Films

Fragments and films

A fragment is a short video made from a chunk once it is rendered. A film is all of a version's fragments joined in order into one piece.

As soon as a chunk is rendered, the device that rendered it turns the frames into a fragment and puts it in the store. Once all the fragments are in, the device that handed in the last one joins them into the film and puts that in the store too. Joining only copies data and takes a few seconds.

The film's format comes from the project's Output format:

• MP4 (H.264): the default.
• ProRes 4444 (with alpha): for when you need a transparent background. The files are large.
• Image sequence (.tar): each shot's full PNG or EXR images packed into one archive, for when you need individual frames.

After a task is updated, only the shots that were rendered again are re-encoded, and then the film is joined again. While some shots aren't rendered yet, there is no film, and the task shows which ones are missing.

Downloading films

Downloading a film means saving a version's film from the task details to your computer.

Under Shots and films in the task details, each version has a row. The button on the right showing the film's size is Download film. The downloaded file is named "taskname_vversion".

• Every version's film is kept, and new versions don't overwrite old ones.
• A single shot's fragment can be downloaded from the "⋯" at the end of that shot's row, which helps when you are tracking down which shot has a problem.
• Downloading needs "Viewer" access or higher.

Film delivery

Film delivery is when a device automatically downloads each film, once it is joined, to a folder you choose on that device.

Films in the store are kept in folders named by ID, and with S3 there are no folders to browse at all, so a device has to pull them out. Each device sets this up for itself, and several can do it: for example, an office computer delivering to the NAS, and an artist's own computer delivering to a local folder.

On that device, open this device's card on the Devices page → Settings → Device settings → Film delivery:

1. Turn on the switch and enter a folder, such as \\NAS\films or /mnt/nas/films.
2. Check the formats you want. Only MP4 is checked by default. ProRes 4444 and Sequence .tar are large, so check them only when you need them.
3. Click Save.

Films are saved as "folder/project/task/task_vversion". The version number is included, so old versions aren't overwritten.

• This device needs at least "Viewer" access.
• Only films joined after you turn this on are delivered. Download earlier ones from the task details.
• Films joined while the device was offline are fetched when it comes back.
• Below the row, it shows the latest film delivered, how many are waiting to be fetched, and the reason for the most recent failure.

Frame retention

Frame retention is about where the full rendered images are kept and for how long.

Full images exist only on the render machine that rendered them and don't go into the store. The store holds only fragments, films and small preview images. After a task is removed from the workspace, the render machine deletes its folder after a while, 1 day by default. Change this under Keep folders of removed tasks in the device settings.

So if you decide afterwards that you want individual frames, that render machine must still be online and the files must still be there.