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These options define how the output file(s) is named and where it is saved.
Directories will be created by exrTrader if required.
This control allows you to select an output file for the buffer saver to write to. Any extension and frame numbers of the selected file will be automatically removed. You can only select an output file if “Use Render Path” is not activated.
exrTrader also supports special variables in the path name that will be replaced as the image is being saved.
The currently supported variables are:
%scene% | Is replaced with the scene name (without the .lws extension) |
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%camera% | The name of the camera used to render the current image |
%layer% | The name of the current layer |
%eye% | If the current camera is rendering in stereo mode, this will be either L or R depending on which eye the currently saved frame represents. |
%dot% | This is just replaced with a single “.” It allows you to add a . at the end of the file name in the Output File Control (where it would normally be stripped with any file name extension). |
You can use the Review Settings… option to verify if the file names are created as you'd expect them to be.
If you select this option, exrTrader will use the output file defined in the Lightwave3D render globals. This option is quite important if used across a render farm in conjunction with the OpenEXR Dummy Saver, described later in this manual.
This setting defines how exrTrader will append the frame number and file extension to the Output File. These settings are identical to the settings in the Lightwave3D render globals.
exrTrader by default saves all buffers into a single OpenEXR image file. You may optionally save single buffers into a separate image file. This option defines how these separate image files will be named.
Output is the file name, as defined by the Output File control, or the render global in Lightwave3D if “Use Render Path” is active.
Layer | is the layer name of the selected buffer, as described below in the documentation. |
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### | is the frame number, the amount of digits is defined by the Format option. |
_ | The underscores are only added if the Format option contains underscores as well. |
.exr | The file extension is added only if the Format option contains the file extension. |
If the Single File Naming option is set to Custom_###.exr, the file name for single image files will be constructed from the text entered into this control.
You may also add slashes or colons (depending on the OS platform) to designate sub-directories. These will be automatically created by exrTrader if needed.
The currently supported variables are:
%scene% | Is replaced with the scene name (without the .lws extension) |
---|---|
%camera% | The name of the camera used to render the current image |
%layer% | The name of the current layer (as defined in the per buffer Layer Name option) |
%eye% | If the current camera is rendering in stereo mode, this will be either L or R depending on which eye the currently saved frame represents. |
To hopefully make this a bit easier to understand, here is an example of how these options work. Let's assume we're rendering out to “images/Ninja.exr” as the Output File. The Format we're using is “Name_0001.exr”. We want to save the Reflection buffer as a separate image file, the “Layer” name of it is “Specular”. These will be the buffer image file written at frame 60, depending on the Single File Naming option:
Output_Base_###.exr | images/Ninja_Specular_0060.exr |
Layer/Output_###.exr | images/Specular/Ninja_0060.exr |
Layer/Output_Base_###.exr | images/Specular/Ninja_Specular_0060.exr |
Layer_Output_###.exr | images/Specular_Ninja_0060.exr |
In all cases, the main file saved will be the same: images/Ninja_0060.exr
All compression options are lossless, except for PXR24, which is lossy when saving 32bit float image data (it cuts off the lower 8bit, effectively cutting the precision to 24bits).
exrTrader is compiled to support OpenEXR Version 1.6, which includes the following compression modes:
These are explained in more detail in the Technical Introduction to OpenEXR, available as a PDF at www.openexr.com 2).