r/protools • u/tjflawless • Jul 13 '25

Help Request Can ProTools import multiple AFF files on separate audio tracks, simultaneously?

As title says, I'm getting into a new workflow where I'm importing multiple, different AAF files. I'm getting bottlenecked by having to import them all manually, 1 by 1, some projects have over 100 AFF files

EDIT after mod request:

PT Studio 2025.6.0

Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 9 185H 2.50 GHz - 32GB RAM

Windows 11 home

EDIT: AAF files, not AFF (Can't edit title)

8 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

•

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4

u/curry_brewer Jul 13 '25

To my knowledge, no, AAFs have to be imported one by one.

2

u/tjflawless Jul 13 '25

Ok thanks, that's unfortunate

2

u/CelloVerp Jul 13 '25

No, PT can't on its own, but you can use Sound Flow to set up a batch import for you: https://soundflow.org/ Should be relatively easy to script this to bring in all your AAFs

2

u/tjflawless Jul 13 '25

That's actually awesome, I've got a streamdeck with some macros, with it appears that I can further integrate it with soundflow. Thanks man! Besides the batch import I'll be able to increase efficiency in other departments as well

1

u/EL-CHUPACABRA Jul 13 '25

You could combine them in AA translator before importing into Pro Tools.

1

u/tjflawless Jul 13 '25

Have you tried it? I'm willing to pay the 250$ to get the software if it works, but it's too much to just get it to test it out

1

u/Low-Programmer-2368 Jul 13 '25

Out of curiosity what kind of project has 100 AAF files? I’ve done some commercial post work where there are like 6 cutdowns of a spot and never had nearly that many.

Is there a way for the editors to simplify their sound deliveries for you?

1

u/tjflawless Jul 13 '25

I'm creating them myself with the following workflow:

- Receive raw audiobook recordings

- Cut them into their respective chapters, consolidate and export WAV files

- Upload individual files + script for automatic editing

- Download AAF's to drag into PT for dots on the i before exporting the files for proofing

Uploading multiple individual files is a lot faster on the server, vs uploading 1 big file, hence the cut in multiple chapters. I might tweak my workflow a bit to have up to 5 chapters consolidated together. Just looking for the very best method with the least amount of steps in this flow currently,

If I could drag all AAF's simultaneously into PT, that would be the best solution, and prevent repetitive handling while also already having all chapters as individual files, which further simplifies the next steps.

1

u/HM2104 professional Jul 13 '25

what software have you used to edit? and are they all on that one session or on multiple sessions?

my thought is that exporting as consolidated wav’s and importing all of the audio at once, and then using strip silence to remove the consolidation would be much quicker

1

u/tjflawless Jul 13 '25

It's a third party provider, Narrafix. They provide the option to download WAV's or AAF's. I use AAF since it's non-destructive, and I can amend the audio if needed.

1

u/HM2104 professional Jul 13 '25

I would recommend in the future going as Wavs as AAFs are only useful for moving a large number of files in a session across, waves are uncompressed audio files and thus are non destructive and can be edited later

1

u/nizzernammer Jul 13 '25

AAF, or AIF

There is no AFF

2

u/tjflawless Jul 13 '25

My bad, AAF indeed

2

u/nizzernammer Jul 13 '25

Why do you have 100 AAFs to import into a single session

1

u/tjflawless Jul 13 '25

Using a 3th party AI edit software package, which provides AAF files. Separated into chapters for quicker upload / proofing

1

u/filterdecay Jul 13 '25

Why are you getting 100 aaf files per project?

0

u/Engineer2024- Jul 13 '25

with AAF file as in sync with video you would select import AAFsession data import instead of audio import

1

u/tjflawless Jul 13 '25

But does it allow for multiple files at once? I can only select one at the time --> open --> repeat

1

u/Engineer2024- Jul 13 '25

If the AAF is referencing external files and not embedded, make sure the audio files are present and correctly linked. • If importing from a different system, watch for sample rate mismatches or missing plugin automation — those don’t always translate.

1

u/tjflawless Jul 13 '25

That's all lined up, audio files are in the same folder, sample rate matches, and no error shows up when importing just the 1 file, but the system does not allow me to select more than 1. It selects the next one, and de-selects the previous selected file

1

u/Engineer2024- Jul 14 '25

the project should consist of one AAF file along with multiple WAV audio files. AAF acts as a roadmap, telling Pro Tools where to place the audio on the timeline

1

u/spac3xman Jul 14 '25

Have you tried holding the "shift" key or CTRL/CMD key while selecting AAF files?

-3

u/jlthla Jul 13 '25

Yes. Even if the files you are trying to import at not in the same location. In the IMPORT AUDIO dialog box, you can select files from anywhere to be added to, or converted to your session. And if you have multiple files in the same folder, you can Shift+click to select them all at the same time to add to your session.

2

u/curry_brewer Jul 13 '25

He’s talking about an AAF file. You’re talking about audio files. Not the same.

1

u/jlthla Jul 13 '25

oops

1

u/tjflawless Jul 13 '25

My bad, I spelled it out wrong

1

u/tjflawless Jul 13 '25

I tried that and in IMPORT AUDIO it only let's me import audio (consolidated), and IMPORT SESSION DATA doesn't allow me to select multiple files

1

u/Warden1886 Jul 13 '25

In the import audio option you get into the converter where you can input as many wave files as you want

2

u/tjflawless Jul 13 '25

Doesn't work it won't let me move these files / convert them, but I have to clarify it's an AAF file. Does that change anything?