The Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) is a professional file interchange format designed for the post production and authoring environment. AAF solves the problem of multi-vendor, cross-platform interoperability for computer-based digital production. AAF does a number of things. 1) it allows complex relationships to be described in terms of an object model, 2) it facilitates the interchange of metadata and/or program content, 3) it provides a way to track the history of a piece of program content from its source elements through final production, 4) it makes it possible to render downstream (with appropriate equipment), 5) it provides a convenient way to "wrap" all elements of a project together for archiving. By preserving comprehensive source referencing, and abstracting the creative decisions that are made, AAF improves workflow and simplifies project management.