Image Sequence Section Deletion

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cob906
Posts: 28
Joined: August 8th, 2006, 3:25 pm
Location: Lewisville, TX
Contact:

Every once in a while, I'll need to re-render a section of an animation and will only delete a portion of the Image Sequence I already have so that the render farm is only rendering the files that are not there. Usually, I'll open up explorer and find the files, select them and then delete them. The problem is that Windows has a funny way of deleting large quantities of files. For some reason, especially over the network, Windows will stall before deleting the files I've requested (especially if it involves deleting thousands of files).

The point of this application is to allow the user to easily and quickly delete a selected sequence of files directly from After Effects. It is most useful when having to delete only a section of an image sequence for re-render. This not only saves time during the actual deletion of the files, it also saves the user from having to open up explorer and have Windows load millions of files for you to view even though you don't need to see all of them.


Follow the steps below to use the script:

1. Click on Browse and select any file from a file sequence (such as an Image Sequence). By doing this, you are telling the application what sequence of files it is working with.

2. Define the boundaries of the section you want to delete by entering in the numbers of the first and last files in the sequence in the spaces provided. Alternatively, you can browse for the files by using the "Section Begin" and "Section End" buttons.

3. Select whether or not you want to perform a test only. This allows you to see the results of the opperation without actually deleting any files.

4. Review your input and then click on "Perform Delete". In the info window, the current percentage of the process is displayed.

Important Info:

-This application has some precautionary measures that prevent bad user input (such as characters instead of numbers, an ending number less than the beginning number, skipping files that don't exist, and selecting files from a different file sequence than the sequence given). However, the author of this application can in no way be held liable for any damage that this script may cause. Use at your own risk.
-As of now, this script can only work with file sequences that follow the default template that After Effects creates when defining sequences: Image_Name_[#####].ext. It does not matter how many digits there are in the numbering of the files, but the numbers must be directly after an underscore ("_") and before an extension.
-You are asked to verify that you really want to delete the sequence you've specified. Once you perform the delete, the files cannot be retrieved by easy means since the files do not go to the recycle bin. Use wisely.

Contact Information:

Contact collin.brooks at gmail.com with comments/suggestions.
**This script can be duplicated and distributed freely as long as the help text and contact information remains intact and coupled with this script.


Now to the fun:

EDIT: New version of script has been posted. View post below.

I hope you find this helpful. Let me know if you find any bugs. I haven't tested it on a Mac but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't work . :wink:
Last edited by cob906 on September 7th, 2007, 1:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
cob906
Posts: 28
Joined: August 8th, 2006, 3:25 pm
Location: Lewisville, TX
Contact:

I've gone through the code and tightened some things up as well as utilized the remove function in After Effects so there is no need for a batch file.

Image Sequence Section Deletion V3

The point of this application is to allow the user to easily and quickly delete a selected sequence of files directly from After Effects. It is most useful when having to delete only a section of an image sequence for re-render.

Follow the steps below:

1. Click on Browse and select any file from a file sequence (such as an Image Sequence). By doing this, you are telling the application what sequence of files it is working with.
2. Define the boundaries of the section you want to delete by entering in the numbers of the first and last files in the sequence in the spaces provided. Alternatively, you can browse for the files by using the "Section Begin" and "Section End" buttons.
3. Review your input and then click on "Perform Delete". In the info window, the current percentage of the process is displayed.

Tool Descriptions:

1. Get RQ Item Path: Allows you to select a render queue item and have the path that it is set to render to be used as the image sequence you are wanting to reference.
2. Get RQ Item Timespan: Allows you to select a render queue item and have the section begin and section end input fields set to the timespan the render que item you've selected is set to render.
3. Get Work Area: After making a composition an active item, this allows you to have the section begin and section end input fields set to the in and out time of the work area.
4. Get Entire Seq: Scans the image sequence you've browsed for and sets the section begin and section end input fields to encompass the entire image sequence.
5. Perform Test Only: Allows you to see the results of the opperation without actually deleting any files.

Important Info:

-This application has some precautionary measures that prevent bad user input (such as characters instead of numbers, an ending number less than the beginning number, skipping files that don't exist, and selecting files from a different file sequence than the sequence given). However, the author of this application can in no way be held liable for any damage that this script may cause. Use at your own risk.
-As of now, this script can only work with file sequences that follow the default template that After Effects creates when defining sequences: Image_Name_[#####].ext. It does not matter how many digits there are in the numbering of the files, but the numbers must be directly after an underscore ("_") and before an extension.
-You are asked to verify that you really want to delete the sequence you've specified. Once you perform the delete, the files cannot be retrieved by easy means since the files do not go to the recycle bin. Use wisely.

Contact Information:

Contact collin.brooks at gmail.com with comments/suggestions.

**This script can be duplicated and distributed freely as long as this help text and contact information remain intact and coupled with the script.

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jayse
Posts: 12
Joined: November 22nd, 2004, 5:45 pm
Location: vegas
Contact:

Hey Cob - just found this - looks great but it's missing - any chance of a re-upload?

Thanks for the hard work!

// jayse
cob906
Posts: 28
Joined: August 8th, 2006, 3:25 pm
Location: Lewisville, TX
Contact:

Jayse,

Sorry for the tardy response. I've been trying like crazy to login but haven't been able to. It seems like the forum doesn't like Google Chrome.

Anyway, the ISSD script will be released on aescripts.com in the next couple of days so check there soon! I'll try to post here when it's available.

Sorry again!

Collin
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lloydalvarez
Enhancement master
Posts: 460
Joined: June 17th, 2004, 9:27 am
Location: New York City, NY
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