Contents

• Streamable media vs. media playable in RV
• Creating Versions playable on the Web and locally in RV
• Creating Web-playable Versions
  • Linked to a specific Asset, Shot, Level, or other Entity
  • For Artists: On the My Tasks page
  • For Artists: Toolkit Publish App
  • Media App
• Playing Versions

In Flow Production Tracking, when media is uploaded to the site, it generates a Version. Versions represent an Artist's iteration of a Task, usually also linked to a parent Asset or Shot. Once a Version is created, Flow Production Tracking has numerous tools for review, approval, and feedback.

There are a number of ways to create Versions, but first, it's important to understand the way Flow Production Tracking’s review tools work with Versions and the media they represent.

Streamable media vs. media playable in RV

When working with media in Flow Production Tracking, there are two main types of content to be aware of: Streaming and Local. Streaming media is content uploaded to Flow Production Tracking that can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection and viewed in a web browser or in RV. The media is transcoded and is a representation of the original source content. Local media is the original content that lives on your desktop or network. Since this media is full resolution and of the highest quality, current internet speeds make it prohibitive to upload to Flow Production Tracking due size. Local media is only viewable in RV.

All media you upload to Flow Production Tracking and RV is streamable. However, the Flow Production Tracking and RV integration reads paths to locally-stored media from the "Path to Frames" ( sg_path_to_frames ) and "Path to Movie" ( sg_path_to_movie ) fields on the Version. This is separate from the streamable media that's uploaded to the Flow Production Tracking server (to the "Uploaded Movie"/sg_uploaded_movie field on the Version), and automatically transcoded into web-streamable formats.

Creating Versions playable on the Web and locally in RV

Screening Room in RV has a Submit Tool, where you can submit a still frame, frame sequence, or a movie. Use the tool to submit your media, and it will create a new Version in Flow Production Tracking and automatically populate the correct path fields.

You'll see two options: My Tasks and Other. My Tasks provides quick access to a list of assigned tasks that you can use to submit work. If you're submitting work unrelated to an assigned task, you can jump to the Other tab and then fill out the fields with the appropriate links and information.

Additionally, you can Notify people or groups when submitting a Version. This will send a note to those users’ Flow Production Tracking inbox.

Once done, click the Submit button.

Note that there are some preferences specific to the Submit Tool in RV. These are accessible in the Flow Production Tracking web UI, from the Site Preferences Admin page.

Some studios also create their own submit tools utilizing Flow Production Tracking's Python API, which can handle both uploading media for web streaming and populating the path fields for RV playback. You can also use the Toolkit submission tools to create Versions with both types of media.

Creating Web-playable Versions

Linked to a specific Asset, Shot, Level, or other Entity

The easiest way to upload reference media or an artist's render that relates to a specific Asset, Shot, Level or other entity is via the Versions tab on the entity's Detail page. This will automatically link the Version you create to the entity you are viewing.

1. Switch to the "Versions" tab (or create a Versions tab in Design Mode if there's not one there already), and click the "+Version" button.

2. Drag your media (one or more movies or still images) into the box to queue it for uploading.

3. Fill out any other fields you would like to define, then click Create Version.

For Artists: On the My Tasks page

1. On the My Tasks page, select the Task you are working on, and the details will load in the right pane.

2. Go to the Activity tab, and find on the right the information about your assigned Task (the "Selected Task" box).

3. From the drop-down menu in the Selected Task box, choose "New Version."

4. Drag and drop your movie file, fill out any required fields, and click Create Version.

For Artists: Toolkit Publish App

Toolkit includes Publish Apps for most supported software. This allows your Artist to publish a Version directly from Maya, Nuke, Photoshop, etc.

Media App

If you just need to add a reference video or something to your Project quickly, use the Media App. You can drag and drop for movies or still images into projects, where they will be uploaded and transcoded automatically.

Playing Versions

When a movie is uploaded to Flow Production Tracking as a Version, it is automatically transcoded for streaming playback. Once transcoding completes, a play button will appear on the Version's thumbnail, which you can click for playback, annotation, and notes in the Flow Production Tracking Overlay Player. This also makes the Version available for review in the Media App.