Hi. I’m trying to set up a way that I can import an OpenClip that points to an EXR file sequence where that file sequence may not yet exist on disk (like the render is still pending on the farm), but I know ahead of time where the files will be, what size and duration they will be.
In my pipeline currently, I automatically generate a pattern OpenClip if the files are being imported after a render has finished, and loading these into Flame works great, and makes new versions available automatically as expected. If I run the Flame export on a sequence manually, I can get Flame to generate a duplicate sequence that references the exported clips instead of the original footage, and if I use the “background” option there, that duplicate sequence will have the checkerboard frames for the clips until the background exports complete.
I’m trying to find a way to recreate that kind of behavior using my pattern OpenClip file and Python to import it, so I can automate this process with my own pipeline needs.
Let me know if I said something confusing. I am definitely not a Flame artist, just a TD trying to write a pipeline for it. Thank you for any help you can provide.
You’d be better off writing some kind of trigger, that would import an openclip if a render had occurred.
Pattern-based openclip files should function even if only one frame has been rendered, although you have to wait for a full sequence to render and re-import, before the .mio extends to the full range of the rendered images.
Render dummy files into the expected path, and provide permissions for the render farm to overwrite existing files.
(Things to look out for: channel consistency/naming/ordering, timecode, frame count mode)
Write a python script to automatically replace the openclip from MediaHub, since this will update / refresh the read, or instruct the flame team to do it themselves.
Once you’ve made the import the good thing is that the first MediaHub location that flame will search for a possible replacement will be the path to your openclip, so you just select the same thing, and it should refresh.
Versioned multipart openexr openclips are supported if they are pattern-based.
If you can share an example of a “versioned multipart opener open clip” that would be cool. I don’t know much about “triggers” so any pointers there would be helpful as well. For now, I’ll probably start with a manual tool, but I certainly want to keep trying to automate it as much as possible.
The last musing on someone else’s problem, is that when publishing, an empty timeline can appear in flame, which only populates once the renders are done…
You certainly (or at least I certainly) cannot import empty openclip files, but the application can create containers (probably .mio) which wait for the renders to complete, even if they’re on a burn farm…
Hmm,
So, I’m completely wrong - it is possible, but I don’t immediately know how.
It looks like there may be some magic to be uncovered if you can hack the .mio files…
Too wiretappy for this afternoon’s adventures - I’m busy trying to understand why python takes 10,000% effort for the same result as 100% bash…
Like Phil answered, it is sadly not possible to create a clip from an Open Clip referencing an empty path since we need to create the clip based on the content attributes lie resolution, bit depth and frame rate. if I were you, I would create a version 0 with the original plate OR have at least a single frame for your initial version.
All is far from well; I probably should never have resigned, and your team should have at least pretended to want to keep me…
. Thanks!