Hello,

We are currently having a problem with AMA link plugin in Avid Media Composer at a customer site.

- We have 2 SStP clips (mxf files) that were generated from the same sstp source (see media info for the two clips attached to this post) but size and duration are different.

- When we import these 2 SStP files via AMA plugin, only the first file is imported. i.e. If we import clip 1 we cannot import clip 2 and vice versa

- It seems like AVID Media Composer interprets the files as being the same ? 

Please note that if the 2 SStP clips come from 2 different source files, then there is no problem. 

Do you have any idea of what could be the problem? Do you know what are the parameters that AMA uses to identify a unique file?

Thanks for your help,

Myriam

Myriam,

can you please clarify what a 'SStP' clip is and where the source media originates from? Also some details about the AMA plugin you use including the editor and plugin version number would be helpful. You can find this information in the MC console. Please also indicate whether you are connected to Interplay or whether this is a standalone editor.

Generally, (not only) AMA sources have a 'source ID'. The source ID is expected to be unique for every source. If source IDs are duplicated, media will be treated as belonging to the same clip. AMA plugins use different methods for deriving unique source IDs but generally rely on the standard mechanism the source format provides, for example UMIDs in the case of MXF.

Please also clarify what you mean by 'cannot be imported' - do you get an error message, doesn't the clip show up etc.

Generally, this does not sound like an API question so have you or your customer considered opening a support case for this?

Rgds,

Andy

Andy,

Thanks for your answer. SStP is a codec, also called HDCAM-SR. The container is mxf. I was not connected to Interplay when I did the tests, I was using a standalone editor. I was using Avid Media Composer 7.0.4 / AMA plugin version 3.32. By "cannot be imported", I mean the clip did not show up.

Following your indication on 'source ID", we did some further analysis. Indeed it seems like two mxf with the same Material Package UMID or Source Package UMID cannot coexist in Media Composer: We extracted the UMIDs of the two mxf we are trying to import and they are the same:

43816-3

Material UMID 060A2B340101010501010D2013000000CD34F04D59084A07AA5A80540CFA26D6

Source UMID 060A2B340101010501010D20130000009933D3111D8C47609AF432F4EF7BF7DC

43816-1

Material UMID 060A2B340101010501010D2013000000CD34F04D59084A07AA5A80540CFA26D6

Source UMID 060A2B340101010501010D20130000009933D3111D8C47609AF432F4EF7BF7DC

Material Package UMID = MaterialPackage PackageUID

Source Package UMID = Source Package PackageUID

Is there any workaround this? Any idea?

For instance, Can the AMA plugin force the import by discarding the UMIDs or updating them on the fly?

Thanks and regards,

Myriam

Hi Myriam,

thanks for the clarification, I had not made the link from SStP to HDCAM SR; in any case there is a decidated Sony HDCAM SR AMA plugin for this that handles this source format and extracts an AAF which, in turn, will define the source ID in Avid. Multiple clips with matching source IDs typically indicate 'multi resolution' assets in Avid.

Since I believe that not having unique source package UMIDs for media that is actually different is a fundamental violation of the MXF standards that will basically break any application (such as AMA relink workflows) that needs to reliably identify a source, there is not much I could think of short of rewriting the UMIDs in the affected sources. To my knowledge the Sony-provided HDCAM SR AMA plugin does not offer any feature to rewrite UMIDs on the fly.

Regards,

Andy