Batch Export Stills Broken in FCP5?

In FCPHD you used to be able to batch export stills by setting markers in your clip
1) Choose a clip, put in markers where you want to export
2) open the export queue window (window -> export queue)
3) drag the markers into the queue window
4) select the batch folder in the queue window, and change the settings to your specs.
5) export
I can't seem to get this to work now - it just makes the markers subclips in the queue even when I set it to export stills it just gives me a white still.
Does this no longer work in FCP5 or am I forgetting something?
Dual 1Ghz G4 Quicksilver Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Thought I'd give this another try now that everybody's back from holiday.
Can anybody confirm that you can't export stills this way from FCP5 or that you can from FCP4.5?

Similar Messages

How to Batch Export Wide Still images

Hello,
I'm currently working on a project that uses Widescreen. I have no problems exporting the movie project to DVDstudio pro file, but when I try to Batch Export the Still Clips I took, it makes it into 4:3 size, rather than 16:9. Because of this, pictures look squished. How would I fix this since I didn't see any options in Batch Export for wide.
I'm using Final Cut Pro 5.0.4

As mentioned above, that is a possibility. You haven't said how you plan to use them. If quality is paramount I would advise against doing a "destructive" stretch on them unless you're moving them to a final definitive size as in web graphics. There's little enough resolution in SD video to start with.
If you're using them in the print world they will fare much better if they are stretched within the production app. Just ignore the aspect ratio and tell it they're an inch by 9/16ths, or 16x9 cm, or whatever system you're working with.
If you dig around in Photoshop, they have a system to identify and deal with with NTSC tall pixels, perhaps they have one for anamorphic as well. More confusing than helpful to me.

How batch export layers to files png in cc

I am having trouble with an export layers to files script i am wanting to batch export layer to png and this script i have seems to be the one i want although every time i run the script i get this error message "could not complete the action since the destination folder doesn't exist" the script required me to hard code my destination path the path i require is "C:/Users/Tim/Desktop/Backdrops/png/" I am not completely sure why its stating it does not exist any help would be greatly appreciated. i have tried to contact the creator but the post it was on was very old.
// enable double clicking from the Macintosh Finder or the Windows Explorer
#target photoshop
//=================================================================
// Globals
//=================================================================
var exportPath = "/Users/pedr/Documents/Work/Clients/Pathways/Learning_Hub/Source/Comics/export";
exportPath = exportPath + '/layers';
// UI strings to be localized
var strTitle = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Title=X2L");
var strButtonRun = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Run=Run");
var strButtonCancel = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Cancel=Cancel");
var strHelpText = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Help=Please specify the format and location for saving each layer as a file.");
var strLabelDestination = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Destination=Destination:");
var strButtonBrowse = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Browse=&Browse...");
var strLabelFileNamePrefix = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/FileNamePrefix=File Name Prefix:");
var strCheckboxVisibleOnly = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/VisibleOnly=&Visible Layers Only");
var strLabelFileType = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/FileType=File Type:");
var strCheckboxIncludeICCProfile = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/IncludeICC=&Include ICC Profile");
var strJPEGOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/JPEGOptions=JPEG Options:");
var strLabelQuality = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Quality=Quality:");
var strCheckboxMaximizeCompatibility = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Maximize=&Maximize Compatibility");
var strTIFFOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/TIFFOptions=TIFF Options:");
var strLabelImageCompression = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/ImageCompression=Image Compression:");
var strNone = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/None=None");
var strPDFOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/PDFOptions=PDF Options:");
var strLabelEncoding = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Encoding=Encoding:");
var strTargaOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/TargaOptions=Targa Options:");
var strLabelDepth = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Depth=Depth:");
var strRadiobutton16bit = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Bit16=16bit");
var strRadiobutton24bit = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Bit24=24bit");
var strRadiobutton32bit = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Bit32=32bit");
var strBMPOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/BMPOptions=BMP Options:");
var strAlertSpecifyDestination = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/SpecifyDestination=Please specify destination.");
var strAlertDestinationNotExist = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/DestionationDoesNotExist=Destination does not exist.");
var strTitleSelectDestination = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/SelectDestination=Select Destination");
var strAlertDocumentMustBeOpened = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/OneDocument=You must have a document open to export!");
var strAlertNeedMultipleLayers = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/NoLayers=You need a document with multiple layers to export!");
var strAlertWasSuccessful = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Success= was successful.");
var strUnexpectedError = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Unexpected=Unexpected error");
var strMessage = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Message=X2L");
var stretQuality = localize( "$$$/locale_specific/JavaScripts/X2L/ETQualityLength=30" );
var stretDestination = localize( "$$$/locale_specific/JavaScripts/X2L/ETDestinationLength=160" );
var strddFileType = localize( "$$$/locale_specific/JavaScripts/X2L/DDFileType=100" );
var strpnlOptions = localize( "$$$/locale_specific/JavaScripts/X2L/PNLOptions=100" );
var strPNG8Options = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/PNG8Options=PNG-8 Options:");
var strCheckboxPNGTransparency = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Transparency=Transparency");
var strCheckboxPNGInterlaced = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Interlaced=Interlaced");
var strCheckboxPNGTrm = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Trim=Trim Layers");
var strPNG24Options = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/PNG24Options=PNG-24 Options:");
// the drop down list indexes for file type
var png24Index = 7;
main();
// Functions
// Function: main
// Usage: the core routine for this script
// Input: <none>
// Return: <none>
function main() {
    if ( app.documents.length <= 0 ) {
        if ( DialogModes.NO != app.playbackDisplayDialogs ) {
            alert( strAlertDocumentMustBeOpened );
        return 'cancel'; // quit, returning 'cancel' (dont localize) makes the actions palette not record our script
    var exportInfo = new Object();
    initExportInfo(exportInfo);
    // look for last used params via Photoshop registry, getCustomOptions will throw if none exist
    try {
    catch(e) {
        // it's ok if we don't have any options, continue with defaults
    try {
        var docName = app.activeDocument.name; // save the app.activeDocument name before duplicate.
        var layerCount = app.documents[docName].layers.length;
        var layerSetsCount = app.documents[docName].layerSets.length;
        if ((layerCount <= 1)&&(layerSetsCount <= 0)) {
            if ( DialogModes.NO != app.playbackDisplayDialogs ) {
                alert( strAlertNeedMultipleLayers );
            return 'cancel'; // quit, returning 'cancel' (dont localize) makes the actions palette not record our script
        } else {
            var rememberMaximize;
            var needMaximize = exportInfo.psdMaxComp ? QueryStateType.ALWAYS : QueryStateType.NEVER;
            app.activeDocument = app.documents[docName];
            var duppedDocument = app.activeDocument.duplicate();
            duppedDocument.activeLayer = duppedDocument.layers[duppedDocument.layers.length-1]; // for removing
            setInvisibleAllArtLayers(duppedDocument);
            exportChildren(duppedDocument, app.documents[docName], exportInfo, duppedDocument, exportInfo.fileNamePrefix);
            duppedDocument.close( SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES );
            if ( rememberMaximize != undefined ) {
                app.preferences.maximizeCompatibility = rememberMaximize;
            if ( DialogModes.ALL == app.playbackDisplayDialogs ) {
                //alert(strTitle + strAlertWasSuccessful);
            app.playbackDisplayDialogs = DialogModes.ALL;
    } catch (e) {
        if ( DialogModes.NO != app.playbackDisplayDialogs ) {
            alert(e);
        return 'cancel'; // quit, returning 'cancel' (dont localize) makes the actions palette not record our script
// Function: settingDialog
// Usage: pop the ui and get user settings
// Input: exportInfo object containing our parameters
// Return: on ok, the dialog info is set to the exportInfo object
function settingDialog(exportInfo) {
return;
// Function: hideAllFileTypePanel
// Usage: hide all the panels in the common actions
// Input: <none>, dlgMain is a global for this script
// Return: <none>, all panels are now hidden
function hideAllFileTypePanel() {
// Function: initExportInfo
// Usage: create our default parameters
// Input: a new Object
// Return: a new object with params set to default
function initExportInfo(exportInfo) {
    //exportInfo.destination = new String(exportPath);
    exportInfo.fileNamePrefix = new String("untitled_");
    exportInfo.visibleOnly = false;
    exportInfo.fileType = png24Index;
    exportInfo.icc = true;
    exportInfo.png24Transparency = true;
    exportInfo.png24Interlaced = false;
    exportInfo.png24Trim = true;
    try {
        exportInfo.destination = Folder(new String(exportPath)).fsName; // destination folder
        var tmp = app.activeDocument.fullName.name;
        exportInfo.fileNamePrefix = decodeURI(tmp.substring(0, tmp.indexOf("."))); // filename body part
    } catch(someError) {
        exportInfo.destination = new String(exportPath);
        exportInfo.fileNamePrefix = app.activeDocument.name; // filename body part
// Function: saveFile
// Usage: the worker routine, take our params and save the file accordingly
// Input: reference to the document, the name of the output file,
//        export info object containing more information
// Return: <none>, a file on disk
function saveFile( docRef, fileNameBody, exportInfo) {
            saveFile(docRef, fileNameBody, exportInfo, false, true);
            function saveFile( docRef, fileNameBody, exportInfo, interlacedValue, transparencyValue) {
            var id6 = charIDToTypeID( "Expr" );
                var desc3 = new ActionDescriptor();
                var id7 = charIDToTypeID( "Usng" );
                    var desc4 = new ActionDescriptor();
                    var id8 = charIDToTypeID( "Op " );
                    var id9 = charIDToTypeID( "SWOp" );
                    var id10 = charIDToTypeID( "OpSa" );
                    desc4.putEnumerated( id8, id9, id10 );
                    var id11 = charIDToTypeID( "Fmt " );
                    var id12 = charIDToTypeID( "IRFm" );
                    var id13 = charIDToTypeID( "PN24" );
                    desc4.putEnumerated( id11, id12, id13 );
                    var id14 = charIDToTypeID( "Intr" );
                    desc4.putBoolean( id14, interlacedValue );
                    var id15 = charIDToTypeID( "Trns" );
                    desc4.putBoolean( id15, transparencyValue );
                    var id16 = charIDToTypeID( "Mtt " );
                    desc4.putBoolean( id16, true );
                    var id17 = charIDToTypeID( "MttR" );
                    desc4.putInteger( id17, 255 );
                    var id18 = charIDToTypeID( "MttG" );
                    desc4.putInteger( id18, 255 );
                    var id19 = charIDToTypeID( "MttB" );
                    desc4.putInteger( id19, 255 );
                    var id20 = charIDToTypeID( "SHTM" );
                    desc4.putBoolean( id20, false );
                    var id21 = charIDToTypeID( "SImg" );
                    desc4.putBoolean( id21, true );
                    var id22 = charIDToTypeID( "SSSO" );
                    desc4.putBoolean( id22, false );
                    var id23 = charIDToTypeID( "SSLt" );
                        var list1 = new ActionList();
                    desc4.putList( id23, list1 );
                    var id24 = charIDToTypeID( "DIDr" );
                    desc4.putBoolean( id24, false );
                    var id25 = charIDToTypeID( "In " );
                    desc4.putPath( id25, new File( exportPath + "C:/Users/Tim/Desktop/Backdrops/png/" + fileNameBody + ".png") );
                var id26 = stringIDToTypeID( "SaveForWeb" );
                desc3.putObject( id7, id26, desc4 );
            executeAction( id6, desc3, DialogModes.NO );
// Function: zeroSuppress
// Usage: return a string padded to digit(s)
// Input: num to convert, digit count needed
// Return: string padded to digit length
function zeroSuppress (num, digit) {
    var tmp = num.toString();
    while (tmp.length < digit) {
        tmp = "0" + tmp;
    return tmp;
// Function: setInvisibleAllArtLayers
// Usage: unlock and make invisible all art layers, recursively
// Input: document or layerset
// Return: all art layers are unlocked and invisible
function setInvisibleAllArtLayers(obj) {
    for( var i = 0; i < obj.artLayers.length; i++) {
        obj.artLayers[i].allLocked = false;
        obj.artLayers[i].visible = false;
    for( var i = 0; i < obj.layerSets.length; i++) {
        setInvisibleAllArtLayers(obj.layerSets[i]);
// Function: removeAllInvisibleArtLayers
// Usage: remove all the invisible art layers, recursively
// Input: document or layer set
// Return: <none>, all layers that were invisible are now gone
function removeAllInvisibleArtLayers(obj) {
    for( var i = obj.artLayers.length-1; 0 <= i; i--) {
        try {
            if(!obj.artLayers[i].visible) {
                obj.artLayers[i].remove();
        catch (e) {
    for( var i = obj.layerSets.length-1; 0 <= i; i--) {
        removeAllInvisibleArtLayers(obj.layerSets[i]);
// Function: removeAllEmptyLayerSets
// Usage: find all empty layer sets and remove them, recursively
// Input: document or layer set
// Return: empty layer sets are now gone
function removeAllEmptyLayerSets(obj) {
    var foundEmpty = true;
    for( var i = obj.layerSets.length-1; 0 <= i; i--) {
        if( removeAllEmptyLayerSets(obj.layerSets[i])) {
            obj.layerSets[i].remove();
        } else {
            foundEmpty = false;
    if (obj.artLayers.length > 0) {
        foundEmpty = false;
    return foundEmpty;
// Function: zeroSuppress
// Usage: return a string padded to digit(s)
// Input: num to convert, digit count needed
// Return: string padded to digit length
function removeAllInvisible(docRef) {
    removeAllInvisibleArtLayers(docRef);
    removeAllEmptyLayerSets(docRef);
// Function: exportChildren
// Usage: find all the children in this document to save
// Input: duplicate document, original document, export info,
//        reference to document, starting file name
// Return: <none>, documents are saved accordingly
function exportChildren(dupObj, orgObj, exportInfo, dupDocRef, fileNamePrefix) {
    for( var i = 0; i < dupObj.artLayers.length; i++) {
        if (exportInfo.visibleOnly) { // visible layer only
            if (!orgObj.artLayers[i].visible) {
                continue;
        dupObj.artLayers[i].visible = true;
        var layerName = dupObj.artLayers[i].name; // store layer name before change doc
        var duppedDocumentTmp = dupDocRef.duplicate();
        if ((png24Index == exportInfo.fileType)||(png8Index == exportInfo.fileType)) { // PSD: Keep transparency
            removeAllInvisible(duppedDocumentTmp);
            //PNGFileOptions
                    if (activeDocument.activeLayer.isBackgroundLayer == false) { //is it anything but a background layer?
                        app.activeDocument.trim(TrimType.TRANSPARENT);
        } else { // just flatten
            duppedDocumentTmp.flatten();
        // Edit
        var docName = app.activeDocument.name;
        // For some reason indexOf fails if we include the '-', so we use 'copy' and decrement the index by 1.
        docName = docName.slice(0, docName.indexOf('copy')-1);
        var fileNameBody = (docName+'_'+layerName).toLowerCase();
        fileNameBody = fileNameBody.replace(/[:\/\\*\?\"\<\>\|]/g, "_"); // '/\:*?"<>|' -> '_'
        if (fileNameBody.length > 120) {
            fileNameBody = fileNameBody.substring(0,120);
        saveFile(duppedDocumentTmp, fileNameBody, exportInfo);
        duppedDocumentTmp.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);
        dupObj.artLayers[i].visible = false;
    for( var i = 0; i < dupObj.layerSets.length; i++) {
        if (exportInfo.visibleOnly) { // visible layer only
            if (!orgObj.layerSets[i].visible) {
                continue;
        var fileNameBody = fileNamePrefix;
        fileNameBody += "_" + zeroSuppress(i, 4) + "s";
        exportChildren(dupObj.layerSets[i], orgObj.layerSets[i], exportInfo, dupDocRef, fileNameBody); // recursive call
// Function: objectToDescriptor
// Usage: create an ActionDescriptor from a JavaScript Object
// Input: JavaScript Object (o)
//        object unique string (s)
//        Pre process converter (f)
// Return: ActionDescriptor
// NOTE: Only boolean, string, number and UnitValue are supported, use a pre processor
//       to convert (f) other types to one of these forms.
// REUSE: This routine is used in other scripts. Please update those if you
//        modify. I am not using include or eval statements as I want these
//        scripts self contained.
function objectToDescriptor (o, s, f) {
    o = {};
    var d = new ActionDescriptor;
    var l = o.reflect.properties.length;
    d.putString( app.charIDToTypeID( 'Msge' ), s );
    for (var i = 0; i < l; i++ ) {
        var k = o.reflect.properties[i].toString();
        if (k == "__proto__" || k == "__count__" || k == "__class__" || k == "reflect")
            continue;
        var v = o[ k ];
        k = app.stringIDToTypeID(k);
        switch ( typeof(v) ) {
            case "boolean":
                d.putBoolean(k, v);
                break;
            case "string":
                d.putString(k, v);
                break;
            case "number":
                d.putDouble(k, v);
                break;
            default:
                if ( v instanceof UnitValue ) {
                    var uc = new Object;
                    uc["px"] = charIDToTypeID("#Rlt"); // unitDistance
                    uc["%"] = charIDToTypeID("#Prc"); // unitPercent
                    d.putUnitDouble(k, uc[v.type], v.value);
                } else {
                    throw( new Error("Unsupported type in objectToDescriptor " + typeof(v) ) );
    return d;
// Function: descriptorToObject
// Usage: update a JavaScript Object from an ActionDescriptor
// Input: JavaScript Object (o), current object to update (output)
//        Photoshop ActionDescriptor (d), descriptor to pull new params for object from
//        object unique string (s)
//        JavaScript Function (f), post process converter utility to convert
// Return: Nothing, update is applied to passed in JavaScript Object (o)
// NOTE: Only boolean, string, number and UnitValue are supported, use a post processor
//       to convert (f) other types to one of these forms.
// REUSE: This routine is used in other scripts. Please update those if you
//        modify. I am not using include or eval statements as I want these
//        scripts self contained.
function descriptorToObject (o, d, s, f) {
    var l = d.count;
    if (l) {
        var keyMessage = app.charIDToTypeID( 'Msge' );
        if ( d.hasKey(keyMessage) && ( s != d.getString(keyMessage) )) return;
    for (var i = 0; i < l; i++ ) {
        var k = d.getKey(i); // i + 1 ?
        var t = d.getType(k);
        strk = app.typeIDToStringID(k);
        switch (t) {
            case DescValueType.BOOLEANTYPE:
                o[strk] = d.getBoolean(k);
                break;
            case DescValueType.STRINGTYPE:
                o[strk] = d.getString(k);
                break;
            case DescValueType.DOUBLETYPE:
                o[strk] = d.getDouble(k);
                break;
            case DescValueType.UNITDOUBLE:
                var uc = new Object;
                uc[charIDToTypeID("#Rlt")] = "px"; // unitDistance
                uc[charIDToTypeID("#Prc")] = "%"; // unitPercent
                uc[charIDToTypeID("#Pxl")] = "px"; // unitPixels
                var ut = d.getUnitDoubleType(k);
                var uv = d.getUnitDoubleValue(k);
                o[strk] = new UnitValue( uv, uc[ut] );
                break;
            case DescValueType.INTEGERTYPE:
            case DescValueType.ALIASTYPE:
            case DescValueType.CLASSTYPE:
            case DescValueType.ENUMERATEDTYPE:
            case DescValueType.LISTTYPE:
            case DescValueType.OBJECTTYPE:
            case DescValueType.RAWTYPE:
            case DescValueType.REFERENCETYPE:
            default:
                throw( new Error("Unsupported type in descriptorToObject " + t ) );
    if (undefined != f) {
        o = f(o);
// Function: preProcessExportInfo
// Usage: convert Photoshop enums to strings for storage
// Input: JavaScript Object of my params for this script
// Return: JavaScript Object with objects converted for storage
function preProcessExportInfo(o) {
    o.tiffCompression = o.tiffCompression.toString();
    o.pdfEncoding = o.pdfEncoding.toString();
    o.targaDepth = o.targaDepth.toString();
    o.bmpDepth = o.bmpDepth.toString();
    return o;
// Function: postProcessExportInfo
// Usage: convert strings from storage to Photoshop enums
// Input: JavaScript Object of my params in string form
// Return: JavaScript Object with objects in enum form
function postProcessExportInfo(o) {
    o.tiffCompression = eval(o.tiffCompression);
    o.pdfEncoding = eval(o.pdfEncoding);
    o.targaDepth = eval(o.targaDepth);
    o.bmpDepth = eval(o.bmpDepth);
    return o;
// Function: StrToIntWithDefault
// Usage: convert a string to a number, first stripping all characters
// Input: string and a default number
// Return: a number
function StrToIntWithDefault( s, n ) {
    var onlyNumbers = /[^0-9]/g;
    var t = s.replace( onlyNumbers, "" );
    t = parseInt( t );
    if ( ! isNaN( t ) ) {
        n = t;
    return n;
// End X2L.jsx

I have put the like var exportPath = "~/Desktop/Backdrops/png/"; and have removed the exportPath = exportPath + '/layers';
but when i run the script it still comes up with the error
could not complete action since the destination folder does not exist
if you are using the extendedscript toolkit would be able to run the script and see if you know were the problem is coming from i cant seem to understand why its not seeing the destination.
thanks for all your help
// enable double clicking from the Macintosh Finder or the Windows Explorer
#target photoshop
//=================================================================
// Globals
//=================================================================
var exportPath = "~/Desktop/Backdrops/png/";
// UI strings to be localized
var strTitle = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Title=X2L");
var strButtonRun = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Run=Run");
var strButtonCancel = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Cancel=Cancel");
var strHelpText = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Help=Please specify the format and location for saving each layer as a file.");
var strLabelDestination = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Destination=Destination:");
var strButtonBrowse = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Browse=&Browse...");
var strLabelFileNamePrefix = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/FileNamePrefix=File Name Prefix:");
var strCheckboxVisibleOnly = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/VisibleOnly=&Visible Layers Only");
var strLabelFileType = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/FileType=File Type:");
var strCheckboxIncludeICCProfile = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/IncludeICC=&Include ICC Profile");
var strJPEGOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/JPEGOptions=JPEG Options:");
var strLabelQuality = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Quality=Quality:");
var strCheckboxMaximizeCompatibility = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Maximize=&Maximize Compatibility");
var strTIFFOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/TIFFOptions=TIFF Options:");
var strLabelImageCompression = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/ImageCompression=Image Compression:");
var strNone = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/None=None");
var strPDFOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/PDFOptions=PDF Options:");
var strLabelEncoding = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Encoding=Encoding:");
var strTargaOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/TargaOptions=Targa Options:");
var strLabelDepth = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Depth=Depth:");
var strRadiobutton16bit = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Bit16=16bit");
var strRadiobutton24bit = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Bit24=24bit");
var strRadiobutton32bit = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Bit32=32bit");
var strBMPOptions = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/BMPOptions=BMP Options:");
var strAlertSpecifyDestination = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/SpecifyDestination=Please specify destination.");
var strAlertDestinationNotExist = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/DestionationDoesNotExist=Destination does not exist.");
var strTitleSelectDestination = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/SelectDestination=Select Destination");
var strAlertDocumentMustBeOpened = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/OneDocument=You must have a document open to export!");
var strAlertNeedMultipleLayers = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/NoLayers=You need a document with multiple layers to export!");
var strAlertWasSuccessful = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Success= was successful.");
var strUnexpectedError = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Unexpected=Unexpected error");
var strMessage = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Message=X2L");
var stretQuality = localize( "$$$/locale_specific/JavaScripts/X2L/ETQualityLength=30" );
var stretDestination = localize( "$$$/locale_specific/JavaScripts/X2L/ETDestinationLength=160" );
var strddFileType = localize( "$$$/locale_specific/JavaScripts/X2L/DDFileType=100" );
var strpnlOptions = localize( "$$$/locale_specific/JavaScripts/X2L/PNLOptions=100" );
var strPNG8Options = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/PNG8Options=PNG-8 Options:");
var strCheckboxPNGTransparency = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Transparency=Transparency");
var strCheckboxPNGInterlaced = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Interlaced=Interlaced");
var strCheckboxPNGTrm = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/Trim=Trim Layers");
var strPNG24Options = localize("$$$/JavaScripts/X2L/PNG24Options=PNG-24 Options:");
// the drop down list indexes for file type
var png24Index = 7;
main();
// Functions
// Function: main
// Usage: the core routine for this script
// Input: <none>
// Return: <none>
function main() {
    if ( app.documents.length <= 0 ) {
        if ( DialogModes.NO != app.playbackDisplayDialogs ) {
            alert( strAlertDocumentMustBeOpened );
        return 'cancel'; // quit, returning 'cancel' (dont localize) makes the actions palette not record our script
    var exportInfo = new Object();
    initExportInfo(exportInfo);
    // look for last used params via Photoshop registry, getCustomOptions will throw if none exist
    try {
    catch(e) {
        // it's ok if we don't have any options, continue with defaults
    try {
        var docName = app.activeDocument.name; // save the app.activeDocument name before duplicate.
        var layerCount = app.documents[docName].layers.length;
        var layerSetsCount = app.documents[docName].layerSets.length;
        if ((layerCount <= 1)&&(layerSetsCount <= 0)) {
            if ( DialogModes.NO != app.playbackDisplayDialogs ) {
                alert( strAlertNeedMultipleLayers );
            return 'cancel'; // quit, returning 'cancel' (dont localize) makes the actions palette not record our script
        } else {
            var rememberMaximize;
            var needMaximize = exportInfo.psdMaxComp ? QueryStateType.ALWAYS : QueryStateType.NEVER;
            app.activeDocument = app.documents[docName];
            var duppedDocument = app.activeDocument.duplicate();
            duppedDocument.activeLayer = duppedDocument.layers[duppedDocument.layers.length-1]; // for removing
            setInvisibleAllArtLayers(duppedDocument);
            exportChildren(duppedDocument, app.documents[docName], exportInfo, duppedDocument, exportInfo.fileNamePrefix);
            duppedDocument.close( SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES );
            if ( rememberMaximize != undefined ) {
                app.preferences.maximizeCompatibility = rememberMaximize;
            if ( DialogModes.ALL == app.playbackDisplayDialogs ) {
                //alert(strTitle + strAlertWasSuccessful);
            app.playbackDisplayDialogs = DialogModes.ALL;
    } catch (e) {
        if ( DialogModes.NO != app.playbackDisplayDialogs ) {
            alert(e);
        return 'cancel'; // quit, returning 'cancel' (dont localize) makes the actions palette not record our script
// Function: settingDialog
// Usage: pop the ui and get user settings
// Input: exportInfo object containing our parameters
// Return: on ok, the dialog info is set to the exportInfo object
function settingDialog(exportInfo) {
return;
// Function: hideAllFileTypePanel
// Usage: hide all the panels in the common actions
// Input: <none>, dlgMain is a global for this script
// Return: <none>, all panels are now hidden
function hideAllFileTypePanel() {
// Function: initExportInfo
// Usage: create our default parameters
// Input: a new Object
// Return: a new object with params set to default
function initExportInfo(exportInfo) {
    //exportInfo.destination = new String(exportPath);
    exportInfo.fileNamePrefix = new String("untitled_");
    exportInfo.visibleOnly = false;
    exportInfo.fileType = png24Index;
    exportInfo.icc = true;
    exportInfo.png24Transparency = true;
    exportInfo.png24Interlaced = false;
    exportInfo.png24Trim = true;
    try {
        exportInfo.destination = Folder(new String(exportPath)).fsName; // destination folder
        var tmp = app.activeDocument.fullName.name;
        exportInfo.fileNamePrefix = decodeURI(tmp.substring(0, tmp.indexOf("."))); // filename body part
    } catch(someError) {
        exportInfo.destination = new String(exportPath);
        exportInfo.fileNamePrefix = app.activeDocument.name; // filename body part
// Function: saveFile
// Usage: the worker routine, take our params and save the file accordingly
// Input: reference to the document, the name of the output file,
//        export info object containing more information
// Return: <none>, a file on disk
function saveFile( docRef, fileNameBody, exportInfo) {
            saveFile(docRef, fileNameBody, exportInfo, false, true);
            function saveFile( docRef, fileNameBody, exportInfo, interlacedValue, transparencyValue) {
            var id6 = charIDToTypeID( "Expr" );
                var desc3 = new ActionDescriptor();
                var id7 = charIDToTypeID( "Usng" );
                    var desc4 = new ActionDescriptor();
                    var id8 = charIDToTypeID( "Op " );
                    var id9 = charIDToTypeID( "SWOp" );
                    var id10 = charIDToTypeID( "OpSa" );
                    desc4.putEnumerated( id8, id9, id10 );
                    var id11 = charIDToTypeID( "Fmt " );
                    var id12 = charIDToTypeID( "IRFm" );
                    var id13 = charIDToTypeID( "PN24" );
                    desc4.putEnumerated( id11, id12, id13 );
                    var id14 = charIDToTypeID( "Intr" );
                    desc4.putBoolean( id14, interlacedValue );
                    var id15 = charIDToTypeID( "Trns" );
                    desc4.putBoolean( id15, transparencyValue );
                    var id16 = charIDToTypeID( "Mtt " );
                    desc4.putBoolean( id16, true );
                    var id17 = charIDToTypeID( "MttR" );
                    desc4.putInteger( id17, 255 );
                    var id18 = charIDToTypeID( "MttG" );
                    desc4.putInteger( id18, 255 );
                    var id19 = charIDToTypeID( "MttB" );
                    desc4.putInteger( id19, 255 );
                    var id20 = charIDToTypeID( "SHTM" );
                    desc4.putBoolean( id20, false );
                    var id21 = charIDToTypeID( "SImg" );
                    desc4.putBoolean( id21, true );
                    var id22 = charIDToTypeID( "SSSO" );
                    desc4.putBoolean( id22, false );
                    var id23 = charIDToTypeID( "SSLt" );
                        var list1 = new ActionList();
                    desc4.putList( id23, list1 );
                    var id24 = charIDToTypeID( "DIDr" );
                    desc4.putBoolean( id24, false );
                    var id25 = charIDToTypeID( "In " );
                    desc4.putPath( id25, new File( exportPath + "C:/Users/Tim/Desktop/Backdrops/png/" + fileNameBody + ".png") );
                var id26 = stringIDToTypeID( "SaveForWeb" );
                desc3.putObject( id7, id26, desc4 );
            executeAction( id6, desc3, DialogModes.NO );
// Function: zeroSuppress
// Usage: return a string padded to digit(s)
// Input: num to convert, digit count needed
// Return: string padded to digit length
function zeroSuppress (num, digit) {
    var tmp = num.toString();
    while (tmp.length < digit) {
        tmp = "0" + tmp;
    return tmp;
// Function: setInvisibleAllArtLayers
// Usage: unlock and make invisible all art layers, recursively
// Input: document or layerset
// Return: all art layers are unlocked and invisible
function setInvisibleAllArtLayers(obj) {
    for( var i = 0; i < obj.artLayers.length; i++) {
        obj.artLayers[i].allLocked = false;
        obj.artLayers[i].visible = false;
    for( var i = 0; i < obj.layerSets.length; i++) {
        setInvisibleAllArtLayers(obj.layerSets[i]);
// Function: removeAllInvisibleArtLayers
// Usage: remove all the invisible art layers, recursively
// Input: document or layer set
// Return: <none>, all layers that were invisible are now gone
function removeAllInvisibleArtLayers(obj) {
    for( var i = obj.artLayers.length-1; 0 <= i; i--) {
        try {
            if(!obj.artLayers[i].visible) {
                obj.artLayers[i].remove();
        catch (e) {
    for( var i = obj.layerSets.length-1; 0 <= i; i--) {
        removeAllInvisibleArtLayers(obj.layerSets[i]);
// Function: removeAllEmptyLayerSets
// Usage: find all empty layer sets and remove them, recursively
// Input: document or layer set
// Return: empty layer sets are now gone
function removeAllEmptyLayerSets(obj) {
    var foundEmpty = true;
    for( var i = obj.layerSets.length-1; 0 <= i; i--) {
        if( removeAllEmptyLayerSets(obj.layerSets[i])) {
            obj.layerSets[i].remove();
        } else {
            foundEmpty = false;
    if (obj.artLayers.length > 0) {
        foundEmpty = false;
    return foundEmpty;
// Function: zeroSuppress
// Usage: return a string padded to digit(s)
// Input: num to convert, digit count needed
// Return: string padded to digit length
function removeAllInvisible(docRef) {
    removeAllInvisibleArtLayers(docRef);
    removeAllEmptyLayerSets(docRef);
// Function: exportChildren
// Usage: find all the children in this document to save
// Input: duplicate document, original document, export info,
//        reference to document, starting file name
// Return: <none>, documents are saved accordingly
function exportChildren(dupObj, orgObj, exportInfo, dupDocRef, fileNamePrefix) {
    for( var i = 0; i < dupObj.artLayers.length; i++) {
        if (exportInfo.visibleOnly) { // visible layer only
            if (!orgObj.artLayers[i].visible) {
                continue;
        dupObj.artLayers[i].visible = true;
        var layerName = dupObj.artLayers[i].name; // store layer name before change doc
        var duppedDocumentTmp = dupDocRef.duplicate();
        if ((png24Index == exportInfo.fileType)||(png8Index == exportInfo.fileType)) { // PSD: Keep transparency
            removeAllInvisible(duppedDocumentTmp);
            //PNGFileOptions
                    if (activeDocument.activeLayer.isBackgroundLayer == false) { //is it anything but a background layer?
                        app.activeDocument.trim(TrimType.TRANSPARENT);
        } else { // just flatten
            duppedDocumentTmp.flatten();
        // Edit
        var docName = app.activeDocument.name;
        // For some reason indexOf fails if we include the '-', so we use 'copy' and decrement the index by 1.
        docName = docName.slice(0, docName.indexOf('copy')-1);
        var fileNameBody = (docName+'_'+layerName).toLowerCase();
        fileNameBody = fileNameBody.replace(/[:\/\\*\?\"\<\>\|]/g, "_"); // '/\:*?"<>|' -> '_'
        if (fileNameBody.length > 120) {
            fileNameBody = fileNameBody.substring(0,120);
        saveFile(duppedDocumentTmp, fileNameBody, exportInfo);
        duppedDocumentTmp.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);
        dupObj.artLayers[i].visible = false;
    for( var i = 0; i < dupObj.layerSets.length; i++) {
        if (exportInfo.visibleOnly) { // visible layer only
            if (!orgObj.layerSets[i].visible) {
                continue;
        var fileNameBody = fileNamePrefix;
        fileNameBody += "_" + zeroSuppress(i, 4) + "s";
        exportChildren(dupObj.layerSets[i], orgObj.layerSets[i], exportInfo, dupDocRef, fileNameBody); // recursive call
// Function: objectToDescriptor
// Usage: create an ActionDescriptor from a JavaScript Object
// Input: JavaScript Object (o)
//        object unique string (s)
//        Pre process converter (f)
// Return: ActionDescriptor
// NOTE: Only boolean, string, number and UnitValue are supported, use a pre processor
//       to convert (f) other types to one of these forms.
// REUSE: This routine is used in other scripts. Please update those if you
//        modify. I am not using include or eval statements as I want these
//        scripts self contained.
function objectToDescriptor (o, s, f) {
    o = {};
    var d = new ActionDescriptor;
    var l = o.reflect.properties.length;
    d.putString( app.charIDToTypeID( 'Msge' ), s );
    for (var i = 0; i < l; i++ ) {
        var k = o.reflect.properties[i].toString();
        if (k == "__proto__" || k == "__count__" || k == "__class__" || k == "reflect")
            continue;
        var v = o[ k ];
        k = app.stringIDToTypeID(k);
        switch ( typeof(v) ) {
            case "boolean":
                d.putBoolean(k, v);
                break;
            case "string":
                d.putString(k, v);
                break;
            case "number":
                d.putDouble(k, v);
                break;
            default:
                if ( v instanceof UnitValue ) {
                    var uc = new Object;
                    uc["px"] = charIDToTypeID("#Rlt"); // unitDistance
                    uc["%"] = charIDToTypeID("#Prc"); // unitPercent
                    d.putUnitDouble(k, uc[v.type], v.value);
                } else {
                    throw( new Error("Unsupported type in objectToDescriptor " + typeof(v) ) );
    return d;
// Function: descriptorToObject
// Usage: update a JavaScript Object from an ActionDescriptor
// Input: JavaScript Object (o), current object to update (output)
//        Photoshop ActionDescriptor (d), descriptor to pull new params for object from
//        object unique string (s)
//        JavaScript Function (f), post process converter utility to convert
// Return: Nothing, update is applied to passed in JavaScript Object (o)
// NOTE: Only boolean, string, number and UnitValue are supported, use a post processor
//       to convert (f) other types to one of these forms.
// REUSE: This routine is used in other scripts. Please update those if you
//        modify. I am not using include or eval statements as I want these
//        scripts self contained.
function descriptorToObject (o, d, s, f) {
    var l = d.count;
    if (l) {
        var keyMessage = app.charIDToTypeID( 'Msge' );
        if ( d.hasKey(keyMessage) && ( s != d.getString(keyMessage) )) return;
    for (var i = 0; i < l; i++ ) {
        var k = d.getKey(i); // i + 1 ?
        var t = d.getType(k);
        strk = app.typeIDToStringID(k);
        switch (t) {
            case DescValueType.BOOLEANTYPE:
                o[strk] = d.getBoolean(k);
                break;
            case DescValueType.STRINGTYPE:
                o[strk] = d.getString(k);
                break;
            case DescValueType.DOUBLETYPE:
                o[strk] = d.getDouble(k);
                break;
            case DescValueType.UNITDOUBLE:
                var uc = new Object;
                uc[charIDToTypeID("#Rlt")] = "px"; // unitDistance
                uc[charIDToTypeID("#Prc")] = "%"; // unitPercent
                uc[charIDToTypeID("#Pxl")] = "px"; // unitPixels
                var ut = d.getUnitDoubleType(k);
                var uv = d.getUnitDoubleValue(k);
                o[strk] = new UnitValue( uv, uc[ut] );
                break;
            case DescValueType.INTEGERTYPE:
            case DescValueType.ALIASTYPE:
            case DescValueType.CLASSTYPE:
            case DescValueType.ENUMERATEDTYPE:
            case DescValueType.LISTTYPE:
            case DescValueType.OBJECTTYPE:
            case DescValueType.RAWTYPE:
            case DescValueType.REFERENCETYPE:
            default:
                throw( new Error("Unsupported type in descriptorToObject " + t ) );
    if (undefined != f) {
        o = f(o);
// Function: preProcessExportInfo
// Usage: convert Photoshop enums to strings for storage
// Input: JavaScript Object of my params for this script
// Return: JavaScript Object with objects converted for storage
function preProcessExportInfo(o) {
    o.tiffCompression = o.tiffCompression.toString();
    o.pdfEncoding = o.pdfEncoding.toString();
    o.targaDepth = o.targaDepth.toString();
    o.bmpDepth = o.bmpDepth.toString();
    return o;
// Function: postProcessExportInfo
// Usage: convert strings from storage to Photoshop enums
// Input: JavaScript Object of my params in string form
// Return: JavaScript Object with objects in enum form
function postProcessExportInfo(o) {
    o.tiffCompression = eval(o.tiffCompression);
    o.pdfEncoding = eval(o.pdfEncoding);
    o.targaDepth = eval(o.targaDepth);
    o.bmpDepth = eval(o.bmpDepth);
    return o;
// Function: StrToIntWithDefault
// Usage: convert a string to a number, first stripping all characters
// Input: string and a default number
// Return: a number
function StrToIntWithDefault( s, n ) {
    var onlyNumbers = /[^0-9]/g;
    var t = s.replace( onlyNumbers, "" );
    t = parseInt( t );
    if ( ! isNaN( t ) ) {
        n = t;
    return n;
// End X2L.jsx

Action batch export issue with image trace

So, currently I'm working on batch processing jpeg sequences using illustrator's image trace and distortion effects. I have batch exported the image traces of the sequences via Adobe bridge. Now I'm trying to create an action which opens the .ai files containing those image traces, apply a graphic style to the trace, and export a png from that. I'm banging my head against the wall trying to get this to work right now. If I do the steps (step by step... not using a recorded action) I want on a single file, it works great, but the moment I batch export using the action I've created, it puts the original .png image that the image trace was linked to, on top of the image. The result is a bunch of .png exports that look exactly like my original image sequence. If I add a "save" function to the action and open the resulting .ai files, I can see that the image trace vectors are in the file. The "linked png" however visible on the layer above those vectors. Anyone have any idea what I'm doing wrong? How do I get rid of that pesky linked image.
Also, for anyone who might be thinking that it has something to do with expanding the image trace before applying effects, this issue I'm running into, I've determined, is happening higher up in the hierarchy of the actions... If I simply make an action to open the image trace illustrator file and save it back out, the same issue occurs... placing the .png "linked file" on top of the vector image.
While I'm at it, I might as well ask if anyone knows how to change the illustrator default image trace preset.... Without being able to change it, or much less specify in the action sequence that I'd like to use a user created image trace preset rather than the default setting, it's greatly overcomplicating my workflow. Makes what could easily be one-step batch processing into two. Seems pretty silly if you ask me.
Please, if you guys have any insights on this, let me know. It's super frustrating... By the way, if you're wondering what type of effect I'm going for, the idea (as well as some explanation into their own process) starts at 12:44 of this video (http://vimeo.com/77427470).
THANKS!

Just wanted to let you guys know, for anyone who might be having my same issue... My home computer, even after a fresh install of Illustrator, was still placing the linked jpeg over the traced vector shapes when batch exporting... I did however find a workaround. Rather than using Bridge CS6 for the batch image tracing, I used Bridge CS5 to trace in Illustrator CS5. Then, I used Illustrator CS6 to batch export an action that imported and applied an effect to those image traced sequences. When you do this, it forces you to expand the tracing on import (because of the difference in Illustrator versions I'm assuming). This way, when you batch run the action, it's already working with expanded vector shapes. Not sure why this works, but it does.
Also, I was having some issues getting Illustrator to apply the graphic style when batch exporting. I got it to work by copying an object with that particular graphic style to the clipboard, then adding in the action I was running a "paste" command, followed by a "clear" command. I can only assume that Illustrator was having issues loading custom graphics styles while batch exporting. The paste/delete technique is annoying, but gets it done.
Anyways. Just wanted to check in on this one. I'm happy I was able to muscle my way through it all.

Batch export PNGs from PSDs into same root folder?

I am trying to export a large amount of PSD files to PNG's (png-24 for web and devices) and want to run a batch while still respecting the file/folder organization in place. Is it possible to run a batch action or script to export the PNG's into the original root folder rather than choose a destination for each folder I want to export?
For example, I have several PSDs in folders A, B & C.
So far, I have been running an action including Export, choosing A as the destination for the A psd's, then doing the same for B and C separately.
Is it possible to run one batch on A, B & C at the same time and keep the resulting PNG's in the original PSD's root folder respectively in CS5? I am pretty familiar with working in Actions in Photoshop, but don't know much about additional scripting in or out of the program.
Thanks!

Download the CS5 version of Image Process Pro from http://www.russellbrown.com/scripts.html
It has a option to maintain the folder structure.

Doing a batch export in LR CC doesn't keep me in same attributes screen

I just installed LR CC, and I've noticed that there seems to be a quirky little bug when exporting images. I normally like to go through my images, and narrow down to my selects with the star ratings. I'll then have my attributes show only the 3-starred images, for instance. I select just those 3-starred images that I'm now seeing and do a batch export to PSD files. However, once the export starts and once that first PSD file is created, I am automatically kicked back to the library view of ALL of my images, not just the 3-starred rating ones. I just find this to be an inconvenience as I can no longer make attribute selections stick during an export since I'm constantly kicked back to the view of ALL of my images. This happens in any kind of export situation.
**4/28/15 Edit: it appears as though it's a bug with the "add to this catalog" option that you can check in the export settings. I've been able to export things fine when this is not checked. When it's checked, the export is extremely sluggish to start and then just dumps me back into the view with all my images visible, not just my selected ones.**
Is there a setting I need to adjust here or is this a LR CC bug?
Hoping there's some way to fix this.
Thanks,
-Kristine

First: Send Apple a Feedback. This has been an issue since the first days of X and is still not corrected in Tiger, from the posts I see there. Apple needs to know it matters to you. Click on "Discussions" at the top of this page and then look at the bottom left of the list of forums that comes up
Second: You did send that Feedback, didn't you. In the same corner is the link to the Users' Tips Library. In it—you'll have to do a search—is the tip from Scott Radloff "Making Finder Views Persistant" [title may not be exact] that you want.
Briefly, Apple's overlay of X onto UNIX broke down here. The 'ownership' of the problem windows belongs to one of those greyed out users like "eppp" and "mysql" that you see under your shortname when you look at Details in a Get Info… window on a file. UNIX needs them, so you need them, but you don't need to defer to their idea of what a perfect window looks like. Not if you're willing to become "root" the superuser and tell them how-to. That's Scott's tip, and do be warned: Rootness is all-powerful, and you must use those powers only for good and immediately renounce them when your task is done.
Now, what were you going to do first? Good luck.

Premiere CS5 Batch Export and Sony PMW-EX1R

Hey Guys!
I have multiple sequences that I need to batch export, and was wondering if there's some kind of plugin that I can use in order to do so.
Normally, I would have to select each sequence, press Command M and place it into the render queue for Media Encoder. Is there a way I can do this by selecting a batch of sequences by highlighting them and send them into the Media Encoder's Render Queue at once, rather than individually?
Also, we film on a Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1R and need a workflow to help us out with compression.
We're working on MAC PRO's and so Media Encoder doesn't have a WMV compression setting for our computers, and the MOV settings give us weird bugs on our website. So to work around this we use Compressor to compress a raw file into various MOV and WMV movies and use Media Encoder to encode F4V files.
We export from Media Encoder in h.264 with a .mp4 extension to try and replicate what our camera shoots in, but I have a feeling that that might not be the correct format to do this in because Compressor gives us this weird Frame issue where it places a single random Frame at the very beginning of our video.
Is there a better export option for Sony XDCAM PMW-EX1R users that will give us a fairly small file size and also have great quality to match our original footage, as well as not having us have to wait long periods of time for export?
We've tried
Quicktime ProRes 422
Quicktime Uncompressed
Animation
Jpeg Sequence
And they all gave us extremely large file sizes (which I understood since they're lossless) and H.264 seemed to give us as big of a file size as FCP did with it's MOV files which is what we're trying to do.

So you're saying that I basically have to pick either using a file that isn't good for delivering content, or selecting a file that's big in size and long to export?
Well, look at it this way: if you want the highest quality output, you want to start with the highest quality source. If you're exporting from Premiere or through AME to a deliverable file--like a WMV or an H.264 MP4--you're all set, because you're accessing the original source media and unrendered effects as they exist in the Premiere Pro sequence. If you're exporting from a different app, you want the most pristine source file to create your deliverable.
Let's say you make apple juice. If you get whole apples from the orchard and press them, you make some mighty delicious juice. However, if you're trying to cut down on shipping costs, and you have the farmer smash the apples into chunky apple sauce so that you can fit more apples in the same amount of space, you can still make juice... but it won't be quite as tasty It's sort of the same with encoding...
An intermediate file will take up more space, because it's uncompressed (or less compressed), but it shouldn't take as long to generate, either--again, because you're not compressing it or you're compressing it less than your final deliverable. Obviously, there are dozens of codecs you could potentially use, so there's a fair bit of experimentation you need to do to determine the best combination for your purposes. There is no "one size fits all" when it comes to encoding, unfortunately; it's a path fraught with compromises.

Is it possible to use markers to export still images at once?

I have a movie and I need to export about 30 still images. Can I just place markers at the frames where I want a still image to be exported and then export all the markers together at once thus resulting in 30 jpeg still images? If yes, how do you do that?

sure ....
if this is a sequence, then first, in the sequence, +select the clips you want to mark+ then scrub through the sequence placing markers at the appropriate points (because the clips are selected the markers will be placed within the clip instance rather than as sequence markers); second, drag the now marked clips back up from the sequence and into a bin in the browser window
if its not a sequence, then just open the clip into the viewer window and scrub through placing markers as needed
now, click on the disclosure triangle that appears to the left of these clips in the browser window's list view to display the contained markers as a list ... select all those markers and drag them into a new bin
you now have a bin full of subclips that each represent one of the markers you've placed
select this bin and choose File menu > Batch Export ... and in the subsequent window press the Settings button to set up the export format (as Still Image)
press the export button and you're done
fwiw it all sounds much more complicated than it is

Batch export .ai to .png produces files without extension - please help

I created an Action to batch export a folder of .ai files to create 300dpi .png's of the .ai file's artboard. I did this by simply recording "Export...as png" with my desired settings then Batch running the Action on desired folder of .ai files. The files were successfully exported, the trouble is that the exported files lack a .png file extension. My intent is to take these PNG files and
merge them into a single PDF using Acrobat Pro. Unfortunatly, without the .PNG extension, Acrobat Pro does not recognize the file types and does not let me use the Combine Files feature on them. Going back and manually adding a .png at the end of the exported files defeats the time-saving purpose of Batch Processing all together. Is there something I am missing or doing incorrectly? I have included screenshots of 1) My Batch Action settings 2) folders showing files without .png extension and 3) visual of what I see when I am trying to combine PNGs into a PDF. Assistance would be greatly appreciated!
- Erin

Yes, I am on a Mac running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 with CS5 (Illustrator 15.0.2, Acrobat Pro 9.4.6). Your suggestion did not help as "Hide Extension" is not checked. I even set "Open With" to Acrobat Pro and still get no extension or ability to import into Combine in Acrobat. Thanks anyhow. Please see below.

Best approach for accellerating batch export of jpgs/pngs

To all who continously amaze me with their knowledge of scripting arcana.....here's some lead to transmogrify into gold.
I've ironed out kinks of how to script a batch-export metadata and generate bitmap artwork (of whatever type) for a complicated set of folders holding .ai files. My script finds all of the AI files, exports the metadata to a text file, captures and logs errors without crashing, and opens each file to generate my full-size thumbnail.
Works great, but isn't built for speed. The extraction of the metadata is blisteringly fast, but from what I can see I have to actually tell Illustrator to open the file before I can export the jpg or png, which forces illustrator to render the screen before doing the export.
Is there any way to speed this up? Opening in preview mode (not scriptable?) still results in the calculation of the visibility and blurs, even though they aren't displayed.
Would love to learn that I've made another beginner's assumption...maybe having bridge do it instead might be better?
Thanks all
-Alex

Only *.psd export has the options for resolution… with the others it's 72dpi and you use scale ( PITA ) so if you do need a given resolution… first you need do the math and export then you need another app to resize… If your *.ai files are pdf compatible ( mine always are ) then you can just open in Photoshop…

Batch export stlls from sequence

Hi all
Does anybody know how i can export multiple stills from a sequence without manually exporting each seperate still?
I have 200+ stlls to export. fun.
thanks
aaron
g5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Try searching the forum, we see this topic monthly or so.
Last time it came up the discussion went towards setting markers and batch exporting the markers as stills. I do not recall the details nor do I recall if it actually worked. Scroll back down the forum a few days, look for Chapter Markers as Stills or something like that.
bogiesan

Aperture 3 Export Watermarks Broken?

I've upgraded to Aperture 3 and I have re-added the watermarks that I used to use under Aperture 2 to the export presets. The watermarks that I have built are sized to fit into the lower right corner (i.e., 128 x 128 for a 2048 x 2048 export). When using those watermarks, they appear to be scaled up to the size of the photo (instead of just overlaid in the lower right 128 x 128 pixels). If I turn on "Scale watermark, the watermark comes out smaller but still about double size (i.e., about 256 x 256).
Is anyone else having this problem? Should I be creating a 2048 x 2048 watermark to get the scaling correct? Is export watermarking broken in Aperture 3?

yes it definitely seems broken. i have a PSD file that is my watermark with just the text "(c) scott nichol * www.silverystars.com" and its about 500 pixels wide. when i export for the web its usually an 800-1000 pixel wide image and the water mark is pinned to the lower right or left hand corers. if i leave "scaling" off, that 500-pixel wide watermark image is stretched across the entire bottom of the image. if i turn scaling on, its scaled down to an almost micro text size that's barely readable. and it doesn't matter how wide i make the image, it gets scaled down to the same size.
my work-around for now is to keep the text in the PSD document the same size and extend the canvas so there's about 700 pixels of padding to the left of the text. now if i leave scaling off it fits that 1200-pixel wide image into the bottom of the image. and since the exports are only 800-1000 pixels wide, the watermark is about as big as it was before.
clearly this is a bug and this can work for me in the short term.
scott

Question about Exporting Stills

I just upgraded from 1.5 to 4 and in 1.5 (and older versions) exporting a still was a quick and easy process but when I just tried it in 4 it sent the files to adobe media encoder and then encoder takes around 45 seconds per still to output. Am I doing this wrong? Surely something that took only a couple of seconds in an older version of the software hasn't been made more complicated?

Harm,
Just a guess on my part: I'd say that Adobe separated AME out, to get the much requested, and coveted batch Export. At some point along the way, and too late to "fix" it, Adobe engineers had an "Oh shoot!" moment, when they realized that Export a Still was now incorporated in the AME process.
It is rumored that 4.1 will fix this little problem, and here's hoping. While I am not a fan of "big button" programs, for Export a Still, I'd take an icon of a "cute little camera," if it did it in one step. I'd even like to have a global Preferences setting, so that the user could establish the format, and location for stills, with maybe a Ctrl-click, if they wanted to modify those settings. This would pop-up a dialog box, allowing format and destination to be changed on the fly.
To the OP, you are not alone, and you missed nothing. Actually, you're ahead of most, as few could figure this one out at all.
Hunt

How do i change the size of a clip using batch export?

hi, when i try and do a batch export to change my clips from a DV PAL to PhotoJpeg 320*240 sized clips the "options" button is greyed out. so all i have as export settings are the QT presets in a pulldown list. is there any way i can create my own setting? (and the also save that?)
thx

what i'm seeing is that
a) selecting all files in Media Man. gives me the option to size and set codecs but not the audio off.
b) selecting all files in Batch Export allows me to pick a format (QT, aiff etc) choose a preset (photoJpeg included) select whether to include audio and video or both but not set the size or customize the QT settings
c) selecting all clips then "file>export>using QT conversion" gives me all options, but seem to grab only the first clip.

View Options Still Broken

View options was broken in Lion (some carried over, others became a white background with greyed out options). I was hoping against hope that this would get fixed in mountain Lion, but my User folder's View Options, for example, is still broken. What will it take to fix this? Can anyone help?

Can you explain what it is you think is broken?
Ok, I think I might have figured out what you are describing.
Sorry to inform you, but you can't set any backgrounds if you have an arrangement set. Arrangement must be set to None in order to set a background color or picture. And, it can only be done in Icon view.
There is nothing "broken." Just too difficult to implement, I imagine.
Message was edited by: Barney-15E

Batch Export Stills Broken in FCP5?

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