PDF Project, Sequence, Shot, Task naming request

[vfxman222]

So I have been outputting PDF docs of various data over the last few weeks for reviews and I am finding little quirks that are a bit annoying. Maybe this is different in fTrack v3, but I do not know.

 

In some cases the data seen in the viewer is not what necessarily prints in the PDF. Like when viewing a List and then showing the List in "Shot/Asset Build" view, you see shots, with associated Tasks when you expand each shot. When exporting a PDF, you do not get the Tasks listed out as expected. I finally found a way for it to work and it is only when I view "All" for the project and not a List, but when I have data like this: (pardon the blurred spots, project is still not public yet)

 

Nice and clean visually. Sequence, Shot, Tasks. No hierarchy naming like "ProjectName/Sequence/Shot/Task" for every item. When I export a PDF for this though I will get this:

 

I find the extra bits of name data visual distracting and makes for a hard quick reading. Ideally it would be simple just like the actual source view in the first photo. So for example a shot name currently shows as...

 

"PROJECT NAME" / 010 (cameron) / 001

 

...would simply read as...

 

001

 

...and so forth for the others. Sequences and Tasks.

 

"PROJECT NAME" / 010 (cameron) / 001 / Remove wires

 

...should be...

 

- Remove wires

 

The key name is already mentioned and it's not like it's miles away from the rest of the data to not easily find it. Here's a mockup:

 

Just my two cents. Thanks.

[Björn Rydahl]

Hi David,

 

sorry for getting back to you so late on this. We are currently looking at replacing the current PDF engine and I'll make sure we keep your feedback in mind.

 

Kind regards

[Robinson]

This is something that occurs across all export types.

 

Currently our fix is to export as CSV and use excel FIND and REPLACE command to strip out unwanted prepended text in one step. Relatively simple to do since the extra text inherited always starts with the Project name and you can just add wildcards to the search after that.

 

Of course, Excel is not as pretty as the PDF output from Ftrack.  It would be nice to have an option to choose what appears in the export.

 

------

From the example:

 

"PROJECT NAME" / 010 (cameron) / 001

 

Select the column in Excel and Find: "PROJECT NAME" / ****************

 

Replace all, leave replace text blank

 

This solves your problem at the shot level, the task will now read "001 / REMOVE WIRES" which will at least be somewhat easier to digest.

[jonofon]

Has anyone made any progress with this or found any work arounds? 

I like to bid on shows via ftrack and so am trying to export a pdf estimate. It's almost great just a bit ugly with the full file path and i can't get it to display the bid day totals on the shot level. Regarding the file path, i managed to get a short version by creating a custom attribute on the shot level with an expression {self.name} this results in '001' rather than the long file path. BUT when exporting it's not possible to remove the task/shot so you get both in the pdf.

I got the excel workflow working with find and replace but then I got caught up in a rabbit hole trying to get excel sheets to create nice looking estimates. Too many hurdles and clicks that way. 

Whilst we wait for an update...  I wonder if anyone has come up with a better system since this post from 2016, perhaps creating an action and generating your own pdfs?

Any input/knowledge share appreciated!

Jono 

[Phil Franjo]

Just gonna +1 on this as this is still the case with PDF exports. Needs to be simpler visually and compact information, no need for overarching folders or shots when you can find this info within the name or link.  

[Phil Franjo]

A potential workaround would be to group by Assignee or Status, this way only the tasks and links show up in your export without the parent objects.

[JPrydz]

Hi Phil,

Thanks for your update and feedback on this.

Regards,
Johan