File Name Conventions for Rendered Images

There is no parameter in the Write node to specify output format. Instead, format is indicated by a prefix or an extension when you type the file name. Here is the appropriate syntax:

<prefix>:/<path>/<name>.<frame number variable>.<extension>

The optional <prefix>: can be any valid extension. <path> is the full path name to the directory where you want to render. The <frame number variable> is usually entered as ####, with #### indicating frame numbers padded to four digits.

You can change the padding by substituting #### with any number of hash marks. For example, two-digit padding would be ##, three-digit would be ###, and five-digit would be #####.

With these conventions in mind, suppose you want to save an image sequence called “final_comp_v01” to the TIFF16 format. Here are examples of names that work in the Write node:

tiff16:/<path>/final_comp_v01.####.tiff

/<path>/final_comp_v01.####.tiff16

tiff16:/<path>/final_comp_v01.####

All extensions supported by Nuke may be used for the prefix. See Supported File Formats for a complete list of recognized extensions.

When a prefix is used, it takes precedence over the format represented by an extension. In fact, the prefix makes the extension unnecessary.

You could, for example, enter exr:/<path>/### as the file name, and this would create an OpenEXR image sequence with frame numbers only, padded to three digits.

Writing Versions of Rendered Images

You can write out versions of a file using the Alt+Up/Down arrow keys. Versions must written in the following format in order for Nuke recognize them:

<path>/final_comp_v01.####.tiff

<path>/final_comp_v02.####.tiff

<path>/final_comp_v03.####.tiff