AVB File

What are AVB files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening an AVB file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your AVB files.

What is an AVB file?

AVB files have multiple uses, and Avid Editor Bin is one of them. Read more about the other uses further down the page.

Avid Editor Bin

Avid Editor Bin files serve as library or catalog files used by Avid Media Composer. They store metadata and layout information about edited media - such as references to clips, sub-clips, sequences, titles, effects, track settings and timelines - but do not contain the actual media files themselves. These bin files allow editors to organize project assets without duplicating large media data.

Each bin corresponds to a logical "Bin" in an Avid project. When a new bin is created in Avid, one of these files is created. The project folder contains these bin files along with the main project file (.avp) and settings (.avs). Bins can be moved between projects, or backed up independently - so long as the actual media they reference (stored separately in MediaFiles folders, often converted into MXF) remains accessible, the bins will point to them.

These files are proprietary binary files. Their internal structure uses a system of "atoms" or "chunks" where each atom includes a four-character identifier, a length, and associated data. One chunk type, called "ABIN" (or on some systems stored in reverse byte-order as "NIBA"), holds the bin's unique identifier. Many human-readable labels occur in the file - fields like "CREATION DATEF", "MODIFIED DATEF", "SOUNDROLL", "SHOOT DATE", and "TRACKS" - embedded alongside binary data. Specific byte signatures like "DomainDJBO…AObjDoc…20" at the start and strings like "boTAevTA" further help identify the format.

How to open AVB files

Important: Different programs may use files with the AVB file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your AVB file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested eight different AVB openers which you will find listed below.

Last updated: August 22, 2026

All known file formats using extension .AVB

While Avid Editor Bin is a popular type of AVB-file, we know of 2 different uses of the .AVB file extension. Different software may use files with the same extension for different types of data.

Microsoft Chat Character

Microsoft Chat Character files hold the avatar data used by Microsoft Comic Chat, including all of a character's pre-drawn facial expressions, gestures, posture variations, and metadata that the program uses when placing that avatar into comic-style chat panels. These are binary asset files created by Microsoft as part of Comic Chat's character system.

Each file is created during Comic Chat character design and filled with multiple sprite images for the same character, often including front, side, and various emotional poses. When the chat client renders conversation text, it reads the appropriate pose image from this asset, based on context like tone or text content, so that the displayed avatar matches expression or gesture.

Comic Chat version 2.5 and its beta builds include a "ComicArt\Avatars" folder where these avatar files are stored alongside background assets in a related format. The application references these files by character name in its GUI: users placing new avatars choose them via a Character tab, matching up the file name to the displayed name.

Internally this format is identified by specific byte signatures near the start of the file. It begins with byte 0x81 at offset 0, byte 0x00 at offset 3, byte 0x00 at offset 5, and somewhere in its data contains the ASCII string "('''('''(".

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of AVB files. Remember, different programs may use AVB files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

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