New Members, Strong Support Build Momentum for Advanced Authoring Format (AAF)
Multimedia file format winning industry-wide support
NAB2000, April 11, 2024 – Momentum is building for the Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) multimedia interchange standard, with strong support from existing promoters, and new adopters signing on to support the growing industry consensus.
The AAF initiative has gathered the support of the industry’s leading vendors of digital production tools, and their largest users.
"We consider AAF to be a cornerstone of our strategy to deliver what our customers are demanding: end-to-end interoperability between digital tools, regardless of vendor," says David Dale, Director of Business Development with Avid. "The AAF should provide an end to the islands of incompatible automation that plague our industry, and the beginning of complete digital media environments built from products from multiple vendors."
"Time, effort, and even quality is wasted converting digital content between file formats. Quantel supports the AAF’s aim to simplify this process," says Mark Horton, Group Product Manager, Editing with Quantel. "The fact that the AAF is actively supported by manufacturers, broadcasters, and post-production houses shows a common interest. Everyone involved stands to benefit from co-operating to provide a pragmatic standard."
"The AAF is a major part of the vision that Microsoft has been investing heavily in for years," says Tom McMahon, Director of Advanced Systems Architecture with Microsoft. "We’re a strong supporter of the AAF. Having a standardized content interchange format brings tremendous benefits to everyone in our industry."
"The BBC is committed to improving the links between different stages of the programme-making process," says Andrew Oliphant of the BBC’s R&D Department. "With solid industrial backing and the AAF Association to guide its development, the AAF format is on course to deliver the dream of seamless transfer of content between systems."
"CNN/Turner Broadcasting needs standards to describe complex media and enable interchange between different systems," says Gordon Castle, VP of Research and Development, CNN. "We look to the AAF Association to move these efforts forward. Without this work, vendors are faced with developing custom integration that is costly, slow, and not extensible."
Such strong statements of support mean the AAF is well on the road to forging an industry-wide consensus between vendors and users.
"Working together, we can help the industry to realize the full benefits of going digital. So it’s not surprising that both users and vendors want to cooperate on a new file interchange standard for multimedia," says AAF Association Executive Director Brad Gilmer. "For the broadcast and post-production community, the AAF Association provides a unique opportunity to influence the working practices of the future. For manufacturers, the AAF Association means participating in a project that will have a fundamental impact on the future markets for their products."
About the AAF
The Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) is a multimedia file format that enables content creators to easily exchange digital media and metadata across platforms and between applications. The AAF simplifies project management, saves time, and preserves valuable metadata that was often lost when transferring media between applications in the past.
About the AAF Association Inc.
Founded in March 1998 and incorporated in February 2000, the AAF Association Inc. is a broadly-based trade association intended to promote the development and adoption of AAF technology throughout the media industry. With representatives from many major players in the industry, the AAF Association intends to help deliver the full benefits of digital media to content creators including film, television, and post-production professionals. Email: [email protected]
