Write File Node Settings

Use the Write File node settings to define how individual nodes are rendered, and to specify a destination on your system disk for each new clip.

The Write File node is available in Batch and Batch FX, and performs the same function in both environments.

To access the Write File Node settings, double-click a Write File node in the Schematic view. If there are multiple Write File nodes in your Batch pipeline, use the Render List to manage them.

A default automatically-incremented name for all Write File nodes can be set in the Batch & Batch FX Preferences.

Basic Settings

Format

Format option

Select the type of clip rendered by the node. RGB-A sets one pair of Front and Matte inputs. Multi-Channel gives you the choice of how many Front and Matte combinations to use.

Stereo

Enable to set two pairs of Front and Matte inputs, one for each eye. Stereo requires a polarity token in the Naming field; if there is no polarity token, the application automatically adds it to the name of the exported files.

Channels field

Sets the number of channels for a Multi-Channel node.

Resolution

Resolution option

Select whether to export the files at the full or working resolution. Available only when proxies are enabled for the project.

Range

Render

Click to render a clip based on the ranges in the To and From fields.

Range option

Select Setup to create a clip using the same start and end range as the Batch setup. Select Custom to define a range of frames.

From field

Sets the first frame used for the rendered clip.

To field

Sets the last frame used for the rendered clip.

Offset TC

Enable to apply any timecode offsets made in the Render List. For example, if a timecode of 00:00:00:00 is specified and rendered from frame 10, the first frame of the files is 00:00:00:09.

Settings

Source Timecode field

Sets the source timecode for the exported files.

Frame Index option

Select Use Start Frame to use the Batch Start Frame field to create the file's frame index. Select Use Timecode to use the timecode of the Write File node to create the file's frame index.

Shot Name field

Sets the shot name for the exported files.

Frame rate option

Select the frame rate for the exported files.

File Format option

Select the file format of the images to export.

File Extension field

Displays the extension for the file type selected in the File Format button.

Bit Depth option

Select the bit depth for the exported files.

Padding field

Sets the padding of the frame ID appended to the file name. "4" indicates that up to four zeros are prefixed to the file name for each frame; frame 1 is written as 0001, frame 22 as 0022, frame 555 as 0555.

Offset field

Sets any timecode offsets that you made in the Render List. For example, if you specify a timecode of 00:00:00:00 and render from frame 10, the first frame of the render has 00:00:00:09.

Transfer Characteristics option

Select an option to identify the attributes associated with a particular film or video format, such as resolution, frame rate, or colour space. Active when the File Format is set to DPX.

JPEG Quality field

Sets the degree of quality versus compression for the JPEG format type. 0 gives the lowest quality (and highest compression). 100 gives the best quality (but applies no compression). Active when the File Format is set to JPEG.

Compression option

Select the compression to apply to exported files. Using compression results in smaller file size (and depending on the selected compression, lower image quality). Available for DPX, TIFF, SGI, and OpenEXR.

Compression Level field

Sets the compression level, similar to JPEG lossy compression. Smaller values render higher quality, higher values render smaller files. The default of 45 renders very high quality files with negligible compression. Available for the DWAA or DWAB compressions of the OpenEXR format.

Paths

Media Path field

Displays the location where the exported files are created.

Change Path

Click to select a Media Path using the Set Directory file browser.

Name field

Sets the name of the exported files. Build a dynamic naming scheme using the Add Token menu, as well as use any of the characters allowed in a file name by the operating system. Create folders using the slash ( / ) character. The application always appends the file ID and the extension of the file format selected for the export.

Add Token option

Inserts the selected token in the Name field.

Create Open Clip

Enable the creation of an Open Clip file, which includes extended clip data with the exported files. Required to create versioned clips.

Open Clip Path field

Sets the path and name of the exported Open Clip. Build a dynamic naming scheme using the Add Token menu, as well as use any of the characters allowed in a file name by the operating system. Create folders using the slash ( / ) character. Defaults to the name of the Write File node.

Add Token option

Inserts the selected token in the Open Clip Path field.

Include Setup

Enable the inclusion of the Batch setup information with the rendered media. This allows someone accessing the Open Clip file to view and modify the original Batch setup, similar to how you can edit Clip History.

Include Setup Path field

Sets the path and name of the exported Batch setup. Build a dynamic naming scheme using the Add Token menu, as well as use any of the characters allowed in a file name by the operating system. Create folders using the slash ( / ) character. Defaults to the name of the Write File node.

Add Token option

Inserts the selected token in the Include Setup Path field.

Clip Versioning option

Select either Custom Version or Follow Iteration to version the rendered exports with an Open Clip. The resulting Open Clip has versions accessible through a clip node in Batch, or from the Timeline. Follow Iteration keeps the version number in sync with Batch's Iteration number. Consider using a version token in the Clip Naming field, or the next rendered version will overwrite previously rendered media.

Version field

Sets the version identifier, which automatically increases at each subsequently rendered export if Clip Versioning is set to Custom Version. The version value can also be manually set. Ctrl+click to set to the next available value. Re-using a previous value overwrites that version with the new export.

Version Pad field

Sets the number of zeroes to left-pad the version number with.

Version Name field

Sets the Version Name.

Add to Workspace

Enable to also import the exported clip to the Workspace.

Add to Workspace Destination option

Select where to add the exported clip in the Workspace: a Batch reel, a reel group, or a library.

Selected Batch Reel option

Select an existing Batch reel for the rendered clip or create a new schematic or shelf reel as the destination.

Smart Replace

Select whether the Timeline segments with matching Shot Name are replaced in the target Reel or not.

Apply Colour Coding

Enable to apply the Write File node's colour coding to the clip added to the Workspace.

Burn Overlay

Enable to burn the Metadata from the selected Metadata Overlay Source drop-down menu onto the created media.

Metadata Overlay Source option

Select the source of the metadata to be burned in the written media.

Resize Settings

The Resize settings are the same as when using the Resize node in Batch. Click the grey button located on top of the Resize button to activate its settings.

Colour Management Settings

The Colour Management settings are the same as when using the Colour Management node in Batch. Click the grey button located on top of the Colour Mgmt button to activate its settings.

These settings are applied to the files created using the clip connected to the Front inputs.

Matte Management Settings

The Matte Management settings are the same as when using the Colour Management node in Batch. Click the grey button located on top of the Colour Mgmt button to activate its settings.

These settings are applied to the files created using the clip connected to the Matte inputs.

Channels Settings

The channels that make up a multi-channel output are displayed in the Channels menu.

Channels List

In the Channels list, every channel appears with its Front and its Matte. The Matte channel name is the same as the Front, with "_alpha" appended.

Default Names

When a Write File node is added from the I/O Node Bin or from the Search widget, the names of the channels default to rgb or rgba depending on whether something is connected to the Matte inputs or not.

When a Write File node is added using the Add Write File option from a node's context menu, the channels are created using the names of the outputs from the original node.

Renaming Channels

To edit the channel names, you can:

• Edit the name directly in the Channels list.
• T+click another node to use the names of its Outputs.
• Click the Use Input Names button to replace the current names with the names of the Outputs from the parent node.