File Manager: Advanced Topics

File Manager: Advanced Topics

OPEN THE FILE MANAGER MODULE

Select {Show > File Manager} or press [Alt+F].

1. Import and Convert an HDR File

1. Click the [gearbox icon] to open the File Manager Settings.

2. Activate the [GPU Conversion] toggle.

3. Click on the [Import] button located in the top left corner of the File Manager window.

4. A dialog box will pop up, allowing you to search for and select the HDR file you want to import into your PHOTON Project.

5. Once all of your files are selected, click on the [Open] button.

2. Import and Convert a File Sequence

1. Click the [gearbox icon] to open the File Manager Settings.

2. Make sure the Enable Image Sequence box is checked.

3. Select a frame rate from the Frame-Rate (Override) dropdown menu.

4. In the File Manager module, select [insert import icon] or press [Ctrl+shift+I].

5. Use the Windows file dialog to select all the files in the Sequence.

6. Click on the [Open] button.

7. In the Import Image Sequence dialog box, select [as sequence].

A File Sequence is recognized by PHOTON if the files names end with explicit sequential numbering.

3. Splitting

When dealing with very large media files and screens, a user may have to split the content in order to be able to play it back and apply crossfades between files. The splitting function will split media files during conversion, and only select the portions of the media files needed by the servers for playback.

Splitting Prerequisites To split and distribute the portions of the media files needed in each server, the following elements have to be set up in the project:

• The Screen is instantiated in the 3D Scene;

• The outputs are set correctly on each Server;

• The projectors assigned to the server outputs are calibrated with the Screen;

• The Screen’s [Splitting] toggle is activated through the {Properties > Blending Options} panel in the 3D Scene module.

Apply Splitting

1. To use the Splitting function while importing content, open the File Manager Settings. Click the [gearbox icon].

2. Select the Screen in the Splitting dropdown menu. A Screen will only appear in this menu if its [Splitting] toggle is activated in the 3D Scene module through the {Properties & Blending Options} panel.

3. In the File Manager module, select [insert import icon] or press [Ctrl+Shift+I]. Use the Windows file dialog to select the file(s).

4. Click on the [Open] button.

Every file imported into the File Manager will be split if a Screen is selected in the Splitting dropdown menu. Make sure to select {No Splitting} as soon as you are done importing files you wish to split.

4. Use the Watch Folder

A Watch Folder is a directory that's specified to be polled periodically by PHOTON for new content. The media files in the watch folder will be automatically imported and converted.

1. Open the File Manager Settings. Click the [gearbox icon].

2. Under Watch Folder Directory, select the [folder icon].

3. Use the dialog window to select the directory.

4. Click [select folder].

5. Under “Check folder at time interval (min)”, use the text box to set the time interval (in minutes) between polls.

6. Use the Conflict options dropdown menu to select one of these options:

   • {Ask}: Open a dialog box for each file conflict and manually choose to overwrite or keep existing files.

   • {Overwrite}: For each file conflict, overwrite the existing file.

   • {Keep existing file}: For each file conflict, keep the existing file.

7. Use the Media Playlist Selected dropdown menu to import the files from the Watch Folder to a specific playlist.

8. Activate the [Enable Watch Folder] toggle.

9. To pause the Watch Folder behavior, disable the [Enable Watch Folder] toggle in the File Manager Settings or click the Watch Folder Status toggle [insert pause icon] in the File Manager module.

Related Documentation

File Manager