Write Node

The Write node is the node that is used by Harmony to render a scene. When rendering a scene, Harmony renders the image information sent to the Write node, and outputs it using the parameters in the Write node's layer properties.

The Node view allows you to branch out and merge elements of your scene in specific ways. By default, a scene has a Write node connected to its main composite, meaning all of the scene's elements are rendered. However, a Write node can be connected to any node in your scene that outputs image information, even a drawing or an effect. A scene's renders are based on the image information that is sent to its Write node, and nothing else. Hence, you can control exactly what gets rendered, which is especially useful if you want to have elements in your scene that are only visible in the Camera view, such as a storyboard overlay or a camera guide, without having them appear in the renders.

You can also set up a scene to create multiple renders by connecting several Write nodes to it. Your Write nodes can be connected to different elements of your scene, which allows you to create separate renders for different parts of your Node view every time your scene is rendered. For example, a scene can have a Write node for rendering the scene without any annotations, so that render can be used in post production, and another one for rendering the scene with its storyboard and annotations for reviewing. A scene can also have multiple Write Nodes connected to the same composite, which can allow you to render the same image in multiple file formats or locations at the same time.

Each Write node can be configured to export individual frames as image files, a video file, or both simultaneously.

NOTE To learn how to use the Write node, see About Rendering Write Nodes.
NOTE For a list of the available image formats for the Drawing Type parameter, see Image Formats for Rendering Write Nodes.

Layer Properties

Output Tab

The output tab can be used to configure whether the Write node creates individual frame images, a movie file, or both. Further more, you can configure the path, file naming pattern and file type of frames exported by the Write node, as well as the path, file name and encoding options of the movie file created by the Write node.

Parameter Description

Drawing Folder

The path to the folder in which to save the rendered frames. This path can be absolute or relative to the scene's folder. For example, the default path for rendered frames is frames, which means the images are saved in the frames subfolder of the scene folder. If you want to select an absolute path, you can click on the Choose button at the right of the text field and select the folder in which your scenes should export their frames. You can also click on the Default button to set the export path to the default value.

Movie Folder

Only available when the Movie option is enabled. The folder in which to export the movie file. You can click Choose to the right of the text field to browse for the directory where you want the movie to be exported, or click Default to set the export path to the default value. You can also type a path relative to the scene's directory. For example, the default value is frames, which exports the movie to the scene's frames subdirectory.

Drawing Filename

The prefix for the file name of each exported frame. Frames will be named with this value, followed by the frame number and their image type extension. It is recommended to leave the hyphen (-) at the end of the prefix to separate the prefix from the frame number.

Movie Filename

Only available when the Movie option is enabled. The name of the movie file to export. Do not enter the file's extension.

Drawing

Select this option to create an image sequence.

Start

Select the starting number for the image sequence.

Leading Zeros

Select the number of digits you want to see after the sequence prefix.

Drawing Type

The image format in which the rendered frames will be saved—see Image Formats for Rendering Write Nodes.

Movie

Select this option to create a QuickTime move. When enabled, the Movie Folder and the Movie Filename fields appear among the Drawing Folder and Drawing Filename fields.

Video Format

The drop down list to the right of the Movie option. Allows you to select one of the following formats:

  • QuickTime Movie (*.mov): The Apple QuickTime format. This is the default export format and is recommended for its portability, and also because it allows you to choose among several video codecs.

    NOTES
    • On Windows, Apple QuickTime must be installed to allow Harmony to export QuickTime movies. You can configure the export of QuickTime movies to use any codec that is compatible with QuickTime, including H.264, MPEG-4 and Animation.
    • On macOS, Harmony uses Apple AVFoundation to export QuickTime movies, which allows you to export using codecs such as H.264, Apple ProRes 422 and Apple ProRes 4444.
    • On GNU/Linux, Harmony uses the OpenQuickTime library to export QuickTime movies. This only allows you to export videos in non-proprietary formats such as Motion-JPEG, Photo JPEG, PNG or Uncompressed (RGB).
  • H.264/MPEG-4 (*.mov) : A simple movie format that uses the H.264 codec, which is supported by most web browsers.

    NOTES
    • Using this format does not require additional software. However, if this is the first time you export a movie in H.264/MPEG-4 format, you will be prompted to download the OpenH264 library from Cisco. Simply click Yes when prompted, and Harmony will automatically download the library, then export the movie.
    • There are no encoding options for this format.
    • This format supports resolutions of up to 4096×2304. Each dimension must be a multiple of 16 pixels.
    • Audio exported in this format is encoded in PCM 16-bit stereo, 22.05 kHz.
  • Windows Media Video (*.wmv): The native format for Windows Media Player.

    NOTES
    • Windows Media Video (.wmv) files can only be exported on Windows.
    • Video players and editors on non-Windows systems can generally not open Windows Media Video (.wmv) files.

Movie Options

Click the Customize button to open the movie settings dialog box and change the video and audio compression settings for the movie to export.

This option appears on Windows and macOS only.

Video Options

Click the Customize button to open the QuickTime video settings dialog box and change the video compression settings for the movie to export—see OpenQuickTime Video Options Dialog Box (GNU/Linux).

This option appears on GNU/Linux only.

Sound Option

Click the Customize button to open the QuickTime video settings dialog box and change the audio compression settings for the movie to export—see OpenQuickTime Sound Options Dialog Box (GNU/Linux).

This option appears on GNU/Linux only.

Enabling Tab

You can create several Write nodes for a single scene and, by default, when a scene is rendered, all of its Write nodes will perform their render. However, using the options in the Enabling tab, you can set up some Write nodes to only perform their render if the scene is rendered at a specific resolution. This is mostly useful on Harmony Server, as Harmony Server allows you select the resolution at which to render a scene when sending a scene for rendering by the Harmony database's render farm.

A good example of how this can be useful is if your scene has storyboard thumbnails in the corner, and a Write node connected to a composite that crops the picture to only include the storyboard thumbnail, so that your scene can export both the final animation and the animated storyboard when rendered. You can set up your scene's main Write node to only work when exporting the scene at the scene's original resolution, and the storyboard thumbnails Write node to only work when exporting at the desired resolution for an animated storyboard.

This option allows you to filter with either resolution presets, or by specifying the width and height of the chosen resolution in pixels. You can hence create custom resolution presets named after their Write node's purpose, to make it easier to choose the resolution when rendering a scene.

Parameter Description

Always Enabled

Makes this Write node render every time the scene is rendered. This is the default option.

Enabled when Resolution Name is

Makes this Write node render only when the scene is rendered at the specified resolution preset.

Filter Name

Select the resolution preset at which to render the scene to activate this Write node.

Enabled when Resolution is

Make this Write node render only when the scene is rendered at the resolution with the specified width and height, in pixels.

X Resolution

The width (in pixels) of the resolution at which to render the scene to activate this Write node.

Y Resolution

The height (in pixels) of the resolution at which to render the scene to activate this Write node.