Having problems creating audio EDLs and OMFs from timelines produced using MXF media on a Mac Xpress Pro. Have tried transcoding all the media in a given sequence but EDL Manger still crashes, It's fine creating vision only EDLs. Similar problems with audio OMF files

Hi,

We'd love to help but you don't tell us what those problems are. We also know nothing about your system or the software you are using.

 Thank you. Problems; with EDLs, EDL Manager 'quits unexpectedly' i.e. when I try and load the sequence from the file menu, I get the Mac error message stating that EDL Manager has 'quit unexpectedly' and then I get the Avid message "Bus error" in thread "Main Thread", at address 0 x 0.

This only happens with audio EDLs - vision only is fine. Although very small audio sequences (just a handful of clips) also seem to be fine. I've read other threads which suggest consolodating and trasncoding the sequence to OMF i.e. producing new media in OMF format. But the problem persists. Other threads suggest there isn't a problem at all, or it's a settings issue within Xpress Pro, but are unspecific. When I copy the sequence to an early version Avid (Version 7.2) I can produce EDLs with no problem.

Producing audio OMFs appear to be created OK and read back into the Xpress system, but checking them on the early version Avid (Version 7.2) causes the older Avid to freeze. Could be a machine incompatibility issue, but again small sequences are not a problem.  

I'm running Xpress Pro v 5.7.2 and EDL Manager v 23.7.2 on a MacBook Pro running OS X vers. 10.4.11

There's a bug in that version of EDL manager.  Don't open a open sequence from Xpress Pro.  Just open the bin from EDL manager and then open the sequence.

Bus error in main thread is another bug.  Download a newer version of Xpress Pro.  Preferably a version that is qualified for OS X 10.4.11 (like 5.8).  Use the READ ME that accompanies each release or just check the FAQ on the top of the forum page to get a grid of which version of Xpress Pro works with various versions of OSX and Quicktime.

Transcode any MXF media to OMF applies to OMF exports, not EDLs.

...And please do a search on the forum first.  These problems have all been addressed here many times before.

 Thanks for your reply. Sadly, opening the bin from EDL Manager (i.e. not from Xpress Pro) hasn't cured the problem, should of said I'd already seen this idea in the knowledge base. It does cure the problem of EDL Manager crashing with the message DISK_FILE_NOT_FOUND but also clocked from a previous forum search that this has been fixed in Xpress Pro 5.7.4. Bottom line; is the solution to upgrade to 5.8  or better still Media Composer? Thanks again for your help. Jake

Upgrading to 5.8 costs nothing so that would be $495 cheaper than upgrading to Media Composer.  Except for the enabled features they're both the same program underneath.  If you haven't done so, you might want to repair disk permissions (using the Apple Disk Utility) before doing anything.

jake@edgepost.com:

EDLs, EDL Manager 'quits unexpectedly'

Close all bins, and open only the bins with the sequences you need to create EDLs from. Open the console and type "repairsequences", and wait for all the jibberish to float by in the console. Then try exporting the EDLs again.

jake@edgepost.com:

Producing audio OMFs appear to be created OK and read back into the Xpress system, but checking them on the early version Avid (Version 7.2) causes the older Avid to freeze.

That is because OMF's are NOT backwards compatible. You should not expect that 10-year-old Avid to open up an OMF generated by a more recent version of the software, it just won't fly. If you need to test it, do it on a modern system, or in a DAW environment.

 Thanks Job ter Burg ...... tried both your suggestions. Sadly "repairsequences" in the console didn't work. I'm gravitating towards 'hbrock's suggestion and considering upgrading. An extra £310 for a Media Composer seems like good value anyway. I presume my hardware will take it - although I only have 2Gb of ram and will probably increase this. Any comments gratefully received.

As for the second suggestion, I did check the OMF files on a later version of Media Composer and you're right, they are fine .... although, interesstingly, it was only a version 9 .... so, it would seem, there is some is some degree of backwards compatibility. PLEASE don't kick the 'old' systems. They may be a little clunky (and rendering takes a lifetime!) but, the G3 Mac based vers. 7 systems, in particular, were solid as a rock. For straight forward 'cuts only' drama work they were and, dare I say it, still are, one of the most tactile systems Avid have ever made. Enough preaching. Thanks for all your help as always. All the best. Jake  

jake@edgepost.com:

An extra £310 for a Media Composer seems like good value anyway

Be warned, if you have some sort of bad install of EDL Manager, upgrading to MC will not make any difference at all. I used to have PowerBook with AXP installed, and EDL manager nor FilmScribe would launch. I remember someone suggesting a specific install order for ALE, EDL manager, FilmScribe and Xpress Pro.

it would seem, there is some is some degree of backwards compatibility.

Yes, one might get lucky. It's just generally not recommended, and more often that not, one will run into issues.

PLEASE don't kick the 'old' systems.

I'm not kicking nothing. I'm just pointing out that checking an OMF export by importing it into an old revision of MC is not a recommendable practice.

7 systems, in particular, were solid as a rock.

You're preaching to the choir :-)

However, MC11&12 on PC Meridien were even more stable than MC7. And SN 1.8 is pretty close.