Editing Advanced Authoring Format (section)

== Usage ==

Capabilities of AAF include the following:

* Allows complex relationships to be described in terms of an object model.  
* Facilitates the interchange of metadata and/or program content.
* Provides a way to track the history of a piece of program content from its source elements through final production.
* Makes downstream rendering possible (with appropriate equipment).  
* Provides a convenient way to "wrap" all elements of a project together for archiving.

There are two kinds of data that can be interchanged using AAF:

* Essence Data: [[Digital audio|Audio]] (including [[music]]), [[video]], [[Digital image|image]], [[graphics]], [[Plain text|text]], [[Computer animation|animation]], and other forms of [[multimedia]] data. So named because they are the essential data within a multimedia program that can be perceived directly by the audience.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242398898|title=AAF — the Advanced Authoring Format|last=Gilmer|first=Brad|date=2002|website=ResearchGate|language=en|access-date=2019-02-11}}</ref>
* [[Metadata]]: Data that provides information on how to combine or modify individual sections of essence data, or that provides supplementary information about essence data. The metadata in an AAF file can provide the information needed to combine and modify the sections of essence data in the AAF file to produce a complete multimedia program.<ref name=":1" />

By preserving source referencing, and abstracting the creative decisions that are made, AAF tries to improve workflow and simplify project management.

AAF's rich data model combining metadata and various types of essence has led to its use in non-broadcast applications as well.  For example, AAF has been adopted by the DoD/IC Motion Imagery Standards Board (MISB)<ref name=us_dod_misb>{{cite web| url=https://gwg.nga.mil/gwg/focus-groups/misb/ | title=Motion Imagery Standards Board (MISB) | accessdate=August 23, 2022}}</ref> for their Aerial Surveillance and Photogrammetry Applications standard (ASPA).