How to import image sequence list? IFL?

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Zoran Penzer

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How to import image sequence list? IFL?

PostTue Jul 20, 2021 9:55 am

Hi,
Using Resolve 17.
I struggling to import an image sequence list. IIRC I used to be able to import it in earlier versions of Resolve.
I think I used IFL format, with the file formatted as image.tif on each line, but now the media page is not recognizing the IFL files.

My image sequence is, both large and non sequentially named, hence the list file.

Renaming files source is not an option (never mind that I find it absurd), and, say Adobe After Effects will ingest a list of non sequential files as a sequence without an issue.

Any suggestions?
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Peter Chamberlain

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Re: How to import image sequence list? IFL?

PostWed Jul 21, 2021 9:27 am

I’m not familiar with an IFL file/codec type.
Can u post a link to a sample?
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Zoran Penzer

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Re: How to import image sequence list? IFL?

PostWed Jul 21, 2021 11:24 am

Peter Chamberlain wrote:I’m not familiar with an IFL file/codec type.
Can u post a link to a sample?


Sure, it's an ASCII file:
An IFL (Image File List) file is an ASCII file that constructs an animation by listing single-frame bitmap files to be used for each rendered frame.


The .ifl file lists the bitmap files to be used with each frame. You can append an optional numeric argument to each file name to specify the number of frames of rendered animation on which it is used. For example:

Code: Select all
  ; Anything after a semicolon is a comment, and is ignored.
  sand.tga 20
  pebble.tga 40
  stone.tif 20   
  boulder.tif 20


I don't care much for the format, I just want a way to import an image sequence. IIRC, IFL was working before, judging by the .IFL files I found in old projects.
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Jim Simon

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Re: How to import image sequence list? IFL?

PostWed Jul 21, 2021 2:18 pm

Zoran Penzer wrote:I just want a way to import an image sequence.
This is possible. Just make sure the images are sequentially numbered and the normal Add to Bin from the Media page should work.
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Zoran Penzer

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Re: How to import image sequence list? IFL?

PostThu Jul 22, 2021 12:05 pm

Jim Simon wrote:
Zoran Penzer wrote:I just want a way to import an image sequence.
This is possible. Just make sure the images are sequentially numbered and the normal Add to Bin from the Media page should work.


As I mentioned in the OP, I'm well aware that I could rename my images to be sequentially named, but I'm specifically looking for a way to avoid that.

Something like the IFL route, I provide a list of images in the order I want them to be.
It is a sensible request.


I shoot timelapses so I deal with hundreds of thousands of images and my pipeline has multiple steps before Resolve and I often go back and redo some steps. Adding a step where I have to rename files each and every time is something I want to avoid.
It should be trivial to add an option to ingest non sequentially named image sequences or support a format like IFL.
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Jim Simon

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Re: How to import image sequence list? IFL?

PostThu Jul 22, 2021 2:14 pm

Zoran Penzer wrote:It is a sensible request.
Perhaps, but...what will you do in the meantime?
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Peter Chamberlain

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Re: How to import image sequence list? IFL?

PostFri Jul 23, 2021 2:19 am

So you have tiff images, with file names not in sequence, but you want them in the timeline as a sequence and not treated as stills... and you want some way to import those and product the timeline.. like an EDL or XML or AAF would do?

Why not use XML or EDL format that is supported?
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Chad Capeland

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Re: How to import image sequence list? IFL?

PostFri Jul 23, 2021 4:46 pm

What would you recommend to generate the XML or EDL from a set of folders of images?

IFLs can be generated from the OS with a single command. For Windows, it's dir, for Linux, it's find, and for MacOS, it's ls. All of those support recursion and wildcards. Heck, you can drag and drop a folder into TextEdit in MacOS and that will make an IFL without needing to know any command line tools.

Point is, the nearly formatless format of IFL is industry standard because you never need any extra software or a specification to remember. No way I'm manually making a 20MB XML file instead of a 4KB IFL.
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Shrinivas Ramani

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Re: How to import image sequence list? IFL?

PostSat Jul 24, 2021 12:50 am

Can you add a URL for the industry standard definition?

Out of curiosity, is there a reason a script with logic like this wouldn't work?
Code: Select all
with open(ifl_path) as f:
    for line in f.readline().split(' '):
        image,length = line if len(line) == 2 else fallback_logic(line) # not sure of rules
    #...
    clips = mediaStorage.AddItemsToMediaPool(images)
    mediaPool.AppendToTimeline(clips)
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roger.magnusson

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Re: How to import image sequence list? IFL?

PostSat Jul 24, 2021 10:06 am

I was thinking about making a Lua script for this, but I suppose the request is to have Resolve treat the sequence as a clip, not a timeline with individual images as timelines aren't resolution (or frame rate) independent. Resolution can be changed at will of course, but it's an additional potential error source that ideally shouldn't be needed.
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Chad Capeland

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Re: How to import image sequence list? IFL?

PostThu Jul 29, 2021 8:28 pm

Shrinivas Ramani wrote:Can you add a URL for the industry standard definition?


Closest I have is Autodesk documentation.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/ ... 1-htm.html

As far as I've seen, like in the Fusion implementation, quotes are ignored and if a path isn't supplied, the file is assumed to be relative to the .IFL file. Relative paths are hit and miss for support.



Shrinivas Ramani wrote:
Out of curiosity, is there a reason a script with logic like this wouldn't work?
Code: Select all
with open(ifl_path) as f:
    for line in f.readline().split(' '):
        image,length = line if len(line) == 2 else fallback_logic(line) # not sure of rules
    #...
    clips = mediaStorage.AddItemsToMediaPool(images)
    mediaPool.AppendToTimeline(clips)


I don't think it would solve the issue. I expect most users would want the .IFL to be treated as a clip in the media pool and timeline. The explicit sequencing in the IFL file would be difficult to maintain if the linked files were pulling in individually. A potential compromise might be automatically generating a compound clip.

One thing to consider is that there is nothing restricting the IFL to containing the same file types. Resolution, color depth, metadata, etc. might be changing per frame. Resolve handles that "just fine" when Fusion outputs that to the timeline, so maybe it could be handled the same way with automatic resizing and such.

A super awesome implementation in Resolve would include supporting IFL as an output format in the Deliver tab.
Chad Capeland
Indicated, LLC
www.floweffects.com

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