Abletonlive.aaf -- Convert AAF sessions to Ableton Live projects (v2 just dropped)
Hey everyone,
First post here so a quick intro, I'm the developer behind XTERMINATORAPPS. I build tools for audio post-production workflows. Been lurking for a while and figured it was time to actually share what I've been working on.

The problem

If you've ever received an AAF from a video editor (Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Media Composer) and needed to work on it in Ableton Live, you know the pain. Ableton doesn't open AAFs. So you're stuck manually importing stems, lining everything up, rebuilding fades, renaming tracks. It's hours of dead time before the actual creative work even starts.

What Abletonlive.aaf does
It converts AAF files directly into Ableton Live projects (.als). One click.

What gets transferred:

• All audio clips with sample-accurate timing
• Volume automation
• Fades and crossfades
• Track names and clip names
• Stereo/mono track handling
• Tempo and time signature mapping

You get a ready-to-work Ableton session. No manual alignment, no guesswork.

v2.0 ,just released

Spent the last few months rewriting the core engine. Here's what's new:
MXF Auto-Conversion -- MXF media files from Avid and broadcast workflows are now automatically converted to WAV. No extra steps, no third-party tools.
DaVinci Resolve Stereo Splitting -- Interleaved stereo tracks from DaVinci are automatically split into proper dual-mono for Ableton Live. This was a big pain point that a lot of users reported.
Tempo and Time Signature Input -- Set your project tempo and time signature before conversion so your Ableton session opens with the correct grid from bar one.
Improved Processing -- Faster conversion, better clip naming, more accurate fade reconstruction.

How it works

1. Open Abletonlive.aaf
2. Drop your AAF file
3. Set tempo/time signature if needed
4. Hit convert
5. Open the generated .als in Ableton Live

That's it. Works on Windows and macOS (Intel + Apple Silicon).

Free trial

There's a free trial with 5 full conversions ,no feature restrictions, no watermarks. If it works for your workflow, a lifetime license is available on Gumroad. One payment, free updates forever.
Website -- abletonliveaaf.shop
Demo video on YouTube

Who is this for?

• Composers receiving picture edits as AAFs
• Sound designers working between video NLEs and Ableton
• Post-production studios that use Ableton for music/sound design
• Anyone tired of manually rebuilding sessions from AAF stems

Happy to answer any questions about the tool or the workflow. Also open to feature requests -- the DaVinci stereo fix and the tempo input both came from user feedback.
Cheers

 

this is awesome, maybe i missed it but can you go the other way? Ableton to AAF? Ableton is really good for doing on the grid video editing to music but the export of video out of ableton is trash. It could be cool to do initial edits in ableton to get it all synced up then go to my video editor to add all the fancy video effects and export there.

 

Hey, great question !

Right now Abletonlive.aaf is one-way (AAF to Ableton), but ALS-to-AAF is already in development for v2.1 as you can see in the screenshot :





That exact workflow you described is exactly why we're building it.

The goal is a full round-trip: get your AAF from the video editor, do your work in Ableton, then export back to AAF so Premiere/DaVinci/Media Composer can pick it up with all your clips, timing, and fades preserved. No stems or bounce workaround.

And BTW, anyone who already owns a license gets this update for free. Once ALS-to-AAF ships, the price WILL GO up since it becomes a full round-trip tool. So if you're thinking about it (Or anyone reading this for that matter), now is the best time to lock in the current price.

Stay tuned ,if you want to be notified when it drops, grab the trial from the website and you'll be on the update list automatically.

 

awesome! ill keep checking back for the update!