Basic features missing

Started by dzigakaiser, September 09, 2018, 02:13:16 pm

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Hello there,

it seems to me that a lot of very basic workflow/pipeline related features are either missing or there's no documentation about them.
It would be awesome if someone could help me out with my questions or has ideas how to solve my scenarios.

1. Can someone tell me if there are other variables to be used in the output file name except for "IMAGETYPE". Is there a variable for the scene file name like "FILENAME" for example?

2. It would be nice if TG4 would create the output directory and not just throw warnings after the rendering is done that the folder does not exist. In combination with "1" this would result in very clean and fast output namings like "Drive/Folder/SCENEFILE.IMAGETYPE.%04d.exr" as an example. Since in production there are a lot of versions the current way of handling the naming convention gets very tedious when you have to create the directory by hand for each file version.

3. Is there any scripting support still on the road map? I found some threads about it which were up to 9 years old but it seems it never managed to get implemented or am I wrong? Since python is incredibly powerful and very common in all major VFX packages, adding such a feature would greatly increase TG's value in a production environment IMO. I like to automate as much as I can to spend more time on the important things and I am sure there are others out there who have a similar mindset.

4. This probably goes hand in hand with scripting but I was wondering if you can somehow control nodes' input fields by other operators (e.g. pipe the PF output vector into the lean direction of a "twist and shear" node), referencing one node's values in other nodes' parameters so to say. Being used to Houdini's procedural workflows I was a little surprised to see that I cannot "use everything to drive everything". Or atleast I am hoping that I simply didn't find out yet how it works. Any input on this is very much appreciated.

5. It has been posted here a few times I think but I want to add a +1 from my side regarding this. The render view is suprisingly minimalistic and it would be extremely helpful to get basic functions like saving the current render to an image buffer with the click of a button and the possibility to quickly wipe or switch back and forth between different renderings.
Additionally, it would be nice that when you change the crop region after you rendered an image it rerenders the new region without deleting the image buffer. So you could render the full image once and then do cropped previews while still keeping the old render outside the new render region. As of now I am already using Windows snipping tool to create a quick screenshot and put it next to the render view. It feels like being thrown back in time 15 years^^

Those were some of the questions I came across and I was wondering if you have ideas or if some of the features might find their way into a future release.
Any pointers are very much appreciated!

Take care,


Hi Dziga, I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.

1: No, this is not available at the moment.

2: We don't have automatic folder creation except for render element sub-folders.

3: We have an SDK, which you can request access to, but it is C++, not Python. We don't have immediate plans to add Python but it's in long-term consideration.

4: This is not possible, however certain settings are exposed for input from other nodes, such as specific cloud and atmosphere inputs to drive e.g. shadow color. There is no general capability for "use everything to drive everything", though the idea has certainly been discussed before.

5: We do have plans to improve the render view this year. Reference this thread for specific 2018 plans, some of which are already available, others of which (e.g. Pathtracing) are coming soon:,24058.0.html

- Oshyan


Hi Oshyan,

thank you very much for the fast reply.

I see I will have to manage without most of those features for now ^.^
The SDK sounds like something I might contact you about one day. For now, I will stick to manual labour instead:)

I am glad to hear an updated render view is in the works!

Take care,


Where is this SDK and where is the documentation (in TG3)? I've searched the whole installation and I googles for it, but beside some entries in the forum naming it, and the fbxsdk-2013.2.dll , there seems to be nothing.


Quote from: phx on April 17, 2019, 06:56:39 pm

The SDK is currently available by request-only. Get in touch with us with some info on what you're interested in doing with it and we can discuss. contact AT

- Oshyan