Cleaning up clutter in the FX Bin

[D.T. Nethery]

Is there a way to make the FX added to the FX Bin project specific?

What I mean is this: as it is now when I add an FX to the FX Bin , it shows up in the list of saved FX in any subsequent (unrelated)projects I open. As time passes , adding various FX to the FX Bin will make the Bin quite cluttered. Is there a way to add FX to the Bin , but the added FX will only stay with a specific project file ? Maybe there is an existing way to do this which I have overlooked ? (even after many years of using this amazing software I'm still sometimes surprised by discovering TVPaint functions I never knew about ...)

For example, this screen shot shows my current FX Bin for the KeyFramer. It would be nice to clean up all this clutter if only the FX that were for a specific project showed up in the list (or perhaps there could be a system with sub-folders within the FX Bin , so the sub-folders could be named for specific projects, then the FX for a specific project saved in the designated Folder ...)

The workaround is to never Add any FX to the FX Bin , but instead to Export the FX and save them in a series of designated folders on my computer , then Import them back into the FX Stack as needed. This works , but it's an extra step , so it would be nice to either have a folders structure within the FX Bin or the option for saving specific FX into the Bin that will only show up in the specific project they are associated with. (if they need to be re-used in a different project then the Export-Import FX system can be used.)

.

[D.T. Nethery]

It would be nice to clean up all this clutter if only the FX that were for a specific project showed up in the list (or perhaps there could be a system with sub-folders within the FX Bin , so the sub-folders could be named for specific projects, then the FX for a specific project saved in the designated Folder ...)

What I meant by folders within the FX Bin might be similar to how you can create folders in the Library . (because this can be done for the Library, I'm hoping that Folders could be added to the FX Bin ? ) In the FX Bin the different folders can be used to organize saved FX coordinates from specific scenes, rather than have all the saved FX jumbled together in single list of FX in the Bin.

Screen Shot 2020-11-14 at 11.50.18 AM.jpg (46.51 KiB) Viewed 15021 times

Within each folder created in the FX Bin you could store dozens of FX that pertain to a specific TVPaint Project so you can click inside the folder to access those saved FX, instead of having them all on a single continuous list of FX saved in the Bin.

.

[D.T. Nethery]

Bump.

See above. Is it possible to add Folders to the FX Bin and FX Presets bin , to cut down on the clutter of having numerous saved FX in the bin ? In my current FX Bin I have over 100 saved FX configurations . It is tedious to scroll through the list to look for the saved FX I need. Folders would help to organize saved FX in a much more efficient manner.

As in this imagined screen shot of the FX Bin with folders. Click any of these folders to expand it and there can be multiple saved FX inside each folder. In the illustration I have named the folders by Scene number, but it need not be limited to naming the folders by Scene/Shot number or Sequence number. The Folders can be named anything the user prefers.

[Svengali]

+1 for sure.
It would also be helpful to add a few GEORGE script commands to read, saveto or deletefrom the FX bin and Preset bin so we could design our own FX manager scripts.

The purging process for residual FX in the FX bin is clunky to say the least.

sven

[Thierry]

Adding folders in the FXBin is likely not doable.

George commands to have an easier management of the FXBin presets, on the other hand, should be doable.
Definitely not for 11.5.2 though, we'll see what we can do for 11.5.3.

[Peter Wassink]

Because The FX's in TVPaint are destructive it is all the more important to be able to streamline and organize FX's in the stack.

It should be made as easy as possible to add and/or combine stacks from various projects.
So a way to add a previous stack to the current one, without replacing it would be very valuable!


(Still; folders, colorcoding individual Fx's, tabs in the stack, and folders yes!... will remain on my wishlist. )

[Padruig]

+1 for George commands

I will often export my FXBin settings to a scene specific folder so that my list doesn't become cluttered. But when you select export and save the .bin file to a folder on your hard drive for use later, TVPaint will still save those settings within the preset list too. So you end up deleting it from the list even though you exported it and not added it to the list.

Same thing with importing a saved .bin file from your hard drive. The imported FX automatically gets added and saved to the list. Which means again having to delete it to keep a well managed list.

Exported or Imported FX will get added to the list with a .bin on the end of the name so it is at least easy to see at a glance which FX you have added vs imported or exported.

[Svengali]

Padruig makes an important, critical comment here:

+1 for George commands

I will often export my FXBin settings to a scene specific folder so that my list doesn't become cluttered. But when you select export and save the .bin file to a folder on your hard drive for use later, TVPaint will still save those settings within the preset list too. So you end up deleting it from the list even though you exported it and not added it to the list.

Same thing with importing a saved .bin file from your hard drive. The imported FX automatically gets added and saved to the list. Which means again having to delete it to keep a well managed list.

Exported or Imported FX will get added to the list with a .bin on the end of the name so it is at least easy to see at a glance which FX you have added vs imported or exported.

This is so annoying, mostly because the cleanup "delete" process of the Preset list is so clumsy. And if you are doing more complex FX processing involving files from disk, you can end up with 10 or 20 copies of the same FX in the Preset list, all with exactly the same name but each copy might very well have different parameters. Crazy.

The default mode for auto-inserting copies of loaded or saved FX into the Preset list should minimally offer a setting for users to turn the default mode on or off, especially if some GEORGE commands are eventually added for managing FX files. Thanks.

SPECIAL CAUTION: By the way, I think there is a way to edit or purge part or all of the Preset list, but that can have serious consequences if the list also contains FX that are called by button/scripts, especially with multiple copies of the same file name... and once you manage to disconnect a button from a specific FX file in the list, you have to MANUALLY re-attach it, and you likely will only discover the button function is gone at a later time.

sven