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<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation: Nodes > Tasks > Mistika Features > RND File |
This node will load a .rnd file (Mistika render script) and set its properties before passing it to other nodes, such as the Mistika Render node that can render those files.
This node can also create a new .rnd file, by passing the appropriate metadata to it and activating its Create New Rnd property.
An RND File is a Mistika render script, which is a text file describing a render job in Mistika own format. Mistika RNDs can contain all the work that you can normally do in other Mistika products (clips, timeline editions, effects, VR stitching, ...) but are also ready to be used as render jobs or be sent to render nodes, as these files contain all the mastering metadata such as the desired resolution and the media formats to be produced.
Another advanced feature of .rnd files is that they can also be conformed as if they were any other kind of clips. For example, you can create a .rnd file per clip in other Mistika products that will contain all the work that you have done to each clip, and then conform new EDL, XML, or AAF files against the .rnd Files. In this way when an editor send you a new EDL / XML / AAF affecting the same clips then you can re-conform against your work in progress in non destructive manner.
RNDs can also be used as render "templates". That is, you use examples clips to apply all the effects that you need and then substitute the example clips at execution time with this node. In this regard, this node is also capable for basic substitution of effect parameter values (see the JSON Curves data property below), and also for massive replacement of rnd metadata based on the content of a csv file (see the override input connector). And you can also combine it with the consoleArgsToProperties node to substitute Workflows property values at execution time.
rnd: A Mistika render script in .rnd format, optionally creating a new .rnd file containing it.
rndFrom: Input to receive the .rnd from other node
mdataFrom: Metadata input.
input1..inputn: (they will appear after loading an rnd, if single inputs is off). If Use Names is on then the names of the input clips will appear, otherwise it will use Input0... Inputn
override: Clip metadata override. Normally it will be left empty, but it can be connected to a CSV To UPmdata node upstream, creating a workflow like this:
csvFile (load you .csv file here) -> CSV to UPmdata -> RND File (override input connector) -> MistikaRender
This permits massive replacement of rnd metadata based on the content of a .csv file.
This is equivalent to overriding the other input connectors, but doing that can be impractical when there hundreds of combinations to be replaced, and using a replacement table contained in a .csv file can be more convenient.
Currently, the override connector supports these metadata tokens from clips appearing in the rnd:
Clipname.media: The path to the media file of the clip
Clipname.text: The text of a Title effect.
For example, let's suppose that our rnd have a media clip named City and a Title clip named Temperature on top, which is used to show a video of a city with a temperature text overlay. We can create a.csv file with two columns:
City.media, Temperature.text
And below we could put hundreds of lines in this style, with one line per city.
City.media, Temperature.text
"/MapPictures/Helsinki.jpg", "7 degrees"
"/MapPictures/Los Angeles.jpg", "32 degrees"
"/MapPictures/Madrid.jpg", "Temperature: 50 degrees"
...
Using the above workflow, the override connector will replace the media path and the text in the rnd file, creating a new rnd for each line of the .csv file, finally rendering them in the MistikaRender node.
Create new RND, New RND Directory: If Create new RND is active it will create a new .rnd file containing the input metadata, and it will place it in New RND Directory
Name from Input: Decides if the render name is taken from the name of an input connector (original input) or from the incoming media connected to it.
This is normally used in combination with the Autobuild inputs action mentioned below. For rnd files with multiple inputs you can change which input is taken into account in the Master Input property below.
Master Input: When an rnd file contains multiple input clips, the Master Input decides which input will provide master metadata for rendering (such as the clip name, Timecode, clip duration, etc).
It must be specified in inputN notation, so you have to type one of the connector names shown when the Use Names property is active (see below)
Example: Let's suppose you import an rnd file created in Mistika Boutique representing an horizontal edition with 3 clips (and their effects): first a promo clip, followed by a main content clip, and finally and end slate clip.
If you execute Autobuild inputs in the contextual menu of the node and you switch off the Use Names property then you will see these connectors:
input0: Promo clip
input1: Main content clip
input2: End slate clip.
Now if you type input1 in the Master Input property, the incoming media from that connector will provide all the principal metadata for the render process, and if the clip duration is different than the original clip used in the .rnd file then a ripple edit will be applied to accommodate the input1 clip with its new duration (without creating holes or overlapping adjacent clips).
As a result, this node permits to create powerful .rnd templates by using example clips that can then be replaced at render time by other clips, while re-applying any number of effects and even changing the duration of a clip as needed.
Use Names: This is normally used in combination with the Autobuild inputs action mentioned above. If Use Names is not active, the input connectors will be named Input1,
Input2... Inputn (one per used clip in the rnd). If active, the input connectors will show the names of the original clips that were used to create the rnd originally (just to remind you which one is which). Note that this node permits using a generic render template that was prepared with some example clips but then connecting different clips at execution time.
Trim tails: This only applies to RND files containing just one segment. If active it will trim the extra frames when connecting new media files, if the duration was different than the original .rnd., so it will render the duration that was defined in the .rnd. If it is disabled then it will adapt the render duration to that of the input media (thus using the .rnd as a simple effects template). In some sense it acts like the master input property, but this is specialized on cases with only one segment with a simple stack of effects.
JSON Curves data: A placeholder property for substitution of parameter curve data. Normally used by python user scripts, not manually. Supports simple substitution pairs for flat animation curves, given in JSON syntax.
Generic example:
{
"Clipname1.parameterName1="MyText1",
"Clipname1.parameterName2="MyText2",
"Clipname2".otherParameter=7
}
Example 2:
This example will find a Title effect named "PROMO" and it will change its text parameter to "Alicante"
{
"PROMO.text": "Alicante",
}
The rndFile node provides an additional menu option in the contextual menu (when clicking with right mouse button over the node):
Contextural Menu -> Autobuild Inputs: It will only be active when a specific .rnd file has been loaded into the node, and it will automatically create new nodes for all the clips that were used inside the .rnd file, also connecting them to the inputs. Then you can replace inputs with other media files of your interest.
Contextural Menu -> Reload render file: It Reload the rnd file. Useful when you are changing the rnd from other application, or just to refresh a reconnected rnd.
Property Label |
Property ID |
RND File |
url |
Create New RND |
createNewRND |
New RND Directory |
newRNDdirectory |
TC Source |
tcSource |
Name from Input |
renderNameFromInput |
masterInput |
masterInput |
Interpolation Type |
interpolationType |
mediaConnectors |
mediaConnectors |
Use Names |
useNames |
Trim Tails |
trimTails |
JSON Curves Data |
jsonCurvesData |