Thanks for the explanation.
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EDIT!!!
I think i worked it out: i had forgot about the fact that you said in your first post that you brought it back in a Loader.
So it seems that one needs to save, then disable that Saver......next, and
importantly, break the output from that Saver, so it doesn't output anywhere. Next, make a Loader, load, and connect
that to the place the Saver was connected to downstream.
Now, you still have all your nodes available (for future tweaks?) from the branch upstream from the Saver, but they'll remain "dormant" until you EITHER re-enable the Saver at the end that branch, OR reconnect that Saver to the comp.
Phew, I think i got it now, right?
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EDIT 2:
Sorry, just one little fly in the ointment:
Say i have a one minute long comp.
I have a branch that i only need to render from 20 seconds to 40 seconds. So i put my yellow left / right brackets (in the frame ruler) at 20 and 40 seconds.
I go ahead and do the Saver / Loader thing and i notice that indeed, it has only rendered (and imported) the video [
that WAS residing] between 20 & 40 seconds.
Now, all is hunky dory accept for one thing: the saved video plays from the start of the comp.
But i don't want that, i want it to play from the 20 second mark, because that's where it was playing before i saved it.
So is it the case that you MUST always have the left bracket at frame 1?
Or is there some way to embed timecode (or some other time stamp) into the EXR files so that they play back at the correct moment?
I can think of a workaround using the Time Speed node, but it would be nice to know how the pros deal with it!