Description
The Output node allows you to save textures and materials from ArtEngine to a hard drive location on your system.
You can specify the location and the output file type, as well as a preferred export file naming structure. This is useful for organising big projects consistently and easily.
For materials, you can also specify the file extension and bit depth individually for each map.
Usage
To export a texture or material using the Output node, follow these steps:
- Create a new Output node on the Node Graph. It can be found in the Output category of the Node Library. Alternatively, select the node you want to output, right-click it in the graph, and choose Create Output Node.
- Plug in the Bitmap or Material you want to export from ArtEngine into the port on the Output node.
- Set the output Folder path to your preferred destination, and the File name to your preferred identifier for this Bitmap or Material.
- Optionally, configure additional output settings in the node’s Properties window. You can learn more about what each option does in the Node Reference section below.
- Click the Export button in the Properties window to output your files. If you are using the Advanced settings window, use the Export button there instead.
- Find the exported files in the output folder you specified.
Node Reference
| Node category | Output |
|---|---|
| Node execution style | Manual |
Ports
| Input Name | Input Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Bitmap / Material | Bitmap / Material | The Bitmap or Material that the Output node saves locally on your hard drive. |
Properties
General
These properties control the general behavior of the node, such as how much variation is applied to features of different sizes in the input image.
| Property/Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Input Type | Choose between Bitmap and Material to determine whether the node takes a single texture or a material as input. This property will change automatically depending on the type of input plugged into the node. |
| File name | Specify the file name for the export. Individual Bitmap names will be added on top of this file name. To modify names for each Bitmap type, use the Bitmap Naming Preferences button at the bottom of the Properties window. Additionally, you can specify the output file extension using the dropdown to the right of this field. You can choose from JPG, PNG, EXR, TIF, and TGA. |
| Folder path | Specify the output folder path where files will be saved. You can enter the path manually, or use the Browse button on the right to navigate to the desired output folder. |
| Overwrite Existing | Enable this option to automatically overwrite any existing files with matching file names in the specified output path. |
Discard alpha | Enable this option to discard the Alpha channel from each input texture during the export process. This option is useful for texture optimization, as most materials do not typically utilize the alpha channel in any of their maps. |
| Export | Once you are happy with your Output settings, click this button to export your input with the parameters specified. If you want to use Advanced export options, use the Export button in the advanced settings window instead. |
Bitmap Naming Preferences
The Bitmap Naming Preferences button brings up a new window which allows you to individually adjust file names for each Bitmap type in the input.
In this window, the Bitmap types are listed on the left, and the corresponding output file names - on the right. Click any of the fields on the right-hand side to change the name for all output textures of that type.
You can also use the Reset button to the right of each file name to revert it to the default.
When you are done changing the Bitmap Naming Preferences, click the OK button at the bottom of the window, or the Cancel button if you want to discard the changes.
Advanced
The Advanced button brings up a new window with additional options for configuring the output process.
The window is split into two sections. The left section contains properties that apply to all of the outputs.
The Output Path property lets you specify the folder path where files will be exported, and behaves identically to the Folder path property of the node.
The File Type property lets you set the file extension and bit depth of output files. The file extensions available are JPG, PNG, EXR, TIF, and TGA. You can set the bit depth to match the input bit depth, or choose from 8bit, 16bit, and 32bit.
The Export Structure field allows you to propagate the following information into the output file names:
- project adds the title of the current ArtEngine project to the output file name.
- identifier adds the Bitmap type to the output file name, and is enabled by default.
- label adds the name you specified in the File name field to the output, and is enabled by default.
You can click each of these buttons to add or remove the corresponding data from the Export Structure.
The right section of the Advanced window contains file extension and bit depth options for different map types, allowing you to set them for each type individually. You can also exclude a specific Bitmap type from the output entirely using the X button.
When you are done adjusting the advanced properties, you can click the Export button at the bottom right of this window to proceed with the export; or use the Cancel button to discard the changes.