What is an EDL? The CMX3600 edit decision list, explained

An Edit Decision List (EDL) is a plain-text record of every edit in a sequence: which source clip, which frames of it, and where it lands on the timeline. It is the oldest interchange format in post-production and still one of the most reliable, precisely because it carries so little. An EDL describes cuts and timecode, nothing more, which is exactly why it survives a trip between systems that agree on almost nothing else.

If you have ever opened an .edl and seen columns of numbers prefixed by 001, 002, 003, this guide explains what each part means, where the format came from, what editors actually use EDLs for, and how to get one into a spreadsheet.

Just need the spreadsheet? Drop your file on the free EDL to CSV converter — every event becomes a row with reels, timecodes, and clip names, and a batch of EDLs comes back as one ZIP.

A short history: why it is called CMX3600

EDLs date to the linear-tape era, when an "edit" meant physically dubbing a range of one tape onto another at a controlled timecode. The list told the edit controller which source reel to play, from which timecode to which timecode, and where to record it on the master. The dominant edit controller of that era was the CMX 3600, and its list format became the de facto standard.

That is why "CMX3600" and "EDL" are used almost interchangeably today. There are other dialects (Sony, GVG, File128), but CMX3600 is the one every NLE reads and writes, and the structure was later formalized in the SMPTE 258M standard. The format's constraints are also historical: a hard limit of 999 events and reel names capped at eight characters are holdovers from hardware that no longer exists — a lineage the broader edit decision list article traces back to the first computerized edit controllers.

The structure of a CMX3600 EDL

An EDL is just lines of text. There is a small header, then a series of numbered events, optionally annotated with comment lines.

The header

The file opens with two lines:

TITLE: TEST PAPEREDIT
FCM: NON-DROP FRAME

• TITLE is the name of the list, usually the sequence name from the exporting NLE.
• FCM is the Frame Code Mode. It tells the receiving system whether the timecode is NON-DROP FRAME or DROP FRAME, which matters for NTSC (29.97 fps) math. Get this wrong and every record timecode drifts.

The events

Each edit is one event line. Reading left to right, the columns are: event number, reel (source) name, the track channels, the edit type, and then four timecodes.

001  Card01Ky  AA/V  C  00:02:26:21 00:02:30:12 00:00:00:00 00:00:03:16
* FROM CLIP NAME: KYLE_INTERVIEW.MOV

• 001 is the event number (001 through 999, in record order).
• Card01Ky is the reel or source name, capped at eight characters. When a clip has no usable reel name (a file rather than a tape or camera card), the EDL substitutes AX.
• AA/V is the track assignment: two audio channels and video. You will also see V, A, A2, AA, and B depending on what the event touches. A standard CMX3600 caps out at four audio channels.
• C is the edit type: C for a cut. A D (dissolve) or W (wipe) marks a transition.
• The first timecode pair, 00:02:26:21 to 00:02:30:12, is the source in and source out, the frames pulled from the original clip.
• The second pair, 00:00:00:00 to 00:00:03:16, is the record in and record out, where that range lands on the master timeline.

All timecodes are HH:MM:SS:FF (hours, minutes, seconds, frames).

Transitions take two lines

A straight cut is a single event line. A dissolve or wipe needs two: one line for the outgoing clip and one for the incoming clip, with the second line carrying the D or W code plus a transition duration in frames (for example, 030 for a 30-frame dissolve). When you see paired events sharing a record timecode, you are looking at a transition.

Comment lines

Lines beginning with an asterisk (*) are comments and do not affect the edit itself. The most important is *` FROM CLIP NAME:**, which preserves the full original file or clip name even though the reel field was truncated to eight characters. Colorists and VFX coordinators rely on this line to match an event back to real media, since Card01Ky` alone is rarely enough to find the source.

Where EDLs come from

Every major NLE can export a CMX3600 EDL:

• Avid Media Composer exports through its EDL Manager.
• Adobe Premiere Pro exports an EDL from the sequence.
• DaVinci Resolve exports from the timeline (right-click in the Media Pool > Timelines > Export).

Because the format is so constrained, export usually requires flattening the sequence first: collapse video to a single track (V1), remove title generators and unsupported transitions, and make sure every clip has valid source timecode. Anything the EDL cannot represent is dropped on the way out, so a clean single-track sequence produces a clean EDL.

What EDLs are actually used for

The EDL's minimalism is the point. Editors reach for it precisely when they want a small, unambiguous, universally readable list of "what came from where."

• Conform. Hand an EDL to a colorist and their system relinks each event to the original high-resolution or camera-raw media, rebuilding the cut at full quality for grading. EDL conform is standard practice in finishing.
• VFX pulls. A VFX coordinator turns the events (with the FROM CLIP NAME comments) into a pull list: which shots, which exact frames, with handles. The source timecodes define what gets rendered out for the vendor.
• Music cue sheets. Music and audio events with their record timecodes and durations become a cue sheet for licensing and reporting.
• Rights and clearances. Because an EDL lists every source and the exact frames used, it is a precise record for clearing footage, stock, and music.
• QC and reconciliation. An EDL is an auditable, diff-able text record of the cut, useful for comparing versions or transferring QC notes to a finishing timeline.

For most of these, the events are easier to work with in a spreadsheet than in raw EDL text, which is why converting to CSV is so common.

EDL vs XML vs AAF: what survives the trip

EDL is one of three common interchange formats, and choosing among them is a question of how much you need to preserve. (The full comparison — what survives, when to send which, and how to package a turnover — is in EDL vs XML vs AAF.)

An EDL flattens everything to a single video track and a couple of audio channels, discarding multi-layer structure, opacity, scaling, speed changes, and effect parameters. That loss is acceptable, even desirable, for a color conform where you want the cleanest possible list of cuts.

XML carries much more: multiple video and audio tracks, basic sizing and positioning, opacity, volume, and pan. It is the better choice when track structure and simple effects need to survive an NLE-to-NLE move.

AAF is the heavyweight, sometimes called a "super-EDL." It bundles media references, transitions, color shifts, and audio parameters in a binary container, and it is the standard handoff to audio post (Pro Tools) where every fader move matters.

The rule of thumb: use an EDL when you want a small, reliable cut list and a clean grade; use XML when you need structure and effects to come along; use AAF for full-fidelity audio or finishing handoff.

How to open and convert an EDL to CSV

An EDL is plain text, so any text editor will open it. But reading columns of timecode is painful, and you usually want to sort, filter, total durations, or hand the list to someone in a spreadsheet. CSV is the natural target.

1. Export the EDL from your NLE (CMX3600 / .edl).
2. Open the EDL to CSV converter at CutConvert.
3. Upload the .edl file.
4. The converter parses each event into columns — event number, reel, track, edit type, source in/out, record in/out, and the FROM CLIP NAME comment — and produces a clean CSV.
5. Open the CSV in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers and sort, filter, or total durations as needed.

This turns a shot list, VFX pull, or cue-sheet starting point into something you can actually manipulate. Drop the .edl on the EDL to CSV tool and download the spreadsheet — it is free to start, and you can batch several EDLs at once into a single ZIP.

FAQ

Is an EDL the same thing as a CMX3600 file? In practice, yes. CMX3600 is the most widely supported EDL dialect, and when people say "EDL" they almost always mean a CMX3600 list. Other dialects exist (Sony, GVG), but CMX3600 is the lingua franca every NLE reads and writes.

Why does my EDL say AX instead of a reel name? AX is the placeholder for a clip with no reel name, typically a file-based source rather than a tape or camera card with a recorded reel ID. The real identity of the clip is usually preserved in the * FROM CLIP NAME: comment line directly below the event, which is what you use to relink during conform.

Does an EDL include effects, titles, or audio levels? No. A standard CMX3600 EDL records cuts, basic transitions (dissolves and wipes), reel names, and timecode, nothing else. Titles, multi-layer video, opacity, scaling, speed ramps, and audio mix data are all dropped. If you need those to survive, export XML or AAF instead.

How many edits can a CMX3600 EDL hold? The format caps at 999 events, a limit inherited from the original CMX 3600 hardware. Long sequences are typically split across multiple EDLs (often per reel) to stay under the ceiling. Reel names are also limited to eight characters for the same historical reason.

How do I open an EDL file? An .edl is plain text, so any text editor — Notepad, TextEdit, VS Code — opens it directly. The hard part is reading it: the fixed-width columns of timecode are built for edit controllers, not people. To actually work with the data, convert it to a spreadsheet with the EDL to CSV converter and sort, filter, or annotate the events there.

Which programs can export an EDL? Every major NLE exports CMX3600: Premiere Pro (File > Export > EDL), DaVinci Resolve (right-click the timeline > Timelines > Export), and Avid Media Composer (via List Tool). Export one EDL per video track when the sequence uses multiple layers — the format only describes a single video track reliably.