Consolidate & Transcode

Nara provides two functions which can be used to create copies of your media:

• Consolidate - copies selected media files into a single destination folder enabling you to bring all the media for a particular project into one common location. For example, you can use this function to only copy the media which is actually used and leave out any bad takes.

• Transcode - similar to Consolidate but the media is converted into a different format and resolution during the copy process. This is useful for creating viewing copies or review movies from high resolution master media. It can also be used to convert source media files into image sequences for delivery to VFX for example.

Consolidating Media Files

First you need to select the media file(s) you want to consolidate - they can all be within the same folder or spread across multiple folders on different volumes. Your selection will be shown by the blue outlines around the thumbnails (or the blue shaded background of the rows in the media browser list view. Note that non-media files cannot be consolidated).

Right click on any of the clips in the selection and select Consolidate & Transcode from the pop-up menu:

The Consolidate & Transcode view will appear in a floating window:

The left-hand side of the window provides a list of presets which you can choose by clicking on them. These are arranged into a hierarchy - Factory > Site > Project > Current > User. You can change the selected level in the hierarchy by clicking on the button at the top of the list. There is also an 'Include Presets Above' option - if enabled, the preset list will show presets at the current level as well as any parent presets. In the above example it is only showing Project presets with 'Cons. To Selects' chosen.

The settings from the preset are shown in the main part of the window. Note that by default they are locked to prevent you from modifying them. However, if you want to change any of the settings from their preset values you can click on the Unlock button below the preset list:

Normally it is a good idea to use presets without modifying them as this will give you consistent results within a project. However, during the planning stages it may be necessary to create several different presets to support your workflow - this can be done using the '+ Create' button.

Once you have the correct settings for the consolidation operation, click on the Submit Consolidate button at the bottom right corner of the window.

Consolidate Settings

Note that the settings available are different for Consolidate and Transcode operations - use the Action buttons to switch between the required operation.

Output Directory (this is the target location into which the selected media files will be copied. You can either manually enter a path, browse for a folder by clicking on the green browser button or build up the path using template blocks by clicking on the '+▼' button).

Directory Prune Depth (The number of sub-folders or directories which will be removed from the top of the path for each file which is copied. A value of 0 will not remove anything from the path so the copied files will all include the entire path from the original source - including the volume name. In the example above 2 directories are pruned so "/vol/moaf-images/" will be removed from the copied path)

Example (this shows an example of which directories will be included in the paths for files copied to the new location).

The lower part of the window provides feedback showing the progress of the copy operation.

When you submit a consolidate operation it is added to the queue of tasks which are processed in the background by Nara. You can monitor these background processes by clicking on the 'Q' button next to the progress bar at the bottom of this window:

Transcoding Media

The process of selecting the media you want to transcode is the same as selecting media to be consolidated. Once you have the selection you want and have opened the Consolidate & Transcode window you need to select a preset transcoding operation from the list on the left.

If there are no transcoding operations set up as presets then you can create one by clicking on the '+ Create' button at the bottom of the list. This will pop up a box where you enter the preset name and also decide its 'Scope' or level in the preset hierarchy.

When creating new presets, you may wish to include 'Cons.' or 'Trns.' as part of the preset name so you can tell at a glance what type of preset it is. Note that the preset also includes the destination folder path so you may also want to add something to the name which indicates the destination for the copied media files.

Make sure that the 'Unlock' button is active at the bottom of the presets list and then choose either Transcode to Sequences or Transcode to Movies using the 'Action' buttons at the top of the window:

Transcode Settings

The Output Directory (destination folder) and Directory Prune Depth settings are the same as for consolidate mode, the rest of the options differ slightly depending in whether you are creating image sequences or movies:

File Name Template (use building blocks from the '+▼' button to set up a template for the transcoded files. The drop-down list allows you to include various metadata from the input media. The button to the right selects the file name extension as either lower or upper case - note that this extension is set according to the type of file being created)

Example (the template settings and pruned directory path are used to provide an example of the output file - this will update live as you make changes to the settings above so you can try different template options and check they give you the filename you expect)

Render Format (the format - i.e. pixel resolution and aspect ratio - if the transcoded media files. By default the output media will match the input media in terms of its H x V pixels, click on this button for a drop-down list of other formats. It is also possible to make custom formats).

Render Colour Space (this is the colour space of the transcoded media. The default is to create files which have the same colour space as the original media, click on this button for a list of different colour spaces).

If you are creating transcoded footage to be viewed in a media player then you should choose a 'Display-referred' colour space such as Rec.1886: 2.4 Gamma / Rec.709 (for standard 'Rec.709' viewing) or Rec.2100: ST 2084 PQ / Rec.2020 / 1000 Nits (for HDR viewing). The 'Scene-referred' colour spaces are intended for media which will be used as a source for further processing within the production pipeline such as VFX shots.

File Type (this button gives you either a list of the image sequence file types or movie 'container' files depending on whether you selected Transcode to Sequences or Transcode to Movies)

Depending on the File Type chosen for the transcoded media there may be additional options available such as Codec or Compression and 'Video LUT' which sets the output video range to 'full' or 'legal range'. You should check on the requirements of your workflow to confirm the correct settings here.

Metadata (the final option will also depend on the type of media files you are creating - it is used to select the metadata which will be added to the transcoded files)

The example below shows a transcode preset which will create HD (1920x1080) sized ProRes 422 HQ QuickTime files with a 'Rec.709' colour space. The metadata in the transcoded files will match the original timecode, tape names and clip names from the master media files: