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Final Cut Pro → Nuendo / Cubase

Final Cut Pro to Nuendo or Cubase

Nuendo and Cubase import AAF. Final Cut exports FCPXML. fcp2aaf writes the standard AAF that sits between them, with the audio conformed from your own recordings.

macOS 14 or later · Apple Silicon

Steinberg's post-production DAW, Nuendo, imports AAF through File ▸ Import ▸ AAF, and Cubase Pro reads the same format. Neither reads FCPXML, and Final Cut writes nothing else.

fcp2aaf fills that gap without asking you to route through Pro Tools first. It reads the FCPXML, cuts the audio from your originals, and writes an AAF built to the standard — which is exactly what Nuendo and Cubase are expecting.

Standard AAF is the default, and that matters here

The default output is standard AAF. One optional setting, the Audio Channel Combiner, groups a clip's channels into a stereo track and is not part of the AAF standard — it is off unless you ask for it, so what you deliver opens the same way in every application that reads AAF.

The one non-standard setting groups channels into a stereo track. Leave it off for Nuendo and Cubase: one channel per track is what reads cleanly, and it is what the default already does.

Roles become tracks

Every Final Cut role and subrole arrives as its own track, in the order you choose, named the way you name it. Overlapping clips within a role spill onto extra tracks so Nuendo never meets two clips fighting for one lane, and clips joined by a crossfade stay together.

You arrange the track list, rename anything, and drop the tracks you do not need before converting — and an excluded track is audio that is never even decoded, so it costs nothing.

Fades, automation and clip gain arrive in place

Volume keyframes become automation, clip gain rides on the clip, and pan travels. Fades can be written as clip fades or as automation. Crossfades, J-cuts and L-cuts land where the sound actually played, not where the picture was cut.

One file, or a folder

A self-contained AAF with the audio inside it is the simplest thing to open in a fresh Nuendo project. A referenced delivery is a folder holding the AAF and the conformed WAVs beside it, which writes faster and takes less space. Sample rate follows your source or is set to 44.1, 48, 96 or 192 kHz.

What opens in Nuendo

Roles as tracks
Named and ordered as you set them, contiguous, with overlaps spilled apart.
Levels and fades
Clip gain, volume automation, pan, fades and crossfades, placed where they belong.
Your audio, cut to length
Conformed from your originals with handles, embedded or referenced, at the rate you choose.

Questions about Nuendo and Cubase

Does Nuendo import AAF?

Yes — File ▸ Import ▸ AAF. fcp2aaf writes a standard AAF, which is what that importer expects.

Does Cubase import AAF too?

Cubase Pro reads AAF. The AAF fcp2aaf produces is the same file whichever Steinberg application opens it.

Do I need to change any setting for Nuendo?

No. The defaults produce standard AAF with one channel per track, which is what reads cleanly. The only setting to avoid is the Audio Channel Combiner, and it is already off.

Do markers come across?

Yes, as locators, with the kind written into the marker name. Each of Final Cut's three marker kinds has its own switch.

What sample rate and bit depth?

The rate follows your source by default, or you set it. 16- or 24-bit, and 32-bit float when the audio is referenced rather than embedded.

Other destinations

The AAF fcp2aaf writes is standard, so it opens well beyond Nuendo.

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