RS - Input/Output Settings

Owned by thomas (Unlicensed)
31 Jan, 2014
5 min read

This panel contains information about the nodes you want to become retimed and the directories where the results will be stored. When you tick a node's checkbox, but all of its children are unselected, a warning icon will appear next to the node, indicating that RealFlow will not export any of its resources.

 

The "Filter" Field

The “Filter” field allows you to work with wildcards to display only certain nodes. The mode of operation is exactly the same as with the "Node" window's “Filter” field. RealFlow's wildcard filter is not case sensitive – you can use small case and capitals for your search.

 

 

To give an example:
If you want to display only node names starting with “Sphere”, you can enter “Sphere*”. If the name only includes “sphere” at unspecific positions, then you can search for “*sphere*. The other wildcard symbol is the question mark “?”. The workflow is similar, but the "?" is used to replace only a single character. With this symbol it is possible to substitute a single character when you want to search for all nodes with a common prefix, e.g. “Cube1?” This operation will display “Cube10”, “Cube11” and so on, but not “Cube20”, “Cube100” etc.

The "Node" Tree

The most important part of this panel is the node tree. If you have already read the chapter about the “Export Central” dialogue then this representation should be familiar to you, because the node tree can be seen as an image of “Export Central”. Here, the tree only contains the nodes that can be retimed, because there are nodes where it is simply not possible to interpolate missing frames, for example daemons. It is also possible to retime meshes, but only in combination with their appropriate particle BIN files, because they are needed to create the new meshes. If you only need the meshes, you do not have to activate the export resources for the interpolated BIN files. This helps to save some disk space. The node tree does not just contain the node itself, but also all available output and file formats. This means that you are not restricted to BINs, for example; you can also perform retiming with proxy or PD data – even simultaneously. When a file format has been checked, it also appears in the “Source for interpolation” tab of the canvas. 

 

 

Another very convenient feature is the creation of other formats with "Retime Simulation". Let's assume you have created a BIN file sequence from a standard particle simulation and find out that you will also need a PD sequence. These are the steps to create the missing format out of the existing BIN file sequence:

  • Check the emitter's particle cache BIN file option

  • Adjust “Time factor” to 1.0

  • Check “Use scene range”

  • Disable “Scale velocities and forces” and “Interpolate frames” (optional)

  • Retime

You can use “Retime Simulation” to create an offset for a sequence. Simply check the "Evaluate function as frames instead of seconds" checkbox and an expression (see below). This method is perfectly suited for SD files; with BINs, the batch renaming tool will be much faster:

f + framesOffset

With object nodes you have two possibilities, because there is the global “ANIMATION (.sd)” which contains the simulation data of all objects or individual “Animation (.sd)” files. The last one will be written for each node. When you tick the checkbox directly next to the object node's name then the data will be written to the global file; the individual files have to be checked separately.

Check missing frames

If this option is enabled, each resource will be tested if all required frames exist. Depending on the number of frames and files, this action might take some time to be completed. If the "Retime Simulation" detects missing frames, you will see a warning containing the name of the resource and the missing frame numbers.

The "Output preferences" section

It is important to create and choose different folders for the retimed output sequence to avoid overwriting the existing data. It is necessary to fill out at least one of the four available fields.

 

 

Alternative location

The place where the new data will be stored can be entered here. If this field contains a new location, RealFlow will create an entire scene tree with all subfolders. This can also be seen as an image of the projects folder structure.

Subfolder

The given subfolder will be added to the path/folder entered under “Alternative location”.

File prefix/File suffix

We recommend specifying either a prefix or suffix to differentiate the retimed sequence from the original sequence. You can enter any valid extension, e.g. “retimed”, “new” or anything else. The prefix/suffix will finally be added to the resource's name.

The Button Section

The button section is always visible, no matter whether you are currently adjusting the parameters for “Retiming Parameters” or “Input/Output Settings”.

 

 

Restore Defaults

This button removes and deletes your settings and returns to the default values.

Save and Close

The settings can be saved together with the scene for later use.

Try on Movie Player...

With this button it is possible to create a preview of the retimed sequence. All parameter adjustments will be taken into consideration and recorded as an image sequence, but the "Retime Simulation" tool will not create any interpolated files. This function gives you an impression of the final look of your simulation. Under Windows and OS X you can also export a video file of this preview.

Cancel

If you want to discard your settings or close the "Retime Simulation" tool, please use this button or the ESC key. Your adjustments will not be stored and the default settings will be applied again.

Retime

Here, the retiming process will be started. The button is inactive in case of errors or problems, for example when input and output paths are the same.