Using the File Browser

You use the combustion file browser when opening an existing workspace file, importing footage, rendering, and saving. The file browser has integrated search, filtering, and display options.

Note: If you cannot see the combustion browser (the file browser that you see is the standard system file dialog), make sure that Use Thumbnail Browser is enabled in the Preferences dialog. For information, see Setting General Preferences.

To display the file browser:

Do one of the following:

• Choose File | Open Workspace to open a workspace file.
• Choose File | Open or double-click the Footage Library to open footage.
• Choose File | Import Footage, or press Ctrl+I (Windows) or Command+I (Macintosh) to import footage into the selected composite.

The file browser appears.

Note: A file browser also appears for saving workspaces and rendered files.

To use the browser:

1. Use the tree view to navigate to the appropriate folder. Click a black triangle to expand the folder.



The contents of the selected folder appear in the right pane.

2. Click a file once to select it.

Information about the selected file appears in the preview pane.



Note: Double-click a file to select it and close the dialog.

3. If you are opening or importing footage, you can Shift-click and Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) to select multiple files.

The selected files appear in the lower right pane.

4. To remove a file from the lower pane, double-click it, or select it and click Remove. To remove all files, click Clear.

Changing the Browser View

You can choose to view files in either a list or as thumbnail images.

To change the view:

In the browser, click the List View or Thumbnails button.

Previewing Clips

You can preview a movie file or collapsed image sequence in the file browser.

To preview a clip:

In the browser, scrub the thumbnail. An indicator on the top shows your position in the clip.