Committing an Operator to Disk

Using the Commit to Disk feature is a fast way to render an operator's output, import the new footage into the workspace, and then use the new Footage operator as the input for a downstream operator instead of the original operator.

For example, assume a composite includes a layer that requires lots of rotoscoping work. After you finish drawing the paint strokes, you can commit the Paint operator to disk. The composite uses the newly rendered clip for the layer instead of the "heavy" Paint operator, so more RAM is available for your other work on the composite.

By default, the Commit to Disk feature inserts a Switcher operator between the two inputs (the original operator and the Footage operator for the committed clip) and the downstream operator, if any.

In the following example, the Paint operator and the new Footage operator flow into the Switcher, and the output (initially the committed clip) flows into the composite.

You can easily set the Switcher to output the original operator if you want.

Note: Changes made to the original operator are not automatically re-rendered for the committed clip. To learn how to do this manually, see Manually Updating Committed Footage.

If you disable the "Keep Original Connection Using Switcher" option (on the Commit to Disk dialog), the branch for the original operator is broken from the process tree. As long as you do not delete this branch, you can reconnect it, reuse it, or make changes to it. If you are sure that the rendered clip is all you need, you can delete the branch.

In the previous example, the Paint operator (and the Footage operator connected to it) can be deleted if the rotoscoping work is finalized.

When you delete the Footage operator for a committed clip, the clip or image sequence on the disk is not deleted. Therefore, it is a good idea to create a folder to use as a "scratch disk" for rendered frames. You keep these images separate from other source footage so you can easily delete the images later.

To commit an operator to disk:

1. In the Schematic view (F12) or Workspace panel, select the operator (or layer) that you want to commit to disk.
2. Right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Macintosh) and choose Commit to Disk.

The Commit to Disk dialog appears.

3. In the Video Output group, select a format, and change other output settings as needed.

These options are the same as those in the Render Queue dialog. See Video Output Options for details.

Note: For uncompressed frames, you may want to use the TGA format. For compressed frames, you can use the PNG format. PNG files are still lossless, but the compression saves disk space.

4. Set the filename and path for the committed frames.

If you forget to do this, the Save dialog will appear when you click Process.

5. If you do not want the branch for the original operator to remain connected by using a Switcher, disable the "Keep Original Connection Using Switcher" option.

By default, this option is enabled so the workspace stays more organized.

6. Click Process.

As the frames for the clip are rendered, the status is displayed on the status bar and in the progress area to the right of the thumbnail. When rendering is finished, the dialog closes.

To use the original operator again:

1. If the original operator is not connected to the branch with a Switcher, relink the operator node with the downstream operator. The link to the Footage operator for the committed frames is replaced with the new link.

Note: If the "Keep Original Connection Using Switcher" option was enabled when you committed to disk, a Switcher is already inserted.

2. If there is a Switcher operator, select it in the Workspace panel, or double-click it in the Schematic view.

The Switcher Controls panel appears.

3. Click the button that corresponds to the original operator that was committed to disk.



In the Schematic, the original operator now connects to the main input of the Switcher. For more information on the Switcher operator, see Switching Between Sources.

Manually Updating Committed Footage

After changing the original operator (for example, modifying paint strokes in a Paint operator), you may want to update the committed footage. Changes made to the original operator are not automatically re-rendered for the committed clip.

You could delete the rendered (committed) clip on the hard disk, its Footage operator, and the Switcher operator (if one was created), and then commit to disk again.

However, it is faster to re-render the output of the original to disk using the same filename as the committed clip. This way, the Footage operator still refers to the same image sequence on disk, and you do not need to change the Switcher operator. The trick to this procedure is that you need to flush the RAM cache so that the Footage operator is forced to retrieve the updated clip from disk.

To manually update committed footage:

1. After you make changes to the original operator, show the Schematic view (F12).
2. Select the node for the original operator.
3. Right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Macintosh) the node, choose Add Render Output, and select a render preset.

An output node is added to the original operator.

Note: For this procedure, it is a good idea to make a render preset for your disk caching preferences. Name it "Commit Favorite" and then choose it in this step.

4. Double-click the output node to open the Render Queue dialog.
5. In the output list, make sure only the one output is enabled.
6. Click Filename and find the committed footage.

Make sure you are using the same path, name, and file format as the committed frames.

If you are using an image sequence format, remember to remove the [####] from the filename. An advantage of using an image sequence format is that you can also re-render a range of frames instead of the entire sequence. (For QuickTime and Video for Windows, you must render the entire clip.)

Note: If you use a specific folder as a "scratch disk" for rendered frames, it is easier to find the old committed footage.

7. Click Process, and then click OK if asked to overwrite the existing footage.

Since you are replacing footage, you must overwrite the old footage.

Note: If you are using an image sequence format, and you removed the [####] from the filename in step 6, you are not asked to overwrite because the name already differs from the saved sequence.

8. After the render is completed, click Close.

The old clip is still in memory, so the Footage operator does not show the new clip yet.

9. To update the committed Footage operator with the newly rendered images, right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Macintosh) the status bar in the lower right corner, choose Flush Cache, and then click OK to confirm.



The RAM cache is emptied, so the Footage operator retrieves the newly rendered frames from disk.