An ALE file generally denotes an Avid Log Exchange file that acts as a tab-delimited, plain-text metadata handoff in film/TV workflows, not storing actual audio or video but instead listing clip names, scenes/takes, rolls, notes, and the key data—reel/tape names and timecode in/out—so footage arrives in the edit neatly labeled and can be reliably relinked later using its identifiers.
If you have any kind of inquiries pertaining to where and the best ways to make use of
ALE file editor, you could contact us at the web site. To determine whether an .ALE is the Avid type, just open it in Notepad: if the content appears as organized readable text with "Heading," "Column," and "Data" sections and tab-separated rows, it’s almost certainly an Avid Log Exchange file; if it instead contains garbled nonsense, it’s likely from another application, making the folder context important, and since Avid ALEs are small metadata files, a large file typically rules out the Avid format.
If your goal is only to preview the data, you can load the ALE into Excel or Google Sheets as a tab-delimited file to view the columns cleanly, but be cautious since spreadsheets may auto-correct timecodes or remove leading zeros, and for Avid use you normally import the ALE to generate a clip bin that you then link or relink to media by matching reel/tape names and timecode, with relinking problems usually caused by conflicting reel labels or incorrect timecode/frame-rate details.
An ALE file in its most common use is an Avid Log Exchange file—a lightweight text-based clip log used in pro video and film workflows to move clip information between stages, functioning like a textified spreadsheet meant for editing systems rather than storing media,
holding details such as clip names, scene/take numbers, camera and audio roll IDs, notes, and especially reel/tape names with timecode in/out, and because it’s plain tab-delimited text, it can be generated by logging tools, dailies pipelines, or assistants and then imported so editors receive organized metadata instantly.
An ALE is useful because it connects raw footage to the organizational backbone of an edit: importing it into Avid Media Composer automatically builds clips that already hold the right metadata, saving manual work, and later the reel/tape and timecode pairs function as a unique locator for relinking to the correct media, making the ALE not content but context that tells the editor and the system what the footage is and how it maps back to the source files.

Though "ALE" is typically shorthand for Avid Log Exchange, other programs can use the same extension, so your best verification method is to open it in a text editor and see whether it resembles a tabular metadata sheet containing clip, reel, and timecode information; if it does, it’s likely the Avid type, but if not, it’s probably another format and needs to be matched to its generating workflow.