soundcraft/docs/file-format-parity.md

File-format parity

Last reviewed: 2026-10-19 · Last updated: 2026-11-11 · Change: minor (audio formats come from craft-audio; previously trivial: bounces carry a BWF time reference, #1296) · Target: Avid Pro Tools Ultimate 2026.4.1

Every format Pro Tools reads or writes, and ours. The Pro Tools list comes from the document types its bundle declares (CFBundleDocumentTypes in Info.plist: names only, nothing else read) and its documented import/bounce options. Ours comes from craft-audio in craft-libs (DECODE_EXTENSIONS, ENCODE_EXTENSIONS, detect_container, decode), crates/engine/src/cmd/file.rs, crates/engine/src/score.rs, crates/engine/src/clip_group_file.rs and crates/video.

File formats: ~40 % ready (estimated: weighted by how often a Pro Tools user hits each row; session interchange carries a third of the weight and is at 0 %). Remaining ≈ 70–120 h.

Legend: ✅ supported and tested · 🟡 partial · ❌ missing · — not applicable.

Sessions and interchange

Format	Pro Tools	Read	Write	Tests / notes
Pro Tools session .ptx (and .ptf from 7–9)	native	❌	❌	Proprietary, undocumented. Owner decision needed on black-box format study (G-03)
Session templates .ptxt	read/write	❌	❌	We have no templates at all (G-16)
AAF (Advanced Authoring Format)	import/export	❌	❌	#40. The post-production handoff from picture editors (G-03)
OMF	import/export	❌	❌	Legacy, still delivered by some editors
Media Composer–compatible session	export	❌	❌	AAF variant
ADM BWF (Dolby Atmos master)	import/export	❌	❌	G-12
SoundCraft session .scraft + Audio Files/	—	✅	✅	JSON (serde); mutated-file property test loads or fails cleanly; plugin state embedded. Fades save optional curvature (-1..1); missing values default to 0 and preserve legacy envelopes
Import Session Data (from another session)	Pro Tools sessions	🟡	—	From .scraft only
Session info as text	export	—	✅	file.export_session_text
Clip groups .rgrp / ours .scgrp	read/write	🟡	🟡	Our own .scgrp format; Pro Tools' clip-group files not read
Track presets, fade presets, I/O settings, workspace, sync settings	read/write	❌	❌	Their equivalents don't exist yet (G-16)

Audio

Format	Pro Tools	Read	Write	Tests / notes
WAV / BWF (PCM 16/24/32, float 32), bext	native	✅	✅	Native reader/writer, TPDF dither option; Float32 retains finite headroom (#791); also 8-bit and float 64 read. An empty data chunk followed by metadata reads as no audio; an unfinalised recording's audio is still read (#466). WAV bounces (mix and stems) carry a bext TimeReference: the session's timecode start plus the bounce start (#1296).
RF64 / BW64 (> 4 GiB)	read/write	✅	✅	Written above 4 GiB (EncodeOptions::with_force_rf64 below it)
WAV WAVE_FORMAT_EXTENSIBLE multichannel with channel mask	read/write	✅	✅	EncodeOptions::with_layout; default 5.1 import creates a stereo track (#89, PR #128)
AIFF / AIFF-C	native	✅	✅ (fl32)	Native; fl32 retains finite headroom (#791)
FLAC	import	✅ (symphonia)	✅	craft-audio's encoder
MP3	import, bounce	✅ (symphonia)	❌	G-21
AAC / M4A / MP4 audio	import, bounce	✅	❌	craft-audio's AAC-LC decoder; HE-AAC decodes its AAC-LC core only. MP4 and Matroska tracks import at their presentation length (edit list applied). G-21
ALAC	import	✅	❌
Ogg Vorbis	—	✅ (symphonia)	❌	Beyond Pro Tools
Opus (Ogg, WebM, MP4), AC-3 / E-AC-3, MP1 / MP2	—	✅	❌	craft-audio's decoders; E-AC-3 7.1 imports as its 5.1 downmix
CAF	—	✅ (symphonia)	❌
Sound Designer / SD II	import (legacy)	❌	—	Rare today
ReCycle / REX	import	❌	—	Loops
MXF audio (OP-Atom, OP1a)	import	❌	❌	Avid media; FilmCraft has an MXF reader to learn from
iXML / polyphonic field-recorder metadata	read	❌	❌	G-17
Peak overviews	.wfm cache	✅ (own, in memory)	—	craft_audio::peaks; not cached on disk

MIDI and notation

Format	Pro Tools	Read	Write	Tests / notes
Standard MIDI File (type 0/1)	import/export	✅	🟡	Exported MIDI omits imported controllers and ignores the tracks filter (#87, #98; PR #125)
MusicXML (to Sibelius)	export	—	✅	file.export_sibelius, score.rs
Printable score	print	—	✅ (SVG)

Video

Format	Pro Tools	Read	Write	Tests / notes
QuickTime / MP4, H.264	import, bounce	✅	❌	Own pure-Rust decoder (Baseline/Main/High); mutated-movie fuzzing
ProRes (all flavours)	import	✅	❌	Own decoder
Motion JPEG	import	✅	❌
HEVC, AV1	import	❌	❌	G-17
DNxHD / DNxHR, MXF video	import	❌	❌	G-17
Bounce with video	export	—	❌	G-17

Plugin and preset files

Format	Pro Tools	Ours
AAX plug-ins	the only format it hosts	❌ (cannot: Avid SDK licence, PACE signing)
VST3 / Audio Units / CLAP	— (AAX only)	✅ hosted (ahead of Pro Tools)
Plug-in settings .tfx	read/write	❌ (our own JSON presets per plugin)

Revision history

Date	Change	Summary
2026-11-11	minor	Audio formats come from craft-audio (craft-libs); crates/audio-io is gone. New on import: Opus, AC-3/E-AC-3, .mov/.mka audio; AAC, ALAC and MP2 no longer go through symphonia; .aifc is a writable name
2026-11-02	trivial	WAV bounces (mix and stems) write a bext TimeReference: session timecode start plus bounce start (#1296)
2026-10-19	trivial	WAV and AIFF-C Float32 encoders retain finite headroom (#791); whole-file, streaming and bounce regression tests
2026-10-13	trivial	WAV: empty data chunk with trailing metadata (#466)
2026-10-13	minor	Fade curvature round-trips in sessions with a zero default for older files. Format version and readiness estimate unchanged
2026-10-10	major	Created: format inventory against Pro Tools 2026.4.1's declared document types and import/bounce options