About Operators and Outputs

An operator is any element from a workspace that is to be rendered. An output is the set of output options for an operator. Both operators and outputs determine what the final rendering will be.

You can render an output for any operator in the process tree. For example, you can render a composite or a Paint branch; you can also render a Color Corrector operator that is mid-stream.

For a explanation of operators, image streams, branches, and the process tree, see About combustion.

When you open the Render Queue dialog in combustion, an output is automatically created for each branch in the process tree. The outputs appear in a queue and you can modify their settings before they are rendered.

While an operator represents what comes "in" to the queue, an output determines what is finally sent out of the queue. Outputs are assigned output settings for the operator, including the output file format and which frames to render.

You can create as many outputs as required for each operator, using any combination of output settings.

Note: In the Render Queue dialog, the operators appear in the same order as they do in the Workspace panel. They are rendered from the top of the list to the bottom. However, you can reorder them in the queue.

You can use presets and the Quick Setup tool to help you set up outputs quickly. You can render one or more of the outputs right away, or you can schedule them to be rendered later.