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Here your can define which setup file should be used. This controls which Global Config to load and edit.

Create new configuration

To create a new config click the “Create new config” button on the right side of “Path of config file“.
This will show the startup dialog.

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Recent configurations

The Recent config file is a history of the most recent configs. It shows up to 10 of the last recent config file paths. This is a quick way to switch between different library setups.

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Setup configuration

Default values

First let’s have at look what default config value you can set:

label

key

description

Element-Number

padding

Padding

element_number_padding

Set the number padding for the naming convention.
Value of 5 looks like this: fire_00023
default: 5

Framecount for Filmstrip

Frame Padding

frame_padding

Set the frame padding for a file sequence
Value of 4 looks like this: filename.0001.exr
default: 4

Filmstrip Number of Frames

filmstrip_length

Set the frames used for the preview filmstrip in the ingest view. No matter the length of the sequence, the filmstrip length will be this many frames.
default: 24

Thumbnail Frame of Sequence

thumbnail_frame

Set which frame of a sequence should be used for the thumbnail frame.
When the value is meaningful the software tried to detect some representative frame for an sequence
default:

center

meaningful

Re-number Frames of Sequence
First Frame of Sequence

first_frame

If disabled, no renaming will be happening for file sequences.
If enabled, it sets the first frame of a sequence when transcoding a file sequence. The files of the sequence will be renamed.

default: enable = true and first frame = 1001

Some VFX studios like start with the common 1001 frame. Other studios start with 0 or 1.
This forces the artist to align the correct range before working on a shot. It makes sure that the frame range of an element is long enough.

Color Code

The Color Code is a visual help to distinguish between the path items. Each color represents a different type of the items that you can drag'n'drop around to build the folder structure and naming convention. Some values are predefined, some are only known during the ingest phase and others can be set manually by you.

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Info

In transcoding template you can set this with the option: Type of output file

Single files

Movie files Single files are something like a movie file or single textures files. Files without frame count.

Code Block
/some/path/to/element.mov
/some/path/to/element.exr
/some/path/to/element_v01.exr

Example when the sequence single file pattern is used:

Cory process of Copy of a single file like a movie file
my-movie-file.mov -> fire_000023.mov

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Info

Why should we use the base category?

We want our library to be sustainable and be as static as possible for many years.
Once we ingest an element it should not move or be renamed.
If we want to open up a project file from years ago all the media files should be found.

That is why you should decided to store the elements in the base category folder

Info

To go up one directory you can use the relative path double dots '..'
/some/path/<source.directory>/../<proxy_folder> -> will resolve to /some/path/the-proxy-folder

Path Values

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Path values are used to resolve the values of the path patterns depending on the element that will be ingested or rendered. Some values are known once we actually know the data that we want to ingest, others values can be set by you (custom values). The custom values can be overwritten in the library and the transcoding templates.

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Info

Predefined path values are given and can not be changed manually


Reserved keywords

There are a few reserved keywords that will not be resolved. They are for example required by the renderfarm manager Deadline.
<STARTFRAME> <ENDFRAME> <QUOTE> <AUXFILE>


Example
If you want to get the width value of the source element you ingest, you access the group resolution and the sub-key width in the path pattern like this: <resolution.width>. This will resolve the source image width value for you.

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In this overview you can see how each of the predefined values would be resolved into the actual value:

description

predefined value

example resolves to

source image width

<resolution.width>

1920

source image height

<resolution.height>

1080

image pixel aspect resolution

<resolution.pixel_aspect>

1

source elements file extension

<source.extension>

exr

Frame counter for a sequence

<frame>

#

output sequence first frame

calculation based on this setting

<element.frame_first>

1001

output sequence last frame

calculation based on this setting

<element.frame_last>

1042

number counter of this element

<element.number>

00023

Globally unique element ID

<element.uuid>

f4ec01102a4440769be04d9004a717c8

readable name for flame category

<category.name>

flame

unique ID for flame category

<category.id>

Q235544

readable name of the base category for flame, based on the hierarchy category tree

<category.base.name>

fire

unique ID of the base category for flame, based on the hierarchy category tree

<category.base.id>

Q3196

Tip

The element UUID (Universally unique identifier) is globally unique across all libraries and databases. This allows you to track this one particular element for all “eternity” with this unique ID.

A hexadecimal presentation is used of the UUID that gets rid of the “-” dashes, which is better for using it in the filename.

Learn more about Universally unique identifiers.

Custom path values

These are the values that you can define. These custom path values get resolved in the path patterns.

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This gives you the control to setup global conditions for all libraries and you only need to change one or two values for each library.

Collection Database

Collections can be saved in a database or a file on disk. In this section database connections can be created. For more information please check out this documentation here