ins. It may move volume automation (I know you can get volume automation from an Avid via an OMFI, but I have not tried it in the opposite direction).

More information about OMFI can be found in an October issue of MIX (from this millenium, can't remember which year).

Regardless of if you own an LE or TDM system from Digidesign, you must pay for the ability to import/export OMFI files. For TDM systems, this is the DigiTranslator option. For LE systems, this is the DV Toolkit option, which also gives you a timecode ruler. As an aside, I've been told that if you save a session on a TDM system with the main counter set to TC, and open that session on an LE system, the main counter will show TC!

So long as you don't change the main counter readout for that session. tutt The last cs release of Pro Tools v6.4.(1), for both LE and TDM, squashes almost every OMFI bug that existed in Pro Tools. The last one was exterminated with v6.9.

I hope you find this information useful.

theblue1 · 18th July 2005

If that's not the definitive info on OMFI -- it'll certainly do until the definitive info comes along!

Thanks!

Bob Olhsson · 18th July 2005

I'm glad to hear that it finally works but its been up at the top of my list of headaches to be avoided (if at all possible) for many years now.

**matt thomas** · 18th July 2005

thanks hociman, I feel like I went from a novice to an expert in one post!

hociman · 19th July 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by narco

thanks hociman, I feel like I went from a novice to an expert in one post!

So if I made you an expert, what does that make me?

17th July 2005	#1
matt thomas Moderator Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: New Zealand/Switzerland/guitar case Posts: 7,949 Thread Starter	how well does OMF work? How well does OMF work? what are the limitations? anything I should know about it? Can it effectively transfer between two platfroms, like for eg. Pro Toold HD on a Mac to Cubase on a PC? Does it deal with midi too? etc.. etc.. I've just never used it before and I may have to in the near future. Thanks guys!

17th July 2005	#3
Bob Olhsson Motown legend Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Songwriter Gulch, Nashville TN Posts: 10,638	OMF in my opinion is an obsolete exchange format because virtually everything including Pro Tools can read and write time-stamped broadcast .wav audio files and there are no longer the disk space issues that made converting edit decision lists necessary. __________________ Bob's room 615 562-4346 Georgetown Masters 615 254-3233 Music Industry 2.0 Interview

17th July 2005	#5
hociman Gear addict Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: NJ Posts: 479	Can u handle the truth? Here's the truth about OMFI. OMFI was developed by Avid, long before Avid owned Digidesign (1991-2). OMFI uses something Apple developed called Bento. Bento, IIRC, is a container format. Because OMFI uses Bento, and Apple learned from the biggest mistake it ever made with its lawsuit against Microsoft in the 1980's, OMFI was never able to become a standard to the extent that it was ratified and approved by AES, SMPTE, etc. OMFI, being a de-facto standard, was always subject to interpretation. It did evolve a bit in the late 1990's, and that evolultion is what is known as OMFI type 2. When working with OMFIs using a modern DAW or NLE (by modern I mean software version), always request an OMFI type 2. Why? OMFI type 1 is so different from OMFI type 2 that the code any DAW software uses to open an OMFI has to be for either OMFI type 1 or OMFI type 2, but not both. No DAW software that I am aware of will open both types of OMFI. This includes Avid and Digidesign software. OMFI only supports mono tracks. If you are using stereo tracks, it will split them up during the export process. It does not support MIDI. It does not support plug-ins. It may move volume automation (I know you can get volume automation from an Avid via an OMFI, but I have not tried it in the opposite direction). More information about OMFI can be found in an October issue of MIX (from this millenium, can't remember which year). Regardless of if you own an LE or TDM system from Digidesign, you must pay for the ability to import/export OMFI files. For TDM systems, this is the DigiTranslator option. For LE systems, this is the DV Toolkit option, which also gives you a timecode ruler. As an aside, I've been told that if you save a session on a TDM system with the main counter set to TC, and open that session on an LE system, the main counter will show TC! So long as you don't change the main counter readout for that session. tutt The last cs release of Pro Tools v6.4.(1), for both LE and TDM, squashes almost every OMFI bug that existed in Pro Tools. The last one was exterminated with v6.9. I hope you find this information useful. __________________ -Jonathan S. Abrams, CEA, CEV, CBNT Apple Certified - Technical Coordinator (v10.5), Support Professional (v10.6) Treasurer, NY Section, AES

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17th July 2005	#2
theblue1 Gear Guru Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Long Beach, CA Posts: 14,275	I haven't used OMF but I looked into it a few years ago when it looked like I might do some work on a project started in Pro Tools. My DAW, Sonar, supports its import/export natively, as do, I think most other non-PT DAWs. But Pro Tools (or at least Pro Tools LE, not sure about the 'full' version that comes with hardware systems) requires (or did at the time) a fairly expensive add-on (around $500 if I recall correctly). Which is moderately amusing, since, if I understand the history on this, it was video production software comany Avid (which now owns Didigesign) that heavily pushed OMF (presumably so they'd be able to work with Pro Tools projects in their own video production software). Before Avid bought Digi and PT, they seemed to be all about 'open standards' -- but after they owned Digi, looks like their story changed substantially... [If I've got any inaccuracies, there, I'm happy to be corrected. I'm pulling this off the top of my memory... which is always a bit risky.]

17th July 2005	#4
dharma one Gear maniac Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: London Wimbledon Posts: 173	ive used it a few times between cubase and logic and protools and logic. its not perfect but it does align the takes where they should be as far as i recall no midi

18th July 2005	#6
theblue1 Gear Guru Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Long Beach, CA Posts: 14,275	If that's not the definitive info on OMFI -- it'll certainly do until the definitive info comes along! Thanks!