An abbreviation for Advanced Authoring Format, AAF is a file interchange format optimized for the postproduction/authoring environment. AAF is Open Source, meaning that it’s available to manufacturers for free to implement into their systems. The Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) is an interchange toolkit and exists to get video, audio and metadata from one system to another. It can wrap video, audio, data, and even references to external assets along with instructions on how to render this material into a finished program. For example, a file might contain a 30-minute sequence along with instructions on how to cut it down to 5 minutes … along with an external reference to text reports or still photographs located on a separate system. AAF was created primarily by Avid with assistance from other companies including Microsoft, BBC, Sony, NOB, Quantel, Discreet and others.

This is a format typically used for data exchange with Digidesign Pro Tools software and can be imported and exported by Apple Logic Pro. It allows multiple audio tracks to be imported with reference to tracks and Region position, as well as volume automation.