Getting Started

The very first step in starting a new project is to bring footage into a workspace. The workspace is the file that stores information that references your footage, composite order and layout, animation, and operators. Like a document file in a word processing system, a workspace can be saved, reopened, and edited at any time.

The easiest way to bring footage into a workspace is by using the Open command. You can choose from many file formats for opening footage into combustion. These include Video for Windows (AVI), QuickTime® (MOV), TARGA®, and many others.

For more information about getting started, see Starting a Workspace.

To open footage into a new composite:

1. Choose File | Open, or press Ctrl+O (Windows) or Command+O (Macintosh).

The Open file browser appears.

2. Navigate to the folder containing the clip you want to open, select the clip, and then click OK.

Note: You can scrub the clips in Thumbnails view. Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) to select multiple clips. Selected clips appear at the bottom of the file browser. To remove a selected clip, double-click it in the bottom part of the browser.

The Open Footage dialog appears.



3. Click Composite - 2D and then click OK.

The footage is imported into a new 2D composite. The size and duration are set to the size and duration of the first file selected.

A new layer (or layers) containing the selected footage appears in the composite. The footage appears in the active viewport.