Chronological Render Wildcard

[jeremyswinter]

Hey hey,

I'm trying to export several regions so that they are numbered based on their chronological location on the timeline, regardless of the track on which they reside.

To set the scene I have three VO tracks. One track is named johnny, the other is named billy, and the last one is named seth.

I've found that the "$start" wildcard meets my requirements to a degree. Files are named in such a way that they appear in their chronological order in my export folder. The problem is that the filename contains all the time information- ie: johnny_1-17.078, billy_2-14.053. This makes for an awkward naming convention.

Ideally I'd like for the file names to display a simple number so that the first region on the timeline is exported to johnny_1, the second - billy_2, the third - seth_3 and so on, based on their chronological order in the timeline.

Does anyone know of a way to achieve this?
Is there a way to create a custom wildcard for this specific purpose?

Any insight into this problem would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks everyone,

J

[cfillion]

Have you tried $regionnumber? There is also $filenumber.

Check out the "Wildcard help" dialog at the bottom of the Wildcards list in the render dialog.

[nofish]

If all fails maybe use a batch rename utility (I use the free Bulk Rename Utility).

[jeremyswinter]

Thanks for the reply cfillion,

Unfortunately the $regionnumber wildcard doesn't do the trick. It numbers the exported regions on a pre-track basis, starting at 1 again for each new track.

So I get johnny_1, johnny_2, johnny_3 / billy_1, billy_2, billy_3 and so on.

I'm trying to get each number to correspond to the sequence order. So if johnny speaks, then billy speaks, then johnny speaks again I would get johnny_1, billy_2, johnny_3. The numbers would be based on their chronological order on the timeline regardless of the track.

I looked at the list in "wildcard help" (thanks again for that), but none of the descriptions on the list seem to do what I'm looking for. I guess this is why I was inquiring about a custom wildcard. The $start wildcard is very close, but it's not quite there.

Anyway, I'm repeating myself.
Thanks again for the reply.
Hopefully there is an answer out there

J

[jeremyswinter]

Thanks nofish,

I'll check out that option.

[schwa]

This sounds useful, we can probably add a $timelineorder wildcard.

[jeremyswinter]

Thanks for the reply schwa,

That would make me a very happy camper indeed.

If you lived in Newfoundland I would buy you a beer.

J