Export Bitmap Dialog Box

The Export Bitmap window lets you export a storyboard project to bitmap files in .jpg, .tga, .psd or .png format. The exported data includes a separate bitmap file for each panel in the storyboard.

NOTE For .psd files, the transform and transition animations are not exported. However, camera moves are rendered into an independent layer.

NOTE For tasks related to this window, see Exporting Bitmap Images.
Parameter Description

Destination Path

Path

Allows you to specify the directory in which to save the exported files. You can click on the Browse button right of the field to browse your file system and select the destination folder.

File Pattern

Allows you to enter the prefix or the pattern for the names of the exported files. You can leave this field blank to use the default file naming pattern, type in a file name to use it as a prefix, or type a full pattern using the following variables:

  • %t - Project title
  • %a - Act number
  • %q - Sequence number
  • %s - Scene number
  • %p - Panel number
TIP Numbers used in file naming patterns are automatically padded by zeros as needed. You can type a number between the % sign and the variable letter to determine the amount of characters you want the variable to use. For example, with the variable %4s, scene 1 would appear as scene 0001.

Setup Bitmap Export Parameters

Bitmap Format

  • Allows you to select an image format in which to save the exported bitmaps:
    • Jpeg (*.jpg): An image format with lossy compression optimized for the Web. Only use this format if export speed is more important than quality.
    • Targa (*.tga): An image format with basic lossless compression.
    • Photoshop (*.psd): The format used for Adobe Photoshop projects. It is uncompressed.

    • Portable Network Graphics (*.png): An image format with a more effective lossless compression than Targa (.tga). Exporting in this format is slower, but saves a lot of disk space. PNG files are supported by web browsers, most operating systems and image editing software.

    Resolution

    Sets the resolution to be a quarter size, half size, full size or double size of the current storyboard resolution. A custom size option also exists. Selecting the Custom option enables the Width and Height fields below. These fields are proportionally linked.

    Image Zoom Level (%)

    Sets the magnification of the image. Enter a value between 0 and 400. The default value is 85%.

    Colour Space

    Sets the colour space for the image export. If you plan to create an export for use in a different software, you may want to match colour spaces to keep all your colours consistent. The default setting is the current Storyboard Pro project colour space, which was selected on creation of the project.

    Transparent Background

    This option is only available when Targa (.tga), Photoshop (.psd) or Portable Network Graphic (.png) file formats are selected. By default, this option is enabled and will export files with a transparent background instead of an opaque white background.

    Print All Camera Frames

    Prints a camera frame for each camera keyframe in the panel.

    Rectify Static Camera

    If the camera is at an angle in a panel, and there is no camera movement in that panel, enabling this option will render the panel as if the camera was at a straight angle.

    Allow Camera Scaling

    This option is enabled by default. This ensures that when a camera close-up is included in a scene, the exported image is larger so that the closest camera frame is at least the size of the chosen resolution. This way, the image will not appear pixelated when zooming in on the closest camera frame. If disabled, the exported images will be the size of the chosen resolution.

    In the following example, the camera zooms out, but the image is exported big enough that the closest (smallest) camera frame is exactly the size of the export resolution. That way, if the image is zoomed in to the closest camera frame, it does not look scaled:

    Maintain Size Through Scene

    Ensures that the elements from the exported panels retain their size across the different panels of the same scene. For example, when exporting a scene where the camera zooms in on a character through two different panels, this option will make it so the character is the same size in both exported images. In the same situation with this option unchecked, both bitmaps will be just big enough so that their closest camera frame is as big as the chosen export resolution.

    In the following example, the camera zooms out on the scene throughout two panels. In the exported images, the scene elements are the same size, but the image canvas increases in size as the camera zooms out:

    NOTE By default, exported bitmaps cannot be larger than 4096 x 4096 pixels, which might cause this option not to work as expected when exporting scenes with camera zooms. For information on how to change this setting, see Import/Export Preferences.

    Expand Render Area to Scene Camera

    By default, exported panels only cover the area covered by the camera movements in the panel. With this option enabled, exported panels will cover the area covered by the camera movements in all the panels in their scene combined. That way, if all the exported panels in a scene are combined, the elements of the scene will all be in their proper position respective to each other.

    In the following example, the camera goes from 1 to 2 in the first panel, then from 2 to 3 in the second panel, but both panels are exported to cover the whole camera movement, from 1 to 2 to 3:

    Include Camera Path

  • Ensures the exported images include all the areas covered by the camera movements. If this option is disabled, the exported images will cover the camera keyframes and everything in-between, but may not include parts of the panels that are covered by curvilinear camera movements.
  • Export All Snapshots

    If your project has a panel that contains several snapshots, by default, only the main snapshot in that panel will be exported. If this option is enabled, panels that contain several snapshots will be exported as several image files, one for each snapshot.

    NOTE To learn more about snapshots, see About Snapshots.

    Snapshot Pattern

    When exporting all the snapshots in a panel that contains several snapshots, this field allows you to customize how the number of the snapshot is appended to the file name. The # symbol represents the number of the snapshot. Its default value is -#, which means that a dash followed by the snapshot number is appended to the file name. For example, if exporting panel 4 of scene 16, and that panel contains three snapshots, the exported bitmaps for that panel would be named MyProject-16-4-1.jpg, MyProject-16-4-2.jpg and MyProject-16-4-3.jpg.

    NOTE Only images for panels that contain several snapshots will have a snapshot number appended to their file name.

    Export Range Tab

    All

    Exports the entire storyboard.

    Selected Scenes

    Select this option to export a specific selection of scenes. Then, click on the Select button to open the Scenes Picker dialog box, in which you can:

    • Type the number of a sequence or of a scene in the Sequence or Scene fields in the Filter section, to only show matching sequences or matching scenes in the list.
    • Click and drag to select a range of scenes.
    • Hold the Ctrl key and click on each scene you want to add to your selection.
    • Hold the Shift key, then click on the first scene and the last scene you want to add to your selection, to select every scene between those two scenes inclusively.
    • If your project has sequences, click on a sequence to select every scene in that sequence.

    Current Scene

    Exports only the currently selected scene.

    Current Panel

    Exports only the currently selected panel.

    Tracked Panels - [0 panel]

    Exports panels on which tracking changes is enabled—see About Track Changes.

    Burn-In Tab

    Print Scene Names and Panel Numbers

    Prints the scene names and panel numbers as an overlay on your video.

    Captions Tab

    Print Captions

    Choose whether to not print captions (None) or select one of your project’s captions to print into the exported movies. By default, a Storyboard Pro project has Action Notes, Dialog, Slugging and Notes captions, but you can also choose to print custom captions if your project has any.

    Font

    Select which font the captions will be printed in. By default, they will be printed in Arial.

    Height %

    Sets the size of caption lines relative to the height of the exported movies. For example, if exporting a movie at 1080p with 3% Height captions, each caption line will be 32 pixels in height.

    Position

    Prints the captions at either the Top Left, Top Centre, Top Right, Bottom Left, Bottom Centre or Bottom Right of the panels. By default, captions are printed to the Bottom Centre.

    Max Lines

    Sets the maximum amount of caption lines to print on each panel. If a caption being printed requires more than the maximum amount of lines, it will be cut off with an ellipsis (...) at the end.

    NOTE Even if captions are printed at the bottom, they will be aligned to the top of the space reserved for them, which is calculated by the amount of Max Lines x the Height %. Therefore, if this setting is too high and captions are printed at the bottom, they may appear closer to the middle of the picture than to the bottom.

    Text Colour

    Select the font colour in which to print the captions.

    Bg Colour

    Select the background colour on which to print the captions. If the checkbox is unchecked, the captions will be printed directly into the rendered picture. Otherwise, they will be printed in rectangular boxes of the chosen colour.

    Open folder after export

    Lets you view the location and contents of the exported folder when it is ready.