Hello All,

We are trying to import multiple EDL files with spaces in the Clip Names, like so:

TITLE:   test

FCM: NON-DROP FRAME

001 MY CLIP1 V C 01:00:07:03 01:00:11:22 01:00:00:00 01:00:04:19

After selecting the file via File > Input > Import EDL, the following error is poped up:

There was 1 problem reading the EDL.

Maybe you have selected wrong frame rate or project type.

Check the console and list.

However, if the space in the clip name is replaced by an underscore "MY_CLIP1" the error is gone.

Is there any specification of the EDL file format Media Composer is expecting?

Do we have a list of illegal characters in clip names?

Thank you 

Hello there

The following is a good rule of thumb.....

Avoid using special characters such as : ; / \ , . { } [ ] ( ) * ? < > |! ...

Use underscores (_) or dashes (-) rather than spaces. Dashes are easier for machines to read, but we personally prefer the white space between characters that an underscore provides.

Hope that helps.

Marianna

EDL is a really primitive format.

Whitespaces are considered delmiters in each line of an EDL, so when Avid encounters the space in your clip name, it expects the next bit of text to be the track indicator (V, A, etc.)

'Tape' or 'Source' names were originally numeric, and limited to eight characters (I think), and spaces probably weren't allowed.

You might try putting the value in quotes (e.g. "MY CLIP1") just in case Avid's parsing software is hip to that, but I doubt it will work. You may be stuck with underscores.

Another thought: Resolve has the option to read clip names from an EDL's comments lines (these lines begin with *, and were traditionally ignored by the software reading the EDL.) Maybe Avid has a similar feature?

-rj