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Ability to create and version scenes files that are not supported by Prism

TechMenhirFX@valdomenhirfx
108 Posts
#1 · 1. September 2020, 14:32

Hello Richard !

While working with Prism, we encountered an issue that might be easy to fix.

We are working with several software that are not supported by Prism (Substance, After Effects, Premiere etc), and we thought that it could be really interesting to be able to save them using the standalone version of Prism.

The idea would be the next :

In 00_Pipeline/EmptyScenes, we could create any empty file of any app, and being able to create it with the right click > create new version from preset mecanism.

Opening the file would be available using the default OS open file, versioning up the file is already available in the standalone version as Copy / Paste as a new version (but it would be awesome to have the option "version up current file".

Why would it be great ?

Every files would be at the same place, the naming convention would be done by Prism (less human error) and any files types could be used, even if there is no Prism support for them.

I have the feeling that everything needed is almost there. Maybe an extension (or software) column would help (for now the different scene files types are color coded, but the "other" type gray, so there would be no way to be able to differentiate them)

What do you think about it ? Would it be difficult to implement ?

Have a good day,

ValDo

 

mooopstar@mooopstar
22 Posts
#2 · 1. September 2020, 15:12

Double thumbs up from my side for this idea.

RichardF@richardf
1,109 Posts
#3 · 2. September 2020, 16:41

Yes, everything needed is almost there.

If any file follows the naming convention of the Prism scenefiles it will show up in the Project Browser. Even unrecognized file extensions can be executed, but currently only from the standalone Project Browser.

Setting a color for an app extension is quite easy, by creating a new app plugin:

  • In the Prism Settings create a new plugin in the "Plugins" tab
  • Set the name for example to "AfterEffects" and the type to "App"
  • Click create, which will open the folder with the plugin scripts
  • Open "Prism_AfterEffects_Variables.py" in a text editor
  • Set the sceneFormats variable to "[".aep"]"
  • Set the appColor variable to any rgb value you like (like [120, 120, 200])
  • Save the file and press "Reload all plugins" in the Prism Settings

Then you have all your .aep files colored in the Project Browser and you can open them from the standalone Browser.

Does that work for you?

What could be improved is:

  • all files could be visible in the Project Browser even if they don't match the naming convention
  • opening other files also from the Project Browser inside any DCC
  • the "version up current file" option you mentioned

How important are these points to you?

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Last edited on 2. September 2020, 16:43 by RichardF
TechMenhirFX@valdomenhirfx
108 Posts
Topic Author
#4 · 7. September 2020, 11:26

Hello Richard !

Thanks a lot for the message, it is super useful !

For those who read : If you need to deploy it to your site and not only on a machine, you can copy paste the plugin folder from C:\Prism\Plugins\Apps\YourPluginName to yourPrismProject/00_Pipeline/Plugins

As for what would be improved :

  • all files could be visible in the Project Browser even if they don't match the naming convention > Not a big fan of this idea since it could be hard to ensure that the artists would have too much freedom for the naming convention.
  • opening other files also from the Project Browser inside any DCC > It could be great but I'm not sure that I would use it a lot.
  • the "version up current file" option you mentioned > That would be really interesting to have !

Thanks a lot !