Are there any advantages to importing MXF files in AE?
 

i heard the AE 8.0.2 enabling native MXF support is now available via automatic update.

can anyone tell me what advantages there are to importing mxf files into AE?

there seems to be a lot of people excited about it.

would it be to do things like color correcting and adding effects before you do your editing in your NLE?

I doubt it since that would be the wrong sequence of doing things, you end up spending a lot of time to apply and render effects to footage that will not make the cut.
More likely this means that if you have an edit list based on your original MXF files, you could export it from your NLE and then load the clips, with their edit points, directly in AE without having to go for an additional export/render pass.

By enablng working with MXF files it allows working with tighter integration with Avid and working with P2 media.

You combine this with the ability to work with QT references and you have a pretty tight speedy workflow without taking additional compression hits.

So you have the choice of working before you build a timeline, during editing, or after you build a sequence. Very cool.

okay so would this be an example of a typical workflow using this new feature in AE:

i import my p2 footage into FCP. do all my editing. save my project. then go into AE and import the mxf files that are referenced in my FCP project and add effects (color correction, compositing, etc) then export the quicktime file to overwrite the quicktime reference, go back into FCP and all the AE work i've done should automatically be applied to my project since i'm working with the quicktime files that FCP is referencing right? if this is the case would i have to just render my FCP project and i'm done?

that would mean i would have to overwrite my original quicktime/mxf files i've downloaded from the camera right?

James, you can do your work in FCP, export the sequence in in XML, start AE, use the FCPtoAE script ( http://www.creative-workflow-hacks.c...ut-the-hassle/ ). This will create a new AE comp with the same edit points and it will even import limited transformations like scale and rotation.
This operation takes a few seconds, much less than rendering the movie to QT and has the advantage to avoid transcoding as you are working on the original files.

... and still no support for Sony ( non P2 ) mxf files?? EX1, 330, 350 ?
Very slow and shoddy Adobe AE team.

Paul