The Multimedia Task Force, a group of companies that includes Adobe and Microsoft, has released a new file format to standardize and integrate the various file types used in digital multimedia production.
The Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) will eliminate the need for rewriting, remixing, or otherwise interpreting diverse file types -- audio, animation, and video formats -- between content and production tools. Existing multimedia file formats, such as AVI and WAV, cannot be easily exchanged, the group said.
"After we spoke with key players in the digital media production industry, it became clear that first-generation personal-computer-based multimedia file formats, such as AVI and WAV, were not capable of serving as interchange standards for professionally produced digital media," said David Cole, vice president of the Web client and consumer experience division at Microsoft, in a statement.
Microsoft will implement AAF in future versions of Windows, and the new format will complement the Advanced Streaming Format (ASF) that Microsoft and others released last fall.
Microsoft, Adobe, Avid Technology, Digidesign, Matrox Video Products Group, Pinnacle Systems, Softimage, Sonic Foundry and Truevision are the member companies of the MMTF.
