Convert Files From Soundtrack Pro to Adobe Audition CC

Recently, I came across an old Soundtrack Pro project that I wanted to move into Adobe Audition. Since Soundtrack uses a proprietary file format, it would first need to be converted before it could be imported anywhere.

The easiest way would be to use OMF files – however, while Soundtrack imports OMFs it doesn’t export them. And, while Soundtrack exports AAF files, Audition doesn’t import them. What to do?

The answer is a little round-about, but thanks to Durin Gleaves, Audio Product Manager at Adobe, here’s the solution. First, I’ll provide the Reader’s Digest version, then all the details.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This can be done in just a few steps, depending if the AAF contains media:

1. Export an AAF file from Soundtrack Pro.
2. Import the AAF into Premiere Pro CC.
3a. If the AAF includes media which can be relinked in Premiere, send the project directly from Premiere to Audition and you are ready to mix.

3b. If you can’t relink the media in Premiere, export the Premiere project as an FCP 7 XML file.
4. Import the XML file into Audition.
5. Relink the media and you are ready to mix.

THE DETAILS
GET THE FILE OUT OF SOUNDTRACK PRO

[ Click to see a larger version of this image. ]

Here is the mix inside Soundtrack Pro. (This software was shipped with Final Cut Pro 7 and last updated about five years ago.)

To export this in a form that other applications can read, choose: File > Export AAF

It is a REALLY good idea to create a new folder for your AAF file, then, store the AAF file inside that folder. Why?

Because creating an AAF file creates an AAF file for transfer, PLUS all the audio files contained in your Soundtrack project. A LOT of files!

At this point, you are done with Soundtrack Pro and can quit the application.

IMPORT THE FILE INTO PREMIERE PRO CC

Open Adobe Premiere and create a new project. The exact settings are not important as they will change when the AAF file is imported.

From within Premiere, select File > Import. Then, and this is important, find the AAF file you exported from Soundtrack Pro and import just that file.

NOTE: While you can select the folder containing the AAF file to import, this may not work properly.

Here things get tricky. Depending upon how the Soundtrack project was configured, Premiere may indicate that all your media is offline.

If you try to relink these files in Premiere, you’ll see this error message. At this point, don’t worry. Let all the media remain offline; don’t relink them.

At this point, all your clips are properly laid out in correct position, but offline.

TWO OPTIONS

At this point, you have two options. If the media made the transfer successfully, sending the project to Audition is easy: choose Edit > Edit in Adobe Audition > Entire Sequence.

However, if the media is offline – which is more often the case, we have a few more steps to go through. To start, inside Premiere choose File > Export > Final Cut Pro XML.

Again, create a new folder and store the XML file in that folder.

At this point we are done with Premiere. Quit the application.

IMPORTING INTO ADOBE AUDITION

Open Audition.

Choose File > Import File and navigate to the XML file you just exported from Premiere.

At this point, Audition warns you that it can’t find the files. That’s because the XML file only points to media and the media was offline when it was exported from Premiere.

Choose Clip > Link All Media. Again, you have two choices:

• Link to the media stored in the AAF folder you created during the initial export from Soundtrack – or –
• Link to the original media stored with the Soundtrack Pro project

Either way will work, depending upon which media is easier to find.

[ Click to see a larger version of this image. ]

And here’s the converted project, loaded into Audition and ready to start the mix.

SUMMARY

The only tricky part of this process is that you need to open the original Soundtrack project and export it as an AAF. Other applications can’t open the native Soundtrack project file, unless it is first converted.

After that, the conversion process just takes a minute or two.

---

Bookmark the permalink.