Media Export (Linux Only)

About Background Media Export

Lustre 2013 supports a media encoding service called Media Converter. The Media Converter allows Lustre to offload encoding tasks to Wiretap Gateway servers (Linux and Mac OS X). This means that you can continue working on your project while media files are being generated in the background, even if you are using your local Wiretap Gateway server. It offers the ability to encode streaming formats such as Quicktime, MFX, graphic files like Jpeg, DPX and Tiff. and audio files like AIFF, Wave and mp3. It also adds support for formats and codecs only available on specific operating systems (Apple ProRes) and leverages your networking infrastructure (InfiniBand, 10-Gig, etc). The tasks are managed by Backburner Manager, the Autodesk queue management system. This means that facilities can centralize the management of these tasks without disturbing the creative suite and use a web browser to monitor and edit the tasks.

The Media Export workflow in Lustre is based on Export Versions: export configurations that are linked to a grade. Consequently, all the exports you create can be recalled for future use. Numerous options are available to suit multiple file delivery workflows.

You can define the Wiretap Gateway server used for background media export. It can be local or remote. Unless otherwise specified, the default Wiretap Gateway Server is set to "localhost".

To set up a stand-alone Wiretap Gateway server for media encoding, see Stand-Alone Wiretap Gateway Server Configuration for Media Encoding.

Setting the Render Location during Project Creation

Define the location of the exported media files, in the Rendering tab, when you create the project or after the project is created in the Project Settings. The path can be local or remote.

  • To export locally, set the path to:

    /[PROJECT_HOME]

  • To export to a remote location, the path must be in the following format:

Remote_Host_Name@wtg:/[PROJECT_HOME]

For example: Upton@wtg:/[PROJECT_HOME]

The Export Panel

The Export Panel is a sub-menu of the Render menu. It is divided into three sub-menus:

Sub-menu: Description:
Format Options Use to define file format options used for export, media location and the Wiretap Gateway Server used for the export tasks.
Resize Use to define the output resolution and the Resize options of the exported media files.
LUT Options Use to apply a LUT to the media files to be exported.

Settings Common to the Three Export Sub-Menus

The first column of options, along with the Export Versions and Export Templates boxes, are common to all Export sub-menus.

Media Origin: Defines the type of media used for export. The options are:

Note: Because the Export service requires media files to be saved to disk, you must render your grades in Lustre prior to exporting. If you set off an export prior to rendering you grades, Lustre automatically starts the rendering process in the mode corresponding to your export options (One Sequence or Source Grade) and exports the file once rendering is complete.

Region: Enable Scene to export the entire timeline or enable Shot to export only the current shot. Available when Media Origin is set to Source Grade rendered or Original Media.

Media Selector: Use to define attributes of the exported media. Options are:

Export All Versions: If you created multiple Export versions, enabling this option will add them all as jobs in the queue.

See Export Versions.

Export: Click to start the Export tasks.

Export Version: Use to create, update, load and delete Export Versions.

You can create multiple Export Versions, with different export settings for the same grade. Export Versions contain all the data required to define an export job and are stored in the Library folder, alongside the grade metadata file. Export Versions are named after the grade they are associated to:

You can add a comment to an Export Version, which appears alongside the export name:

See Export Versions.

File Naming: Use tokens to define the filename of the exported file(s). The default value is [GRADE_NAME] for One Sequence Renders and [ORIGINAL_FILENAME]_[GRADE_NAME] for Source Grade Renders.

To create a folder, type a token in the file name field followed by "/". This creates a folder in the destination location.

The following tokens can be used:

Note: For file sequence exports, you can define the file padding value. If the selected file format is not a file sequence format, the padding field is greyed out.

Destination: Displays the destination folder for the exports, as defined by the project settings. You can change the destination folder by clicking on the browse button. When browsing for a destination folder, only Wiretap Gateway servers are displayed. You can select different Wiretap Gateway servers than your default server. The path must be in the following format:

[EXPORT_HOST]@wtg/[PROJECT_HOME]

Note: When you select a different Wiretap Gateway server, the Wiretap Gateway Server option field is updated. This action also refreshes the available codecs list.

Once you select a Wiretap Gateway server, you can select an existing folder or create a new one as your destination folder.

Export Templates: Use to save, load and delete Export Templates. An Export Template contains one or more Export Versions.

See Export Templates.

Topics in this section
Parent topic: Flame Premium Grading - Lustre