Bring the timeline
Load an FCP7 xmeml XML or an AAF with multiple timelines.
For After Effects artists
From edit to AE comp.
XML2AE rebuilds FCP7 XML and AAF timelines inside After Effects—matching media, preserving editorial timing, and surfacing conflicts before they become surprises.
macOS + WindowsZXP + illustrated guideBundled media tools
XML / AAF → AEConform without the rebuild grind.
Scan footage recursivelyResolve conflicts visuallyPreserve edit timingBuild safelyScan footage recursivelyResolve conflicts visuallyPreserve edit timingBuild safely
The conform, compressed
Three moves.
One real comp.
Skip the hours of importing, renaming, trimming, and lining up layers by hand. XML2AE turns editorial turnover into a guided, inspectable workflow.
Point to your media
Scan footage folders recursively. Filename, reel, timecode, duration and strict fallbacks do the matching.
Open a working comp
Review conflicts, then build layers with timing, trims, transforms, opacity, crop, blends and keyframes.
See what gets resolved
Built for messy handoffs.
Missing files, duplicate names and ambiguous candidates are visible decisions—not silent errors buried in a timeline.
Actual XML2AE interface and workflow. Screens may vary slightly by version and operating system.
Useful in production
More fidelity.
Less fragility.
The important details survive the trip, and the details that cannot are flagged for a human decision.
Source-aware keyframes
Supported keyframes account for trimmed source-in timing rather than drifting out of place.
Visual conflict picker
Choose ambiguous media using candidate thumbnails and metadata instead of guesswork.
Non-destructive updates
Duplicate an earlier generated comp and update the copy from the latest scan and match.
Diagnostics in the comp
Missing media and unsupported constructs arrive as clear slates and diagnostic text.
Reference video
Add an optional reference movie to compare the recreated timeline against editorial.
Tools included
FFmpeg, ffprobe and MediaInfo binaries are bundled for macOS and Windows.
Spend your time on the shot, not rebuilding the edit one layer at a time.
Instant digital download
XML2AE
€40+
- macOS Apple Silicon ZXP
- Windows ZXP
- Illustrated user guides
- Free to pay more and support development
Rebuild your next edit.
Pay the €40 minimum, or choose a higher amount to support continued development.
€
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Read the complete product details
XML2AE is an Adobe After Effects CEP extension for rebuilding an edit from FCP7 xmeml XML or AAF.
It loads an editing XML/AAF, scans selected footage folders, matches timeline media against real scanned files, lets the user resolve ambiguous or missing media, and builds an After Effects composition that preserves editorial timing as closely as possible. It also tracks generated timelines so a later scan/match can update a duplicated comp without destroying the previous build.
What it does
XML2AE is intended for conform and VFX prep workflows where an edit arrives as FCP7 XML and the user needs a working After Effects comp.
Current behavior includes:
- Parse FCP7 xmeml sequence data and AAF mutli-timeline.
- Scan user-selected footage folders recursively.
- Match media from the scanned catalog by filename/stem, reel, timecode, duration, and strict fallback rules; embedded XML/AAF source paths are not used as match criteria.
- Detect missing media and ambiguous matches.
- Show a conflict picker with candidate thumbnails and metadata.
- Import selected media into After Effects.
- Build a video-only AE comp with layer timing, trims, disabled-state handling, slates, diagnostics, and optional reference video.
- Apply supported transform/effect data:
- Basic Motion scale, position/center, anchor/centerOffset, rotation.
- Opacity.
- Crop where supported.
- Blend/composite modes where mapped.
- Keyframes, including source-in-aware timing for trimmed clips.
- Create slates and diagnostic text for missing/unresolved media and unsupported constructs.
- Track generated timelines in the Built Timelines panel.
- Save/load Built Timelines history via sidecar next to the saved AE project.
- Update an older build from the latest scan/match by duplicating the prior comp and modifying only the duplicate.
How it works
XML2AE is split between a CEP panel and an After Effects ExtendScript host bridge.
The Panel side owns pure and filesystem-heavy work:
- XML parsing.
- Folder scanning and metadata indexing.
- Image sequence grouping.
- Matching and conflict detection.
- Thumbnail extraction via ffmpeg.
- Report generation.
- Build queue orchestration.
- Built Timelines session history and sidecar persistence.
The ExtendScript host side owns AE mutation only:
- Validate/import selected footage.
- Create comps, layers, solids, and text.
- Apply timing, transforms, opacity, crop, blend modes, retime data, markers, and diagnostics.
- Place the optional reference video.
- Clean up XML2AE-managed generated comps when requested.
Installation
ZXP packages are available from the release page. To install:
- ZXP Installer (Windows/macOS)
- Anastasiy's Extension Manager
- Manual: rename to .zip, extract, and copy the contents to the CEP extensions folder.
The packaged ZXP includes FFmpeg, ffprobe, and MediaInfo CLI binaries for Windows and macOS. On first AAF use, XML2AE auto-runs tools/aaf/bootstrap-embedded-python.ps1 (Windows) or tools/aaf/bootstrap-macos-python.sh (macOS, builds a user-local venv at ~/Library/Application Support/XML2AE/python) if Python/pyaaf2 is missing.
Bundled media tools
XML2AE bundles redistributable LGPL/BSD-2-Clause FFmpeg, ffprobe, and MediaInfo CLI binaries from documented public builds.
Tool resolution order
The app checks for each tool in this order:
If you prefer your own FFmpeg build (e.g. a GPL build with extra codecs), set the path in Settings.
What the tools do
- ffmpeg — conflict candidate thumbnails.
- ffprobe — media probing (duration, frame rate, codec info, pixel format).
- MediaInfo — supplementary metadata probing.
- AAF on Windows — the app auto-runs tools/aaf/bootstrap-embedded-python.ps1 on first AAF use if the embedded Python/pyaaf2 bundle is missing. The same script can be run manually.
- AAF on macOS — the app auto-runs tools/aaf/bootstrap-macos-python.sh, which builds a user-local venv at ~/Library/Application Support/XML2AE/python if Python/pyaaf2 is missing.