Input Rules allow you to automatically tag clips on import based on their filename, extension, and path. Although the application ships with some example rule sets, because there are no widely used standard naming conventions, it is important for you to configure the rules to suit your needs.
The Input Rules are part of the colour Policy, so once you have configured them, it is easy to use them in other projects.
Creating Input Rules
Create an Input Rule as follows:
- In the Colour Management Preferences, Input Rules tab, click Create Rule.
- Press and hold in the Input Colour Space field, and select the colour space to use for this rule.
- In the Pattern field, enter the text to search for in the file's name and path. Leave it as "*" to not consider the file's name and path for this rule.
- In the Extension (Type) field, enter the text to describe the file extension (do not include the dot). For example, entering "dpx" will match files that end in ".dpx". Leave it as "*" to not consider the file's extension for this rule.
- In the Rule Name field, enter a name for your rule.
- Use the Up and Down buttons to set the priority of this rule relative to the other rules.
Rules that are organized higher in the rules table take precedence over lower ones. The first rule that matches is the one that will be used. At the bottom of the table is the Default rule that will be used if no other rule matches.
- Pattern syntax
- The Extension and Pattern field strings use the Unix "glob" syntax. (There are many tutorials for this online.) Note that the matching is case-sensitive. For example, "dpx" will only match "dpx" whereas you may use "[dD][pP][xX]" to match "dpx", "Dpx", "DPX", etc. Here are some more details:
-
| String
|
Pattern
|
Example
|
|---|
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?
|
Any one character.
|
?pecular matches
specular and
Specular, as well as
Xpecular and many others.
|
|
*
|
Zero or more characters.
|
*diffuse matches
diffuse at the end of the name.
diffuse* matches
diffuse at the beginning of the name.
*diffuse* matches
diffuse anywhere in the name.
|
|
[chars]
|
Any one of the specified characters.
|
*[nN]ormal* matches
normal or
Normal anywhere in the name.
|
|
[char1-char2]
|
Any character in the range.
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*[0-9] matches any name ending with a numeral.
|
|
[!chars_or_range]
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Any character except those specified.
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*[!0-9] matches any name that does not end with a numeral.
|
|
/
|
Escapes the next character, that is, treats the next character as a literal, instead of part of the pattern matching syntax.
|
*/[*/]* matches a pair of square brackets anywhere in the name.
|
Validating Input Rules
When you import media, the Input Rules will be applied when you select the "From File or Rules" option from the Input Colour Space menu when you are in Auto Convert mode and the Tagged Colour Space menu when you are in Tag Only or Use LUT mode. Be aware that there are a few colour spaces that are only compatible with one of the modes (Auto Convert or Tagging):
- Data colour spaces (Matte, Normals, etc.) and Unknown are only compatible with tagging since it is not sensible to try and Auto Convert them to a working colour space.
- The colour space Raw and colour spaces with "(no primaries)" at the end of the name are only compatible with Auto Convert since these are specialized ways of converting to a working space while ignoring gamut information and hence are not specific enough for use as tags.
- Regardless of whether Auto Convert or Tag Only is selected in the MediaHub, if you import in From File or Rules mode and the matched rule is not compatible with the currently selected mode, the import for that clip will "fall back" to using the compatible mode. For example, if the MediaHub is in Auto Convert mode and the matched rule for a piece of media identifies it as a Matte, the media will be imported in Tag Only mode (rather than trying to convert it to a working space, which would not make sense).
- If the mode is set to Auto Convert but the Working Space is set to From Project and the project working space is set to Unknown, the media will be imported in Tag Only mode.
- If a fall back to Auto Convert is ever not possible, the clip will be imported in Tag Only mode and tagged as Unknown.
One way to test Input Rules, is to use List View in the MediaHub and enable the File Colour Space, and Colour Space columns. The File Colour Space shows the colour space being returned by the Input Rules for each clip. The Colour Space column shows the resulting tagged colour space based on the current mode (Auto Convert or Tag Only) and any fall-backs that were applied.
Updating Input Rules
When you import media in From File or Rules mode, the tagged colour space is computed and assigned at the time of import. If you later change your Input Rules, this does not change the colour space of media that was already imported. You will need to update the colour space of those clips manually, if desired. This may be done by going into the Pre-processing options in Timeline. Using the Colour Space column in the media list is a convenient way to check tagging. You may also search for media that uses a specific colour space. The Edit Colour Space option in the Timeline contextual menu is a convenient way to change the colour space of many sources at once.