Saver + FFMPEG Assorted formats issues

Hello. I have a couple of issues with a Saver Node in FFMPEG Assorted formats configuration:

1. The Encoder options doesn't seem to get restored properly after reopening the Composition: it is always set to H.264 (Baseline), no matter what option I choose and save. This makes it impossible to use a render node because the only way to render properly (e.g. H.265 or non-Baseline) is to load the UI, make the change then render from within the UI.

2. Encoder options don't seem to apply. Also the format is not documented anywhere.

For example, I passed both:
"keyint=30 min-keyint=30 no-open-gop=1"

And
"-x265-params keyint=30:min-keyint=30:no-open-gop=1"

and neither applied.

Side question: is there a forum for bug reports?

Another issue with the Saver mode: I have a project that crashes when I change Saver node settings from QuickTime to FFMPEG as soon as I click the FFMPEG.

After trying maybe 10 times, it worked once but now every time I open the composition and merely click on the Saver node, it crashes instantly.

Interestingly enough, it renders via rendernode (but the Saver settings are wrong so it's not satisfactory). I have to edit the composition file with a text editor to make changes. Is there a way to debug what's happening?

The reason I am using FFMPEG option is because with QuickTime, it just says "bad file descriptor" and render terminates instantly at frame 0.

Is there a way to debug these (and other) issues (I made another post that is pending approval with more issues)? It's highly annoying and disrupts my workflow because I spend more time fighting bugs and crashes that doing actual work

Thanks!

Here is an example of an error message with QuickTime:

Render started at Mon 11:29AM (Range: 0.0 to 6455.0)
Saver2 failed to write to "E:\Denis\stiched\7680x7680.mp4" ("E:\Denis\stiched\7680x7680.mp4") frame 0: Bad file descriptor
Saver2 failed at time 0
ERROR: Render failed at Mon 11:30AM! Last frame rendered: (none)!

My guess is your non-standard, and very large, resolution (assuming the filename refers to the raster size). If you're attempting to encode to h264, there is no level available in the standard that will go that high—I think it tops out somewhere in the 4k range—which would account for the bad file descriptor error. But I have very little experience in this area, so I may be mistaken.

My guess is your non-standard, and very large, resolution (assuming the filename refers to the raster size). If you're attempting to encode to h264, there is no level available in the standard that will go that high—I think it tops out somewhere in the 4k range—which would account for the bad file descriptor error. But I have very little experience in this area, so I may be mistaken.

Standard doesn't define H264 resolutions higher than 4K, yes, but
a) it's perfectly fine to have H264 encoded file with higher resolution (but some players may not support it)
b) I am actually using H265 that does support this resolution in the spec.

That said, you are probably right: QuickTime/H264 Bad file descriptor error is likely due to resolution, which is why I am using FFMPEG assorted formats (and FFMPEG is perfectly fine with this resolution).

Has BMD officially said anything about FFmpeg render support anywhere? I think the last thing I saw about FFmpeg integration was when Loader nodes gained FFmpeg support in Fusion Studio v9. But back then it couldn't render.

Thanks for pointing me in that direction, playing with it in v16 now.

Has BMD officially said anything about FFmpeg render support anywhere? I think the last thing I saw about FFmpeg integration was when Loader nodes gained FFmpeg support in Fusion Studio v9. But back then it couldn't render.

Thanks for pointing me in that direction, playing with it in v16 now.

Fusion 9 has Saver node supporting FFMPEG (h264 is supported but not h265).

Hi korDen.

Hello. I have a couple of issues with a Saver Node in FFMPEG Assorted formats configuration:

As an outlier question do you have KartaVR installed via the Reactor package manager in your copy of Fusion?

I'm asking this partially since I see a version of the word "stitched" in the file path you indicated and it looks like you are doing 8K Stereo 3D Over/Under LatLong output (likey) from the frame size resolution in the filename. This potentially makes me think you are working on 360VR workflows in Fusion:

Code: Select all

"E:\Denis\stiched\7680x7680.mp4"

If you are using KartaVR, then the following might apply to you: The KartaVR bundled bonus "FFMPEG Encoding Saver Intool Script" toolset needed a few changes made to the Lua code to work correctly in newer releases of Fusion v9.0.2+ since BMD decided that the access to the "fu:" and "comp:" objects were going to be reduced/limited in the intool scripting scope. This happened after this tool was initially created back in the Fusion 7.x and 8.x era, and got more locked down in Fusion v9 on random OS platforms.

Download a Patched version of SaverIntool:

Movalex on the WSL forums kindly made a modified version of the "SaverIntool" macro script available that you can download from his WSL forum post here.

About the SaverIntool Macro

The "SaverIntool" macro works by auto-transcoding a rendered image sequence generated by Fusion into a movie file via FFmpeg from the CLI (command-line). This enables you to render out out-of-specification higher than 4K resolution MP4 H.264 videos from inside a Fusion Studio compositing session. Or, if you tweak the FFmpeg parameters in the script you also could output via an image sequence to movie encode in FFmpeg an MP4 H.265 video from Fusion v9/16 too.

FFMPEG-Encoding-Intool-Script.png (63.25 KiB) Viewed 1836 times

Note: At this time, Movalex's excellent revisions to the "SaverIntool" macro haven't been rolled back into the mainline Reactor delivered a version of the "SaverIntool" node. Large scale changes are underway for the upcoming KartaVR v5 release and I didn't want to blend community modified releases into the official KartaVR release branch due to code license mixing issues. The v5 release of the "SaverIntool" macro node will add more GUI based controls to the node which will hopefully make it easier for a VR/VFX artist to use.

Soon users will be able to specify the most common FFmpeg encoding options on the macro node visually via ComboBox controls and checkbox User Controls without needing to tweak the embedded intool script-based Lua code in a programmer's text editor.

Side question: is there a forum for bug reports?

Again, if you are using the KartaVR "SaverIntool" macro node and that's your issue, then you can submit any issues you are experiencing on the KartaVR User Group on Facebook and I will help you get the issues sorted out quickly and efficiently as possible.

Hi korDen.

Hello. I have a couple of issues with a Saver Node in FFMPEG Assorted formats configuration:

As an outlier question do you have KartaVR installed via the Reactor package manager in your copy of Fusion?

I'm asking this partially since I see a version of the word "stitched" in the file path you indicated and it looks like you are doing 8K Stereo 3D Over/Under LatLong output (likey) from the frame size resolution in the filename. This potentially makes me think you are working on 360VR workflows in Fusion:

Code: Select all

"E:\Denis\stiched\7680x7680.mp4"

If you are using KartaVR, then the following might apply to you: The KartaVR bundled bonus "FFMPEG Encoding Saver Intool Script" toolset needed a few changes made to the Lua code to work correctly in newer releases of Fusion v9.0.2+ since BMD decided that the access to the "fu:" and "comp:" objects were going to be reduced/limited in the intool scripting scope. This happened after this tool was initially created back in the Fusion 7.x and 8.x era, and got more locked down in Fusion v9 on random OS platforms.

Download a Patched version of SaverIntool:

Movalex on the WSL forums kindly made a modified version of the "SaverIntool" macro script available that you can download from his WSL forum post here.

About the SaverIntool Macro

The "SaverIntool" macro works by auto-transcoding a rendered image sequence generated by Fusion into a movie file via FFmpeg from the CLI (command-line). This enables you to render out out-of-specification higher than 4K resolution MP4 H.264 videos from inside a Fusion Studio compositing session. Or, if you tweak the FFmpeg parameters in the script you also could output via an image sequence to movie encode in FFmpeg an MP4 H.265 video from Fusion v9/16 too.

FFMPEG-Encoding-Intool-Script.png

Note: At this time, Movalex's excellent revisions to the "SaverIntool" macro haven't been rolled back into the mainline Reactor delivered a version of the "SaverIntool" node. Large scale changes are underway for the upcoming KartaVR v5 release and I didn't want to blend community modified releases into the official KartaVR release branch due to code license mixing issues. The v5 release of the "SaverIntool" macro node will add more GUI based controls to the node which will hopefully make it easier for a VR/VFX artist to use.

Soon users will be able to specify the most common FFmpeg encoding options on the macro node visually via ComboBox controls and checkbox User Controls without needing to tweak the embedded intool script-based Lua code in a programmer's text editor.

Side question: is there a forum for bug reports?

Again, if you are using the KartaVR "SaverIntool" macro node and that's your issue, then you can submit any issues you are experiencing on the KartaVR User Group on Facebook and I will help you get the issues sorted out quickly and efficiently as possible.

Hi! I am indeed working on 360 video but I am not using KartaVR and do not have it installed. I was under impression that its development was discontinued. I'll check it out again!

I was under impression that its development was discontinued. I'll check it out again!

Evidently, reports of KartaVR's demise were premature.

If you check out the KartaVR Version history page you can see the toolset has continuous and ongoing improvements happening:

6DoF RGBD workflows, multiview lightfield rendering, scripts to assist with photogrammetry, Maya ASCII/OpenUSD ASCII/XYZ and PLY point cloud export support, drag-and-drop XYZ point cloud import to the flow, drag-and-drop PTGui Pro v10 .pts importing to the flow, webcam/USB/SDI/HDMI based live video capture inside of the Fusion environment, LifeSaver node based Multi-part EXR export with filename tokens, automatic vectorization of raster painted alpha channels, support for live 360VR video stitching and streaming with the help of KartaVR + Fusion + TouchDesigner, virtual production tools, and open-source script examples on how to do IMU (intertial measurement unit) sensor based camera tracking/matchmoving, and much much more.

And there are 16 GB of example VR media projects people can download to follow along with. Combined with an extensive set of built-in Fusion comps, too.

Also, on the "KartaVR User Group" on Facebook, I'm live blogging about the development of the next version of KartaVR v5 that is under production now. Beta testers are welcome.

IMHO, all of that effort listed above for KartaVR almost puts Fusion/Resolve's VR tools to shame development wise as they have not had a heck of lot of TLC, or new node additions applied to them in the time between their initial creation back at SIGGRAPH 2017, up to today.