Exporting Clips and Sequences to Files

To export a clip or a sequence:

1. Do one of the following:

   • Right-click the clip to export and select Export. And then, using the Media Export window, navigate to the export's destination.
   • From the MediaHub, drag-and-drop the file from the Media panel to the location displayed in the browser.

2. Select an Export type and a Format Preset.

3. Click Export.

   Flame prepares the export job. Once that preparation is done, the rest of export happens in the background and frees up Flame for your use.

You can export multiple clips in one operation:

• Use Ctrl-click to select multiple clips to export.
• Select a folder, a reel, or a library from the Media panel to export all of its contents. If it contains a folder structure, that structure also gets exported.

To export an RGBA movie file or file sequence, first create a Matte Container. You can:

• Use the Create Matte Container option in the MediaHub. The resulting clip will be a Matte Container and the Comp effect will be disabled.
• Use the Create Matte Container Tools and select the Contain option.
• Use the Add Matte option in the Timeline FX ribbon to create a Matte Container, but make sure to mute the Comp effect before exporting.

Note: If you enable Show Advanced Options Clip Options Create Clip Data, then Video Options Link Media is always set to Link Media (Bit Depth).

Metadata Overlay for Export

The Metadata Overlay can be burned into the image during an export. The option is available for File Sequence and Movie, but not for Sequence Publish.

To burn the Metadata Overlay on export:

1. In the Media Export window, select Include Metadata Overlay .
2. From the Metadata Overlay Selection box, select the overlay to burn on the exported media.

Setting Sony XDCAM HD Compatibility

XDCAM HD files can be of two flavours: XDCAM camera files and broadcast-compatible files.

MXF XDCAM HD camera files are encoded based on Sony's XDCAM format, and all start with a full Group of Pictures (GOP). On the other hand, broadcasters often use a different flavour of XDCAM HD, where the media start with a short GOP (starting on an I-frame).

The default Sony XDCAM HD format presets default to the broadcaster-compatible short GOP. But you can also output XDCAM camera-compatible files.

To output Sony XDCAM 422 1080p as XDCAM camera files:

1. In the Media Export window, set Export Movie.
2. Set Format Preset Autodesk Sony XDCAM MXF (XDCAM HD422 1080p 8-bit).
3. Enable Show Advanced Options.
4. Set Profile XDCAM Compatible .

Profile export options:

• XDCAM compatible: Use this encoding profile to create MXF files with Open Group of Pictures (GOP). Resulting files match XDCAM files recorded by cameras.
• Broadcast Compatible: Use this encoding profile for any Broadcast deliverables. This profile creates MXF files with Closed Group of Pictures (GOP) as Short First GOP.

Troubleshooting: XDCAM Always Output as Broadcast-compatible

In versions before Flame Family 2021.2, you might have set an environment variable to output XDCAM files that are broadcast-compatible. You shouldn't use this environment variable anymore as it interferes with the XDCAM compatibility setting.

How to disable DL_MXF_MPEG2_I_FRAME_FIRST depends on how configured it:

For Foreground Export, edit the application's .cshrc.

1. Close Flame.

2. In a shell, type: cd /opt/Autodesk/<application>

3. With a text editor, edit the file .cshrc

4. Remove the following line from the file:

   setenv DL_MXF_MPEG2_I_FRAME_FIRST 1
   

5. Save the file and restart Flame.

For Background Export, you need to configure the Backburner Server process.

• On macOS:

  • Open the file /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.autodesk.backburner_server.plist

  • Remove the following lines following the first <dict> line:

    <key>EnvironmentVariables</key>
    <dict>
    <key>DL_MXF_MPEG2_I_FRAME_FIRST</key>
    <string>1</string>
    </dict>
    

  • Close the file and restart the Backburner Server service using the Service Monitor.

• On Linux:

  • Open the file /etc/init.d/backburner_server

  • Remove the following line:

    export DL_MXF_MPEG2_I_FRAME_FIRST=1
    

  • Close the file and restart the Backburner Server service using the Service Monitor.

XDCAM Essence Container Version

It is now possible to set the XDCAM MXF Essence Container version number in corresponding encoding profiles.

The default value is 1 but some QC systems require version to be set to 2.

To change the default MXF Essence Container version:

1. With administrative permissions, in your favorite text editor, edit the profiles inside the following hidden directories under /opt/Autodesk/mediaconverter/<Flame version>/profiles/

• .17041416" (XDCAM HD422 1080)
• .17106952" (XDCAM HD422 720p)
• .18089992" (XDCAM HD 1080 Thin Raster)
• .18155528" (XDCAM HD 720p)

2. Set the value field in the following line, replacing "1" with "2".

• <param description="Essence Container UL Version Number [1..127]" internalname="EssenceContainerULVersion" name="Essence Container UL Version Number" type="int" value="1"/>

3. Save the file.
4. Restart the application.

If you plan to perform Media Export using a remote Wiretap Gateway server, make sure to also modify the corresponding profiles on the remote server. For Background Export, you need to make the same modification to the profiles on every Backburner server hosts that will run the export jobs.

Multi-Channel Export

It is possible export multi-channel media as OpenEXR multi-channel files.

To export an OpenEXR multi-channel clip:

1. From the Export menu, set Export to File Sequence.

2. Set Format Preset to an OpenEXR preset.

3. Enable Advanced Options.

4. Enable Multi-Channel.

   Multi-Channel is only available if the Link Media box is set to Generate Media.

5. Set the other export parameters, as required.

6. Click Export.

Behaviour of tracks with the multi-channel option:

• When enabled, the version tracks of a clip are used to create a Multi-Channel OpenEXR file.
• When disabled, only the Primary Version is used to generate an RGB or RGBA media file (RGBA is generated from a Matte Container or from any Timeline FX generating a Matte).

• The name of the Version Track defines the channel's name in the OpenEXR file sequence.
• If the Version Track name is undefined (i.e. *), the name of the first segment of the Version is used.
• The RGBA channel can be created by naming the Track or Segment with the token <name> and <name>_alpha.

Export Tips

• Muted tracks are not exported.

• You do not have to render your whole sequence before exporting it: Flame automatically renders only the media required for the export.

• Minimize the space taken on your storage by using Export in Foreground.

  For File Sequence and Movie, foreground export lets you export media without requiring you to re-render. This options make so Flame does not need to allocate frames on the framestore because content is streamed directly to the exported file, reducing the time to export.

  For Sequence Publish exports, when the media needs to be packaged, Flame renders before exporting for the segments that must be pre-rendered. For example, using the Flattened tracks option with Timeline FX requires rendering prior exporting, as do segments with a BFX or Resize.

• When exporting with Export Between Marks, you can have pre-roll and post-roll black by setting the in and out marks to include some empty track. Each frame of included empty track creates a frame of black on the export.

• When exporting a single frame as a file sequence, consider setting the Frame Padding field to zero to export that frame without any file numbering. And if you export a multi-frame clip as a file sequence by mistake without Frame padding, Flame detects this and automatically assigns a frame padding of 8 digits to correctly export the clip.

• When working with CODEX files, you cannot use the Link Original Media option in Media Export to create file system links to the original media files because Flame cannot generate 12-bit packed DPX, the format used by CODEX recorders. Flame will instead create new 12-bit unpacked DPX files.

• OpenEXR exports include Tape name and Keycode data in the exported files' header.

• DPX metadata

  • The frame rate is written to the DPX file header, in both the TV rate and Movie rate fields.
  • The Drop Frame mode of 29.97 fps files is written to the DPX file header. Limitations from the DPX SMPTE-specifications prevent the drop frame mode from being specified in files using a timecode higher than 30 fps.

• In ProRes exports, Flame corrects the aspect ratio to match the Apple-defined standard. For PAL 16x9, the standard pixel aspect ratio is 118:81. For a frame of 720x576 this gives a an aspect ratio of ~1.82 = (720 / 576) x (118 / 81).

• MXF DVPro: a PAL export is always F2; a NTSC export is always F1. Fields are translated if required.

Related Information

• Supported File Formats
• Colour Management Workflow