There is a lot of confusion about the difference between conforming and re-conforming in audio post-production. Community member Toby Campen got in touch and asked us to look at the thorny issue of conforming and re-conforming sessions in Pro Tools, he asked…

“I work in TV post-production and frequently encounter the issue of conforming projects with lots of dialogue, SFX and foley tracks to a new picture edit. It is a common headache among post-production audio editors and mixers. Especially when editors provide us with a new picture edit where many shots have been cut or extended by a few frames.

I am aware of the Pro Tools Insert Time feature, and use the QuickTime player to watch two videos side-by-side when comparing edits, but could you share a more elegant solution for performing this task, please?”

We have covered the issue of conforming and re-conforming in the past on Production Expert and the problem Tony refers to is a re-conforming problem rather than a conforming issue.

Conforming is not recutting a project because of video edit changes, this is re-conforming and there are different tools to handle this job and we cover that in our article What Is Re-conforming.

In this article, we are going to concentrate on conforming…

What Is Conforming?

Conforming, sometimes called assembly, is the process of taking edits made by a picture editor hearing a guide audio track, and imposing the same edits onto multitrack source audio files, so that a high-quality version of the same soundtrack can be produced.

Isn’t Using An AAF Or OMF Enough?

Adding this functionality to a Pro Tools system requires third-party software such as Sounds In Sync EdiLoad or Synchro Arts Titan. You might wonder why this is necessary: could you not simply use an AAF or OMF from the picture edit?

Well, for one thing, when you import the AAF or OMF from the picture edit, the clips may not have their original detailed file names from the field recorder. Another reason is that AAF and OMF archives don’t include all the audio that was recorded: all you get are the clips the video editor selected. If you are lucky, or you asked for ‘handles’, you might be able to pull out a small amount of unused audio beyond the edges of these clips, by the amount that the video editor set in the video editing software. The default is usually only two seconds, but I normally ask for at least six and preferably 10 seconds.

If you want any more than that, you’ll need to conform, which is where you use the video edit data to bring out all the individual tracks that were recorded on location. This also has the advantage of enabling you to look for alternative takes should you need it, rather than being constrained by the takes the video editor selected, which were almost certainly not chosen because they were the best-sounding ones. By doing the conform process yourself, you can be sure you have all the options available to you rather than what the video editor or their assistant chose. The third advantage is that you are using the original source audio, rather than clips that might have been processed or converted at some point in the video editing process.

A fourth reason to use conforming software is that the older OMF format does not support the additional data relating to the other tracks, such as actors’ names and so on.

We discussed conforming in detail in a podcast extra interview with Mike Wabro…

In this podcast, recorded in 2012, Mike Wabro discusses the issue of conforming with Mike Thornton. We cover…

• What is an EDL

• The history of conforming

• How do OMFs and AAFs relate to the conform workflow

• What is the difference between conforming and re-conforming

• Conforming with Ediload from Sounds in Sync

• Conforming with Titan from SynchroArts

So let’s look at the 3 applications that are able to help us conform our multitrack audio rushes to a video edit. The first is EdiLoad from Sounds In Sync…

Ediload v4 from Sounds in Sync

EdiLoad is an application that allows sound editors and mixers to perform a variety of crucial and time-saving tasks. EdiLoad can do both conforming, which is (assembling) location WAV files in Pro Tools and re-conforming (or re-cutting) a Pro Tools session when picture changes occur. In this article we are going to concentrate on the conforming features in EdiLoad.

At its heart EdiLoad contains powerful functions that can manipulate edit lists through its filter, batch modify and cleaning controls. With its unique ability to import and export Pro Tools sessions, new workflows can be created to automate repetitive tasks or enable new processes on custom productions.

To learn more about what Ediload can do check out our video where we looked at what EdiLoad V3 could do…

Since then Mark has been busy updating his product range, making sure they are all 64-bit applications and bringing new features. In the next video, Mark Franken from Sounds In Sync demonstrates the new features brought to EdiLoad V4, both for conforming and re-conforming.

When it comes to conforming, being able to assemble WAV files when all channels of the location WAV files need to be conformed or assembled using an AAF, FCP7 XML, or EDL, EdiLoad V4 can be used in conjunction with the Pro Tools Expand Tracks feature to perform this task.

Load multiple edit lists into EdiLoad and clean them to create a list with the least number of events and tracks as possible. This simplifies the conform and saves having multiple copies of the same clips presented in the timeline at the end of the conform.

In the next video, Mark Franken from Sounds In Sync runs through everything you need to know. Mark explains why you would want to conform your original location WAV files (rather than use an AAF or OMF), how to conform your rushes using EdiLoad and the Pro Tools field recorder functions, and finally, one of the sync issues you might encounter when performing this process.

The video also shows how to use the two new ‘Match Roll Names’ and ‘Match File Names’ windows, brand new with EdiLoad v3.3. These allow you to make sure the edit data will link to your location WAV files before exporting conform reference tracks.

Timings of the video segments are as follows: 

• 01:20 - Why conform location WAV files?

• 03:50 - Requirements for conforming

• 05:05 - Loading a set of EDL files into EdiLoad

• 09:06 - Checking the edit list data is correct

• 15:25 - Cleaning list and exporting conform reference tracks

• 18:06 - Setting up the Pro Tools field recorder functions

• 21:11 - Expanding EdiLoad tracks to conform WAV files

• 24:05 - Conform sync errors that are less than one frame

Notes

• This video was made with EdiLoad v3 and Mark exported conform reference tracks as a ptx file. With EdiLoad v4+ these can now be exported as an AAF file.

• This process allows for poly WAV files to be conformed without the need to split and copy all location audio.

Titan From Synchro Arts

As Mike Wabro said in our podcast interview above, both EdiLoad and Titan have their strengths and weaknesses and it will depend on various circumstances as to which one he would use.  

Titan has been around for ages but has not been updated for a long time now. We include it for completeness. However, it is still available to buy in the Synchro Arts store.

What Is Titan

Titan is a set of three processes for use in audio post-production workflows.

• Flash Conform - conforms multi-channel location sound recordings to picture editors EDL’s.

  • Flash Conform can conform audio loaded onto hard disk and DVD drives from audio editors or location recorders.

  • It supports a wide range of reel/roll and time code identification options.

  • It can conform audio with mixed sample rates and bit depth, converting the audio to a single user-selected sample rate and bit depth. (Supports all supple rates up to 192 kHz)

  • An unlimited number of audio channels are supported. Audio channels can be identified in many different ways.

  • It can create Pro Tools and AES31 sessions.

• Fix Sync - Titan's Fix Sync function has been designed to automatically adjust the position of manually or auto-conformed audio regions to sync precisely to a work track. Similarly, the Fix Sync function can correct the sync of audio that has passed through signal processing devices and has been delayed by unknown amounts. Fix Sync virtually eliminates the need to adjust sync manually while listening for phasing or visually comparing waveforms with a worktrack.

  • Automatically corrects the position of audio that is out of sync by up to +/- 2.0 seconds to sample level accuracy.

  • Hundreds of regions are corrected in minutes.

  • Multi-channel Regions can be adjusted together to maintain phase relationship.

  • An Optional report indicates the magnitude of errors, detection of signal inversion (180º phase shifts) and amount of shifting done.

• Flash Cutter Cut Only Mode (Conform) - Flash Cutter, avoids having manually to re-cut and rename edits in situations when tape is used to transfer audio from any editing system to a Pro Tools system, and an OMF transfer is not a practical option. Once the audio on tape has been transferred into continuous tracks in a Pro Tools session and correctly positioned, Flash Cutter uses a standard EDL from the first editing system to automatically re-cut the tracks and rename the audio regions.

  • Automatically cuts and names several hundred edits in seconds.

  • Simple assignment of EDL channels to Session Tracks.

  • Regions, Tracks and Sessions are automatically named from EDL and user-supplied information.

Titan V4 System Requirements

Titan is Mac only. It is clearly a 32-bit application as it is supported up to and including macOS 10.14 but is not supported on macOS 10.15 and later.

Kraken Dialogue Editors Toolkit

Kraken Dialogue Editors Toolkit is an application that has been developed over several years by sound editor Marc Specter. Like the elusive objects of many a quest, in the darkest corners of Soho, in London, England, there were whispers and rumours of the app Marc was developing, until he felt it was finally ready for public release back in February 2019.

Essentially, it performs two core functions: assembling production sound files from an EDL to create field recorder guide tracks in Pro Tools, from which the multitrack location recordings can be expanded (conforming); and searching for alternate takes for spotting into a Protools session. But once immersed in the app, Kraken offers so much more to Dialogue Editors.

Beginning an assembly is a simple matter of dragging the folder containing the production sound files into the Media panel. Kraken then scans the metadata and waveforms, storing the waveform data in hidden folders alongside the sound files, while the metadata is loaded into memory on each application startup.

Mark Specter says of Kraken…

“Kraken is the result of numerous years of obsession with programming and film sound workflow. I have always enjoyed dealing with technical issues such as faulty wavs, dodgy EDLs, bad labelling, sync drift and all the rest.

A few years ago I set out to use my basic programming knowledge to make a tool that would help me fix these issues, and allow me to view, diagnose and edit the various file formats commonly used in sound post production

The Kraken project will evolve over time with additional features that I or other users want. Many interesting possibilities exist in different areas – assembly workflow aids, AAF cleaning/filtering, PTX diagnosis, and many others.”

Kraken Key Features

• Audio file library tools optimised for per-project rushes

• Spotting to Pro Tools maintaining references to original rushes

• Pro Tools session syncing allows many workflow improvements

• Floating metadata panel shows enhanced metadata

• EDL to rushes matching allows timeline assembly

Want to learn more about Kraken then check out our article by Chris Roberts Kraken Dialogue Editors Toolkit - Expert Tutorial

You can also check the Kraken YouTube Channel for more tutorial videos including these…

Just 3 Applications To Handle Conforming

There you have it. There are only three applications we know of that can handle conforming.

If you came here looking for information about re-conforming then do check out our article What Is Re-conforming.