This question is specific to Master Grade, but could also apply to other nodes.
Does Flame has anything like a Node snapshot function?
Here’s the scenario: You open an existing grade to make some revisions. But as you try something, which include multiple changes you are getting nowhere. You want to get back to where you started. Now this is not a full reset on the note, but the state the node was in as you started making the changes.
This does exist in Resolve and is super helpful. There’s a reset function that takes you back to state when you opened the node. Essentially Resolve takes an internal snapshot of all the node parameters as the node gets opened. And you can always revert to that. Until you change to another node, then this information is lost.
It would be easy to see how this could also work in Flame. As you click on a node, there’s a snapshot of the node in the bottom of the Effects/Batch window. And a function to return to it.
The poor mans version is to duplicate a node. Start making your changes. If you like them, throw the duplicate away. If you need to reset, delete original and reconnect the duplicate. Not really scalable timing wise.
The other option is to have a undo history marker. I can hit undo, but I don’t know if I made 5 or 8 changes since the beginning, so I might not catch all, or undo too much. If I could set a marker in the undo history and say got back to that, that would work too.
I always do the duplicate node “poor mans” version of this. Admittedly not as elegant as you are suggesting but vital lest you loose your precious settings. I do this all the time with tracks and animations.
I use this too and name the node. I also try and save the batch too. Not version up but save. At the end I have loads of discarded nodes which sometimes have time to delete. I’ve never really thought about whether that’s bad or good.
Other applications like 3DS Max had this hold/fetch feature. But duplicating and keeping different settings in nodes in the same setup saved my skin several times.
Nothing wrong with saving nodes (they do clutter things eventually and do us a bit of memory/load time), so trimming them eventually is good.
It’s more the time wasted having to create, rename, and then delete them. This is an easy thing where the software can help be more efficient with a straight forward feature. Doing this to a few dozen nodes every day eventually adds to considerable time.
Saving snapshots of your whole batch at various points is something I think many of us do, but it’s more coarse. Also saving versions or the library is not as readily available in TL-FX as it is batch. And that’s where a lot of grading happens, miss it there the most.
Sometimes I just save in the node as temp and just keep overwriting it. I added to your feature request on Flame feedback which also is similar to 2 I put in 5 years ago.
I hear what you are saying, you dont want to descend into the save setup screen, you want something more top level Revert in the main controls.
I dont do much grading… but MasterGrade is in Image node right? You can save a setup for any node. Usually over on the right side of the controls, Setup / Load / Save. Just name it by the shot and put a v-number on the setup and good to go I would think. I do this regularily for TimelineFX or tracks in Stabilizer module. You could even just name it temp if wanna be less organized about it.
I would like to see more tokens available in Save Setup, it is kinda primitive & manual for the naming. Perhaps if there was an editable default node save setup pattern and more tokens it would be faster and do what you need.
Yes, there are multiple solutions to saving something. No shortage of that.
This is meant as an efficiency to saving something manually. When you’re grading a lot of shots you need to move fast. And the ability to just return to where you were a minute ago without a lot of clicks is valuable. If that is not possible, then never mind. There are existing solutions.
Also to clarify - this is not for long-term saving of the node status. This is an advanced undo function of current work, before you switch to another node you’re working on. And one of the key benefits is that it doesn’t create anything persistent that clutters everything up and you need to rinse manually later.
