How to Install and Configure RV
RV and its companion tools, RVIO and RVLS have been created to support digital artists, directors, supervisors, and production crews who need reliable, flexible, high-performance tools to review image sequences, movie files, and audio. RV is clean and simple in appearance and has been designed to let users load, play, inspect, navigate and edit image sequences and audio as simply and directly as possible. RV's advanced features do not clutter its appearance but are available through a rich command-line interface, extensive hot keys and key-chords, and smart drag/drop targets. RV can be extensively customized for integration into proprietary pipelines. The RV Reference Manual has information about RV customization.
This topic explains how to:
- Download and install RV.
- How to set RV to open Flow Production Tracking media when you use Play in RV.
- How to license RV with your Flow Production Tracking account.
Download and Install
Download RV from the Flow Production Tracking site.
Install RV:
macOS: Open the DMG file, then drag the RV icon into the Applications folder.
Windows:
Windows Installer (msi) version: Double click on the installer and follow the instructions.
Windows Zipped version: Unzip the file, and place the RV directory where need it. The executables are in the
bin
subdirectory.Linux: Untar the file. The executables are in the
bin
subdirectory.
Launch RV. You can launch RV by opening the desktop application, or from Flow Production Tracking by right-clicking a version or playlist and selecting Play in RV.
Register the RVLINK Protocol Handler
The Flow Production Tracking-RV integration is what allows you to use Play in RV to play Flow Production Tracking media directly in RV. But for this to work properly, RV must be defined as the rvlink protocol handler. How to set RV as the protocal handler depends on your OS.
Windows
If you install RV with the RV (.msi) installer, it is automatically set as the rvlink protocol handler. Once installed, RV should now open Flow Production Tracking media when you select Play in RV. If you installed RV from the .zip, then you need to edit the registry. In this case, find in the RV install directory the file etc/rvlink.reg
. Open it in a text editor, and have it point at the install location. Save your changes, and then double-click rvlink.reg
to set the registry.
macOS
The first time you install RV, you must run a command to set it as the rvlink protocol handler. In a shell, enter the following command:
./RV.app/Contents/MacOS/RV -registerHandler
Linux
Unlike Windows and Mac, Linux protocols are registered at the desktop environment level, not the OS level. After you've installed RV on your machine, you can run the rv.install_handler
script in the install's bin
directory. This script registers RV with both the KDE and Gnome desktop environments.
Connect RV to Flow Production Tracking
To use RV, you must connect it to a Flow Production Tracking site. This requires you to have Flow Production Tracking subscription and to sign in to your Flow Production Tracking account.
If you do not have a Flow Production Tracking subscription, standalone perpetual licenses of Autodesk RV and RVIO software are no longer available for purchase since August 27, 2021. However, you can continue to gain access to RV as part of an Autodesk Flow Production Tracking subscription. See the RV and RVIO perpetual licenses and maintenance end of sale FAQ..
The first time you open RV:
RV displays the Flow Production Tracking Login window.
Sign in your Flow Production Tracking site. For more information, see Integrations user guide
You can have more than one site configured. To add a connection to a Flow Production Tracking site from RV:
In RV, select the Flow Production Tracking site from Flow Production Tracking > Flow Production Tracking Connection Details > New Flow Production Tracking Connection Details.
In Flow Production Tracking Login, enter the URL for the Flow Production Tracking site.
Sign in your Flow Production Tracking site. For more information, see Integrations user guide
If you're planning on using RV with both a standalone legacy license and a Flow Production Tracking sign in, see RV Legacy License Management.
Using RV with Flow Production Tracking
RV Ships with all the packages needed for Flow Production Tracking integration, and these are all enabled by default.
Once you are signed in, use the Flow Production Tracking menu to:
- Stream media uploaded to Flow Production Tracking in RV
- Use Screening Room for RV
- Use the RV Submit Tool to submit your media to Flow Production Tracking
- Exchange URLs that will load the designated Flow Production Tracking versions into RV with one click
- Play sets of media from any Flow Production Tracking page displaying Versions
- Compare two or more Versions in RV after selecting in Flow Production Tracking
- Play media arranged in Flow Production Tracking Playlists
- Display Flow Production Tracking information (from any Flow Production Tracking entities) in RV
- From RV, go directly to Flow Production Tracking pages corresponding to loaded media
- From RV, update media to the latest version registered in Flow Production Tracking
- Store Flow Production Tracking information in RV session files
- Swap media type (movies or hires frames or whatever) from within RV
- Use editorial information stored in Flow Production Tracking to adjust media EDL in RV, or to find and load media corresponding to neighboring shots