I want to use the ‘File output’ node to save an MP4 video and a PNG of the first frame in one go.
But the ‘File output’ node doesn’t seem to be able to save out video formats.
Is there a way I can still achieve this?
Can you use the regular output in the properties panel or is that reserved for something else?
I know, less than ideal but better than nothing.
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Indeed, not ideal, but smart solution.
It sort of works.
But now I get a PNG for every frame, and I want just the 1st frame.
Is it possible to limit the ‘File output’ node to just the 1st frame?
Hmm… interesting problem. I guess you want a single frame only for a Preview?
The only way I could figure out how to do this is with a separate View Layer and animating its “Use for Rendering” property.
- Create a second View Layer with “Copy Settings”. This Layer will be used for the Preview Image.
- Animate “use for Rendering”. Have it turned on on Frame 1 and turn it off on Frame 2
- In Compositor duplicate the Render Layers node and set it to use your new View Layer
- Connect it to a File output and keep the normal view layer which renders your animation connected to the Composite node
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Stick with default video output and for stills just animate Mute option of File output through the Outliner (Data API mode):
Scenes->‘desired scene name’->Node tree->Compositing nodetree->Nodes->File output->Mute
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Thanks Serge_L, but I got it working trough the method of Lumpengnom.
I want to post screenshot of my solution on Twitter, do you have Twitter Lumpengnom?
Then I can do a shoutout!
Oi! Fantastic. I tried to animate the mute but it didn’t work.
I didn’t know that it was possible through the Outliner in Data API mode.
In fact I haven’t given the this outliner mode any attention at all. Will have to look at this more throughly.
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Here’s what I suggest …
Send your intermediate outputs to “MultiLayer OpenEXR” files, which are “frame by frame.” (Put them into a designated individual directory.)
Send your final cut to an “OpenEXR” file (directory …) – since you don’t need the “layers” anymore. All you need now are the numbers. (See below.)
Finally, create one-or-more new blend-files – one per “deliverable” – to create whatever deliverables you need, each of them sourcing from the same, pristine, OpenEXR “master.” Each of them uses a “file input” node to gather the source data. It is at this stage that you do whatever compression, gamma-correction, resizing, and so-forth that each particular deliverable requires. Every deliverable draws only from the master, never from another deliverable.
Notice my continued emphasis on OpenEXR. This is a digital file format, originally created by Industrial Light & Magic (with a little help from Blender Foundation …), which is specifically designed to capture data. The "raw floating-point numbers" which go into the file are exactly the numbers that come out. These formats were specifically designed to be “intermediate files” as well as “finals.”
Other file formats, such as PNG, GIF, MOV, etc., are tailored for the needs of display devices, including the conservation of storage space and network bandwidth. (The devices, also, are allowed to be stupid and slow, therefore cheap.) Do not use these file formats for “intermediates.”
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I agree in general with using openEXR but for some projects it is more hassle than gain. Some customers don’t want openEXR because either they don’t understand how to use it or because they use After Effect which appears to be terrible with openEXR or 32 bit in general.
Other projects are simply too small to warrant the disk space openEXR require and it turns out the advantage you get is diminished.
Also, since rendering speeds have gone up so much with denoisers and everything it is often more efficient to render one or two scenes again than dealing with a whole bunch of sluggish openEXR scenes.
It allways depends of course but I have switched back to png sequences for at least 70% of all my jobs.
For larger jobs with long render times, by all means, use openEXR.
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My only thought here, Lumpengnom, is that: “the deliverables that you send to you client” must of course be … “whatever they require.” But in my description this is the final step, producing them from your masters.
Since OpenEXR is fundamentally a data-file format, it lets you work through an efficient multi-step process without ever compromising any of the numbers. But no, it might not be what the customer prefers to see. It is an excellent source of what they prefer to see.