Reuse Fusion Clips

I have created motion graphics on the Fusion page of Resolve 16.2.5.015 with the intention of reusing them. (Think motion graphics logo for use in multiple films, delivered in multiple resolutions.) There seems to be quite a bit of information missing from the manual, and possibly some bugs that are tripping me up.

My questions:

1. What's the best way to create a 3D animation and save it for re-use?
- Resolution independent, used in any Resolve project, on my workstation or anyone else's,

2. The logo was built with two .obj files created in Photoshop as 3D extrusions. Is there a way to
make them self-contained within a single file along with the animation?

3. Is there a difference in resolution-independence between Fusion "clips" and Fusion "compositions?"
What are the advantages these two constructs?

What I've tried:
I started out by adding a solid color generator to the Edit page timeline, changing it to a compound clip, then opening in the Fusion page. I saved the nodes as a macro, but I also wanted to save this clip or composition (not sure the right name here) in the media pool for re-use elsewhere in the same project, and other projects without having to go into Fusion.

Results

If I drag the compound clip from the timeline to the media pool, the copy in the media pool doesn't retain the Fusion nodes. It's just a copy of the solid color before I added graphics in Fusion, and I can't get it into another project. So, not reusable. (The same is true if I do this with a video clip instead of a solid color, or create a "New Fusion Clip" from a video clip.)

I also tried

...dragging the "Fusion Composition" effect from the Effects Library into the timeline. This creates a placeholder that I can then open on the Fusion page and place my nodes into.

Results

I can drag it into the Media Pool and re-use it anywhere in the project, but once again, I can't get it into another project.

The Fusion composition also does not display a thumbnail image, cannot be renamed in the timeline, and cannot be located in the Media Pool, so in a project with many Fusion Compositions there's no way to distinguish one from another without playing or scrubbing through it. What seems like a true "bug" to me, rather than just a mere oversight, is that I can rename the Fusion composition in the Media Pool, but that name does not carry over to the Edit timeline like it does with Adjustment Clips. There's also no usage information displayed as there is with any other media that can be placed in the edit timeline.

Is there a better way to create 3D graphics in Fusion that can be dropped into any project file?

This is a bit complex and maybe a more seasoned Fusion artist can chime in with more info later (I've only been using it heavily for about a year), but I'll help with as much as I know.

1. There are many ways to save Fusion compositions, but the one that is most likely what you are looking for is saving it as a "settings" file. What you have to do is to to
A. Finish your composition to how you would like it to be saved
B. Select everything in your node tree
C. Right Click on a node D. Select "Settings -> Save As"
E. Name it and select where you would like it to be saved at on your storage drive of choice.
F. When you want to use it again, in the new project open a fusion clip and then drag you ".settings" file into the node area. All your nodes from your previous project will appear as before.

2. I'm not sure if you can bake those externally referenced files into the .settings file, but you can keep them together and relink them in the new comp quick enough.

3. A Fusion clip in the Edit tab is really just a container for the comp and (as far as I know) is resolution independent. It usually just follows the timeline settings. However, that setting will follow into Fusion as the auto resolution default for node. Also, Fusion itself is resolution independent and the resolution is determined by the nodes themselves. For example the Background node can have its resolution set to almost anything but has an auto resolution that is usually set to your timeline's resolution. In Fusion, it's important to remember that every time you use a Merge Node, the resolution is carried over from whatever is connected to the Background Input. So you you merge two clips with different resolutions, the one from the Background Input will be the Output resolution.

Hope that helps or at least gets you started. Don't forget that there is a full manual for just Fusion as well and there aren't that many differences between the standalone and Resolve versions. Fusion is a little tricky to get your head around if you come from an After Effects background, but it's worth the effort. Personally I love it way more than AE.

I've found imperfect, but workable solutions after a lot of poking around (and some file corruption of my .setting file overnight; good thing I had a backup!).

First, saving all of your nodes as a group creates a .setting file that can be re-used, and easily modified.

Saving as a macro or a template allows you to hide the nodes while exposing a subset of settings and connections for modification. I'm not fond of that since it seems that macros and templates cannot be expanded for examination and understanding.

All three methods create a .setting file that can be dragged from your file system into the Fusion page, and although the .setting files created by each method must be slightly different based on how they look in the Fusion graphical editor, they can all be called from the Edit page as a template, or from the Fusion page as a macro. The only difference appears to be that a saved group reveals the node tree, and macros and templates hide the node tree.

---One apparent bug---
When saving a node tree as a template, the Resolve manual advises to select all the nodes except the MediaOut node. When you add it to the Edit page timeline it is connected to a MediaOut node that is automatically created in the composition. The "bug" is that when you use the .setting file from a saved group, that connection is not made. You have to open the composition in Fusion and connect it to the automatically-created MediaOut node, but it works just fine, and the node tree is visible.

The key to getting these .setting files to show up in Resolve is to put them in the folder specified in the Templates or Macros folders. I still haven't found a way to get external .obj files used in Fusion compositions to travel with the .setting files, but a workaround is to name them similarly to the .setting files so that it's more apparent that they go together if you hand them off to someone else, and if you use templates or macros you need to be sure to expose the file name fields of the nodes that call them so that whoever you hand them off to can point to the right locations for those files.

Personally I love it way more than AE.

I agree wholeheartedly! The fact that you see both graphical and keyframe timeline displays makes it easy to organize and see what you're doing. ...And you can include comments in the nodes as well as in the graphical display so others can understand (and in my case, I can remember) how the effects were created is great! Saving the compositions as text files that can be dragged into Fusion to automatically expand into nodes is extremely elegant. Kudos to the coders at Blackmagic Design!

Apologies if this is an overly facile approach, but...

I reuse some of my animated lower thirds and other simple graphics by dragging a version of the Fusion Composition that I'm happy with from the timeline in the Edit tab into a Power Bin in the Media Pool.

The contents of the Power Bin are available in all my projects, of course. So I have some various different assets in the Power Bins that pop up in various later projects - and so this includes my saved Fusion Compositions.

Of course, this doesn't make it externally shareable, but you've already gotten some suggestions on how to do that.

[Edited for clarity]

[quote="dcolacino"]What's the best way to create a 3D animation and save it for re-use? (Resolution independent, used in any Resolve project, on my workstation or anyone else's)

I am the last person to ask about Fusion, but I just did an animated logo with 3D extrusion, etc, and I simply rendered out a high resolution video with Alpha. It's a single file that can be resized for smaller resolution timelines and can be used in any project and easily shared across workstations with a USB jump drive if necessary.

It's not elegant, but it was functional enough for my needs.

Hope that helps!

~Luke

...I reuse some of my animated lower thirds and other simple graphics by dragging a version of the Fusion Composition that I'm happy with from the timeline in the Edit tab into a Power Bin in the Media Pool.

Thanks for your suggestion. This may be a good idea if you only have a single database. I maintain separate databases for client projects, independent film projects, and personal projects. Plus, if the Fusion clip incorporates any external media, such as an .obj file or video file, you have to take care to store that media in a location that is always online, and it will remain separate from the Fusion clip in the Power Bin.

If I save the Fusion composition as a group, it creates a .setting file that I can store in a folder along with its external media, and if that folder is Resolve's Template or Macro folder it is available across all projects and databases.

... I simply rendered out a high resolution video with Alpha. It's a single file that can be resized for smaller resolution timelines and can be used in any project and easily shared across workstations with a USB jump drive if necessary.

You're right, and nine times out of ten that's how I'd hand it off to another editor. But I'm such a newbie animator that I want a way to hand off my work to someone who can make it better without starting from scratch.

I discovered today that some of the Fusion Titles built into Resolve are exactly what I'm trying to do. For example, there's one called "3D Lower Third Flipping 2Line" on the Edit page under "Toolbox - Titles - Fusion Titles." Put it into the timeline and the inspector shows controls on the Fusion tab as though it had been saved as a Macro from the Fusion page. But if you open it on the Fusion page you see a group named "ThreeDLowerThirdFlipping2Line" that you can open up, examine, and edit! That doesn't happen when you save as a Macro from the Fusion page.

I can't find this file on my disk, so I don't know what type of file was created. How did they create this?

I want to do the same thing.

I discovered today that some of the Fusion Titles built into Resolve are exactly what I'm trying to do. For example, there's one called "3D Lower Third Flipping 2Line" on the Edit page under "Toolbox - Titles - Fusion Titles." Put it into the timeline and the inspector shows controls on the Fusion tab as though it had been saved as a Macro from the Fusion page. But if you open it on the Fusion page you see a group named "ThreeDLowerThirdFlipping2Line" that you can open up, examine, and edit! That doesn't happen when you save as a Macro from the Fusion page.

I can't find this file on my disk, so I don't know what type of file was created. How did they create this?

I want to do the same thing.

Yeah, it's possible to create standard Fusion macros, then save them to a folder which Resolve monitors for use on the Edit page. In this way you can create Fusion Titles, Fusion Generators, and Fusion Transitions. The first two are basically the same thing, just different categories - both generate something and put it on screen, with controls exposed to the Edit page. The third is different in that it reads in two clips from the Edit page and then the macro controls how the transition between them will occur.

It's a major wish of mine for v17 that BMD will extend this system to allow any Fusion node in any Fusion composition to be exposed to Edit in this way, via a simple UI addition: some control in the Inspector, or option in the context menu, that says "Expose to Edit", and thus allows Edit-page control of any chosen Fusion node in a composition on the current timeline. I believe it would be fairly easy for them to implement.

Anyway, to answer your question, here are a couple of tutorials showing you how to create these and where to put them.

What's missing is the ability to reveal and edit the composition once you've made it into a macro or template.

Compare the "3D Lower Third Flipping 2Line" title with anything you create yourself. If you put "3D Lower Third Flipping 2Line" into your Edit timeline, then open it on the Fusion page you'll see a group that you can then expand, examine, and modify.

Create one yourself using the "Macro - Create Macro" command, and when you open it in the Fusion page from the Edit timeline all you get is a single node that you can't expand.

On the other hand, if you save your nodes using the "Settings - Save As" to the Titles folder, you can also put them into the Edit timeline and you can see all the nodes in the Fusion page. The problem is no controls are exposed in the Inspector.

Whatever the DaVinci coders at Blackmagic Design did with the "3D Lower Third Flipping 2Line" title provides the best of both worlds. I'd like to be able to do that with my own titles.

What's missing is the ability to reveal and edit the composition once you've made it into a macro or template.

Create one yourself using the "Macro - Create Macro" command, and when you open it in the Fusion page from the Edit timeline all you get is a single node that you can't expand.

Once you've saved your macro, open the .setting file in a text editor and change the word "MacroOperator" at the top to "GroupOperator". Now it can be expanded and edited in any comp in which it is deployed.

Thank you! You're BRILLIANT!

I reuse some of my animated lower thirds and other simple graphics by dragging a version of the Fusion Composition that I'm happy with from the timeline in the Edit tab into a Power Bin in the Media Pool.

nice! Hadn't thought of that, thanks.

What's missing is the ability to reveal and edit the composition once you've made it into a macro or template.

Create one yourself using the "Macro - Create Macro" command, and when you open it in the Fusion page from the Edit timeline all you get is a single node that you can't expand.

Once you've saved your macro, open the .setting file in a text editor and change the word "MacroOperator" at the top to "GroupOperator". Now it can be expanded and edited in any comp in which it is deployed.

Not sure if you can do this in version 16, but at least in 17.1, in the fusion tab:
- Right click in an open space and choose "Edit Macro".
- Choose the macro you want to expand.
- When the Macro Editor appears, choose "File -> Save As Group"