Seeing as MXF/OMF is the only video format Avid directly works with, I'd expect it to be able to export a timeline to a single self contained MXF. As far as I can tell, this feature doesnt exist. Is there a way to do this? Making a reel in Avid would be a lot easier if I didn't have to export to quicktime and then re-compress to MXF to work with it again.

Codec Moment:

Making a reel in Avid would be a lot easier if I didn't have to export to quicktime and then re-compress to MXF to work with it again.

Huh?

Why can't you just open the bins containing the clips you want to use in the reel? 

BTW, you could try AAF export.

I rarely keep all my media for longer than a month once I'm done something. I also work at least as much in FCP as in Avid, and I work on several different drives. Even if I do still have a full Avid project, it might be on a different drive, but I keep an exported QT of my work on my main drive.

I'm also asking because one of the places I work broadcasts from a filebased system which does DV stream and MXF. Sure I could export a DV stream from Avid, but it wouldnt do me as much good to hang on to for other things later as an MXF would.

I did see that OMF is listed as an option in the graphics tab for export, but didn't get a chance to try it. Does that work like I'd expect, or is it still images like a lot of the other formats there? Has MXF been added there in more recent versions? I'm still on 2.8.

To clarify, an OMF export is not the same as OMFI media files.  An OMF export may "contain" OMFI media, but is not OMFI media in and of itself.

I tought Media Composer could export to a P2 device.

If it does, then that would be mxf...

Am I wrong?

Why not do a video mixdown of the element you want as a single self contained MXF.  The result of the mix down will be what you are looking for.

Or am I missing something else?

Cheers,

Jef

That should work. The only problem is I did it and then tried to relink the master clip to include the audio mixdown I made to go with it which crashed the program. The audio mixdown will now show up in the media tool, but not the video. I can see the file in finder, so I know it's there. Just to clarify that it hadn't become corrupted or something, I made another mixdown with a smaller section and made an mxf mixdown of it. Same thing happened, it doesnt show up in media tool. Since it's already optimized media, I can't import it again with the import function or by dragging it into the bin from finder, so is there any way to use media from this method if I lost the master clip from the original project?

By the way, yes P2 uses MXF as well, but I'm not working in DVCPROHD and that option is ghosted for me anyway.

I'll open this up a little wider now, is there a good way to keep a file based archive of my stuff that I'm not thinking of? I tried some more quicktime options, the AvidDV codec export gave me some very ugly and bizarre problems with fields bleeding into eachother. Lovely.

AAF export is what you are looking for.

MXF is a subset of the more broader standard that is AAF.

Can I do an audio mixdown instead of consolidating? I can make a self contained file with imbedded media and a video mixdown, but the audio still saves to clips and tracks like in the sequence I export. When I import, it comes in as a sequence plus clips and I really just want a clip with a solid track of video and two solid tracks of audio.

So you have no intention of ever going back and re-editing pieces of these sequences?

If not, just export as an uncompressed QT. 

Video/Audio Mixdowns can not be re-created via Batch Import or Batch Capture if you lose the media that is linked to them.

Yeah, I'm just looking to keep them on the computer the same way you would on tape.

It's all DV stuff, so I was hoping not to go uncompressed with it. It's a really inefficient way of storing something that never had much information to begin with. I get some really ugly issues with DV codec though. The Avid one gives me some problems with my titles cause I did them in 1:1, and the apple DV25 codec gives me some obnoxious and ugly field problems where they start mixing into eachother.

Okay, nevermind. The QT same as sourceDV is fine once I rerendered the titles at DV. I guess it was just getting confused with what 'same as source' meant seeing as it was a mixed timeline. I'm still not sure why it did what it did. Possibly a 480/486 lines issue?

Going back to my original reason for asking, I'd like something in the Avid system where I can pull my stuff in and not have to wait for it to import (even if it's fast import) and recompress from an external file. I figure I can just make a "Masters" project at each resolution and frame rate and then pull stuff out of that, but the only way I know of to do that is with a tape or file based go-between, which seems like some wasted time and clarity either way.

You could invest in Interplay and use the Archive and Restore  . 

1) Select your clip or sequence

2) Send to Archive

3) Delete the media from your drives

when you need it back, choose to either to do a Full or Partial Restore (partial only brings back what was used in a Sequence or Subclip)

Or if you don't have deep pockets.

Invest in some external drives (or possibly a dRobo) and store all of your media used in a project (though it may be better just to store the Consolidated media) on that.  Archive the project Bins to another location (ie dataDVD or USB flash drive) Theoretcially, you should just have to connect the archived media drives and open the Bins to get your stuff back online without any additional importing or whatever.