Blackmagic Forum

It is impossible to see if a exr has embedded mattes anywhere in the machine short of putting it on the color page and right click on a node and pretend to add a matte.

A flag in the media page must be implemented, so we can see/select/make smart bins/mark smart selections in the color page.

Imagine a show with 1500 exr vfx with multiple versions like a Star Wars movie: it is really a PITA to find which one has embedded mates and who does not have it.

Yes, this would be amazing! This has been such a PITA for me as well in the past.

Nucoda addresses embedded mattes well. It would be a great example for BMD to follow


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+1

Not only to see BUT I want us to be able to MAKE that on the export page !

+100

+1

+1 (again)….. with shows with lot’s of VFX is really unhelpful…. I’m finishing teh current show and when you’re presented with 350 shots and you have to check which has a matte embedded and which has not, it take a toll…

(Enjoy “winning times on HBO”!!)

Plus (Nucoda has this option) Allow hot keys to be assigned to be able to toggle through the mattes associated with a highlighted node/file. The pull down method takes forever.


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waltervolpatto wrote:+1 (again)….. with shows with lot’s of VFX is really unhelpful…. I’m finishing the current show and when you’re presented with 350 shots and you have to check which has a matte embedded and which has not, it take a toll…

Yes, I can see there's a need for a little flag in the lower corner for an Embedded Matte.

Winning Times has a very bold, intense look, BTW.

I think at one point some one suggested a script, but I cannot find the thread anymore….

+1

waltervolpatto wrote:I think at one point some one suggested a script, but I cannot find the thread anymore….

+1

Probably something from this thread: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=106093

+1

Either a flag or even better an indication in the metadata tab (and as a collumn in the media storage) that shows you the number of included mattes. I thought about listing the matte names, but sometimes you get EXRs with multiple RGB mattes within one single shot, so the list would be quite big.

yes the external mattes from VFX and animation are gold, so it would be great to have better flagging/access. +1 for sure.
Might be nice to be able to view the multi channels of an EXR quickly in some sort of contact sheet or "lightbox" sort of view that splits them out into thumbnails so you can quickly get a look at not only what exists, but if it's good/usable or not. We use this all the time in Nuke (the "layer contact sheet") for multipass CG, but it's perfect for embedded mattes. And it's nice (in Nuke) that the contact sheet is customizable in terms of how many rows/columns and what resolution you want to view the grid. I would LOVE to see an interface like this replace the current way of adding an embedded matte to a node, which is just a right click and text.

It would probably be possible to scan a directory full of VFX shots and output what channels are in each EXR, maybe using Fusion/Nuke/RV for this and then pushing the output to a text file. Or a visual way of doing it would be scripting a batch render of little QC quicktimes of this contact sheet idea that you could pull up and refer to, showing all the channels in each shot.
With the text file, you'd be at the mercy of if the vendor named the channels correctly or even if it was something human readable, and not just generic "matte1" "matte2"

You could add the contactsheet of layers as additional layer to exr too, if already doing some kind of round trip through Nuke. Then you can review the content visually a bit easier.

tbh. the entire matte thing in resolve needs a bit of an overhaul. I am working on a show with around 400 VFX from several studios. each has a different number of mattes. depending if it's simple retouch or 3D comp with creatures and particles. knowing wich matte is available in wich shot is a nightmare.

I have to add mattes by navigating through 3 dropdowns inside the color tab. this could be much simpler. for example right click on the input and get 1 dropdown with all included mattes in 1 single list. I don't want the need to choose the render pass first and then plug each of the RGBA channels to the desired node. Make it rightclick > matte > full list.


Bonus request (the cherry on top):
add a "cycle mattes" function and assign it to a shortcut

Sven H wrote:tbh. the entire matte thing in resolve needs a bit of an overhaul. I am working on a show with around 400 VFX from several studios. each has a different number of mattes. depending if it's simple retouch or 3D comp with creatures and particles. knowing wich matte is available in wich shot is a nightmare.

I have to add mattes by navigating through 3 dropdowns inside the color tab. this could be much simpler. for example right click on the input and get 1 dropdown with all included mattes in 1 single list. I don't want the need to choose the render pass first and then plug each of the RGBA channels to the desired node. Make it rightclick > matte > full list.


Bonus request (the cherry on top):
add a "cycle mattes" function and assign it to a shortcut

+1......

So, right-clicking on any node in the colour page and scrolling down to Add Matte is the only way to verify if an EXR has an embedded matte(s), yes? How do you access the EXR's RGB channels, if any, in the colour page?

Luca Di Gioacchino wrote:So, right-clicking on any node in the colour page and scrolling down to Add Matte is the only way to verify if an EXR has an embedded matte(s), yes? How do you access the EXR's RGB channels, if any, in the colour page?

once a matte is added to the color tab, you have 4 channels to choose from. A, R, G, and B + and additional rgb output. A can be set to "use luminance" which makes sense gor certain scenarios

Sven H wrote:

Luca Di Gioacchino wrote:So, right-clicking on any node in the colour page and scrolling down to Add Matte is the only way to verify if an EXR has an embedded matte(s), yes? How do you access the EXR's RGB channels, if any, in the colour page?

once a matte is added to the color tab, you have 4 channels to choose from. A, R, G, and B + and additional rgb output. A can be set to "use luminance" which makes sense gor certain scenarios

But the mattes have to be provided separately, right? Or am I not understanding embedded mattes in EXRs correctly?

Luca Di Gioacchino wrote:

Sven H wrote:

Luca Di Gioacchino wrote:So, right-clicking on any node in the colour page and scrolling down to Add Matte is the only way to verify if an EXR has an embedded matte(s), yes? How do you access the EXR's RGB channels, if any, in the colour page?

once a matte is added to the color tab, you have 4 channels to choose from. A, R, G, and B + and additional rgb output. A can be set to "use luminance" which makes sense gor certain scenarios

But the mattes have to be provided separately, right? Or am I not understanding embedded mattes in EXRs correctly?

no. embeded means that the exr contains extra channels that can contain all sorts of useful stuff, like alpas, normal passes, z, etc.

"no. embeded means that the exr contains extra channels that can contain all sorts of useful stuff, like alpas, normal passes, z, etc."

So I am not understanding correctly, then. I assumed that you could access the RGB channels the same way you could a DI matte, by right clicking on a node and scrolling down to the Add Matte option. So, explain this to me like I am two years old: how do I access the RGB channels, if you please?

Luca Di Gioacchino wrote:"no. embeded means that the exr contains extra channels that can contain all sorts of useful stuff, like alpas, normal passes, z, etc."

So I am not understanding correctly, then. I assumed that you could access the RGB channels the same way you could a DI matte, by right clicking on a node and scrolling down to the Add Matte option. So, explain this to me like I am two years old: how do I access the RGB channels, if you please?

RGB channels are loaded the same way as with any other format (prores, png, whatever). they're loaded automatically.

adding a matte will add additional extra channels