The File Browser is an interactive browser to navigate through the network
to either load or write scripts, images, lookup files, expressions, or tracking
files. With the Browser, images can be listed as a long list of individual files
or as a sequence. You can create directories, delete files and directories directly
in the Browser. You can also bookmark favorite directories.
Calling the Browser
The File Browser is called from the interface when creating or editing a FileIn
or a FileOut nodeor when using the Load Script and Save
Script buttons. Clicking on any of these buttons launches the browser.
Clicking on the folder icon next to the file path relaunches the browser from
an existing FileIn or FileOut node:

The Browser looks something like this:

Navigating in
the Browser
You can access a directory in several ways:
Adding directories to the Favorites list. You can explicitly
add directories to the list in two ways:
The Bookmark button. To temporarily add an entry to the favorites list,
press the Bookmark button.
To save the settings in your script, make sure "include interface
settings" is turned on when you save your script. When loading
a script, make sure "include interface settings" is on. Otherwise,
go to File - Save Interface Settings, and they will load by default.
You can also permanently add to your favorites list, by adding an entry
in a ui .h file similar to these:
nuiFileBrowserAddFavorite("/Documents/icons/scr");
nuiFileBrowserAddFavorite("/shots/shot1/pix");
You can also specify directories to look in when Shake starts with
the following ui .h settings. Each listing is for a type of file, that
is., images, scripts, expressions, and so on. Note the slash at the
end of the path:
gui.fileBrowser.lastImageDir= "/Documents/pix/" ;
gui.fileBrowser.lastScriptDir= "$MYPROJ/shakeScripts/" ;
gui.fileBrowser.lastExprDir= "//Server/shakeExpressions/" ;
gui.fileBrowser.lastTrackerDir= "$MYPROJ/tracks/" ;
gui.fileBrowser.lastAnyDir= "/" ;
For more information on a ui .h file, jump to Customize
Shake.
|
|
Indicates a folder. |
|
Indicates a drive. |
|
Take you to the last directory
you looked at. |
|
Take you up one
directory. You can also press Backspace.
|
up/down arrow
keys |
Carry you up and down in the
list. |
Any letter |
Once you have clicked in the
file listings, hitting a letter on the keyboard jumps to the next occurrence
of a file or directory starting with that letter.
|
Selecting Files
You can select files in several ways:
Selecting Single files:
- Double-click on the file you want.
- Use the up/down arrow keys, and press the OK
button or Enter on the Keyboard.
- Press the first letter of the file you want. Pressing it again will jump
to the next file starting with that letter. press the OK button or
Enter on the Keyboard.
Selecting multiple files in the same directory:
Selecting multiple images in different directories:
Use the Next button on the Browser to load the current image(s) and keep
the Browser open to continue to add files. When you have reached the last file,
press OK instead of Next. At any time in this process, the Node
View may be accessed to examine FileIn nodes.
You can also press the Space Bar to load in another file.
|
Viewing Controls
There are several tools to help you in the Browser.
-
Arranging the file List
Clicking on the title of a column arranges the list according to that type
of information, that is, clicking on Modified lists files by creation
date. Pressing it again reverses the order of information.
Short Listing |
List only file names, type and size. |
Sequence Listing |
Toggles the listing of an image sequence as one listing
or as several.To read in the entire sequence, ensure this is activated.
These icons signify single or sequence files:
Indicates a single file.
Indicates an image sequence.
|
Images Only |
Lists only recognized image types. |
Show exact sizes |
Show the exact file size in kilobytes, rather
than rounded off in megabytes. |
Show full path |
Lists the entire path of the file you have
selected. |
Filter |
Filters out information. Use *
and ? as your wildcards:
Wildcard |
Means... |
* |
Any set of characters for any
length. |
Example |
Lists.... |
*.cin |
a.cin, image.cin,
image.0001.cin, ... |
*.cin.* |
a.cin.0001, image.cin.hr
|
*.cin* |
a.cin, image.0001.cin,
image.cin.0001 |
image.*.tga |
image.1.tga,
image.10.tga, image.0100.tga |
Wildcard |
Means... |
? |
Any character in that single position. |
Example |
Lists.... |
?.cin |
a.cin, 1.cin |
??.iff |
ab.iff, 01.iff
|
a.??? |
a.cin, a.iff, a.tga |
image.????.iff |
image.0001.iff, image.9999.ifff |
image.???1.iff |
image.0001.iff, image.0011.iff, image.1111.iff |
|
-

Refreshes the listing of the current directory in case files have been added
or deleted files outside of Shake.
Reading or Writing
Sequences
Select a file by clicking on the file name, or click in the main file display
area and use the hot keys as described above. You can also type the name in
the File Name box at the bottom. Press OK to validate.
If you are reading in an image sequence, press
.
To write out a file with a FileOut node, select the directory, and enter
the file name in the File Name window. If you are writing an image
sequence, be sure to insert a # or a @ sign where you want the frame number
to go in the name. Here is a table of examples:
Files |
Shake
Notation |
image.0001.cin, image.0002.cin |
image.#.cin |
image.1.tif, image.2.tif |
image.@.tif |
image.iff.0001, image.iff.0002 |
image.iff.# |
image1.tga, image2.tga |
image@.tga |
image.001.tga, image.002.tga |
image.@@@.tga |
image.01, image.02 |
image.@@ |
Once you are finished, press OK to validate.