Workflow activities

Workflows are a very efficient and flexible way of managing media data in Silverstack. They consist of individual activities that you can combine to create your own custom workflow.

This article is related to the workflow configuration window where you can find more general information about the feature. If you want to learn how to configure workflows, please visit the article configuring a workflow.

Below, you will find detailed information about the configuration options for each activity:

Register in Library
Resource Selection
Backup
Transcode
Upload
Checksum Creation
Verify

1. Register in library#

Shows the scanning result and allows you to specify how files and clips are registered in the Silverstack library.

1.1 Scanning Result#

Scanned

Shows the size and count of files processed by the file scanner. Sequentially numbered file sequences may be counted as one single file.

Tip: Files can be excluded from scanning by specifying ignore patterns in the application settings.

Identified, Type

Displays the count and type of clips that could be identified. Negative values (in blue color) indicate clips that will be registered as documents rather than clips due to specified document patterns or manual user selection in the file list.

File List

Shows details of the scanned files in a table.

Partial ingest checkbox
Enables the option to select only a subset of the files for registration (and further processing).

Include Only Selected button
Enables only the selected resources in the table. Right-Click on the button to change the function to “Include All” or “Include Selected”.

Exclude Selected button
Disables the selected resources in the table. Right-Click on the button to change the function to “Unmark All” or “Unmark Only Selected”.

Clips as Documents menu
Allows you to specify “Automatic Document Patterns” that force certain clips to be registered as documents rather than functional clip assets. By default, clips that are placed in commonly used proxy subfolders and still images are registered as documents.

Additionally, this functionality can be applied to selected clips in the file list.

1.2 Ingest metadata#

This feature has been introduced with Silverstack 9.0. It allows you to enter metadata already during ingest and use it to create bin paths.

Bin name textfield
Allows you to edit the bin name. The … button allows you to select a bin name based on the files’ metadata.

Shooting date textfield
Sets the shooting date value. The value can be entered by keyboard or selected by calendar.

Shooting day textfield
Sets the shooting day value. The value can be entered by keyboard.

Crew unit textfield
Sets the crew unit value. The value can be entered by keyboard.

Episode textfield
Sets the episode value. The value can be entered by keyboard.

Camera textfield
Sets the camera value. The value is extracted automatically and can be changed manually.The … button allows you to select a letter based on the files’ metadata.

Tip: The small M/A values underneath the textfields indicate if a value was entered manually by the user (M) or extracted from the files automatically (A).

Bin will be registered at preview
Shows a preview of the path where the bin will be registered in the library. Click it to open the settings for the registration path mentioned below.

1.3 Configuration#

Allow ingest of duplicates checkbox
Enables you to ingest duplicates into the Silverstack library.

Ingest bin at dropdown menu
Allows you to define where the bin should be registered in the library. Multiple options are available, including wildcards.The default is “Selected Library Position”. When that option is selected, “Position” is revealed.

Position dropdown menu
Allows you to change the registration path manually.

Look Source dropdown menu
Allows you to specify a look that should be applied to clips.

Fallback Project FPS dropdown menu
Allows you to specify the playback speed of clips that do not carry this information.

Renaming Pattern dropdown menu
Sets the renaming pattern for offloading. “Original Filename” does not change the filenames.This feature is only enabled for specific file types.

Add Lua script dropdown menu
Allows you to manipulate the metadata extracted from clips. Check the article creating custom scripts to learn more.

2. Resource selection#

Shows the selected bin from the Silverstack library and defines which resources to use for the workflow.

Choose media files from volume… dropdown menu
Sets the volume or source to use for the resource selection. If files have multiple resources you can define which of those should be used for the workflow.By changing the source volume, the media file path in the table does also change (not applicable when files only have one resource available).

Mark only selected button
Enables only the selected resources in the table. Right-Click on the button to change the function to “Mark All” or “Mark Selected”.

Unmark selected button
Unmarks only the selected resources in the table. Right-Click on the button to change the function to “Unmark All” or “Unmark Only Selected”.

Search
Performs a search within the resources table.

Table
Shows the elements of the selected bin. You can adjust the table with Right-Click to open the context menu.

3. Backup#

Verify dropdown menu
Defines the destinations to consider for verification. The options are:

Destinations + Source: Verify all destinations and the source.
Destinations Only: Verify all destinations without the source. This setting cannot detect source issues.
LTFS: Sets a behavior that considers the specific linear access characteristics of LTO tape.
No Verification: File size check only. Creates internal hashes for the library without verifying. Please use with care.

Checksum dropdown menu
Sets the checksum method. XXH64 is the default. You have the following options: MD5, SHA1, XXH128, XXH3, XXH64 and C4ID.

Job execution dropdown menu
Sets the verification handling. The options are:

Included in Copy Job: The verification is executed file per file (e.g., a single file is copied and then verified).
Separate Verification Job: One job copies all files first, then one separate job verifies all files.

Type dropdown menu
Sets the manifest type. The options are:

None: Does not create a manifest.
Classic MHL: Creates a media hash list.
ASC MHL: Creates an ASC media hash list. See also Hashing Data with ASC MHL.

History chain dropdown menu
Decides if the ASC MHL chain of custody is continued or started from scratch. The options are:

Start New: Always starts a new ASC MHL history.
Continue if Possible: Continues the ASC MHL history if possible. If you want to continue the ASC MHL history for files that have not yet been registered in Silverstack, the source and destination hash formats must match.

Create at Source dropdown menu
This option is only visible when the backup is appended to a transcode activity. When set to “ASC MHL”, it creates a manifest at the source (for the transcodes) as well as the destination. That is useful for sealing.

Existing files dropdown menu
Determines if existing files should be overwritten or not. The options are:

Overwrite: Automatically overwrites existing files.
Abort Job and Fail: Aborts the job and displays an error.

MHL errors dropdown menu
Defines how to treat MHL errors. The options are:

Ignore: Does not consider MHL errors.
Abort Job and Fail: Aborts the job and displays an error.

4. Transcode#

Add preset pop-up menu
Opens a pop-up menu to select a transcoding preset. The presets can be searched and sorted.

Path textfield
Allows you to set the destination path for the transcodes by text or path wildcards.

Tip: You can use path wildcards to rename your transcodes based on metadata. Visit the path wildcards article to learn more.

Example text
Shows you a preview of the transcode destination path as set by the path wildcards.

Wildcards table
Contains a searchable list of all available path wildcards.

Add to library checkbox
Automatically registers transcodes in the library after rendering. Enabled by default. If disabled, the activity cannot have child activities.Transcode to combined clip checkboxTranscodes multiple source clips into one single combined clip. This allows you to create combined clips for complete scenes, etc.

Please note that the following restrictions apply to the combined clip transcoding:

You can only use H.264 and ProRes codecs
Stereo mixdown is automatically applied as channel layout
Clips cannot be ingested automatically into the library
No automatic metadata exports are available
Only one destination at a time is possible
You have no options for path wildcards

5. Dailies upload#

Dailies upload is only available in Silverstack Lab.

Choose Account… dropdown menu
Sets the upload service (e.g., Frame.io or Webgate).

Frame.io#

Account dropdown menu
Determines which account is used for uploading.

Team dropdown menu
Sets the desired team.

Project dropdown menu
Defines the project in which the files are uploaded.

Folder
Defines the folder within the project to upload the files into.

Webgate#

Project dropdown menu
Defines the project in which the files are uploaded.

Folder
Defines the folder within the project to upload the files into.

Add Playlist… button
Adds a playlist and starts uploading.

6. AWS S3 upload#

Select Account for Upload dropdown menu
Determines which account is used for uploading.

Bucket textfield with dropdown menu
Selects the available bucket.

Region textfield with dropdown menu
Sets the region for the upload configuration.

Use S3 upload acceleration checkbox
May improve the upload performance.

Key Prefix textfield
Allows you to enter the key prefix.

Check Configuration button
Performs a pre-check of your current configuration.

Endpoint URL textfield
Allows you to enter the endpoint URL.

7. Sony Ci upload#

Sony Ci upload is only available in Silverstack Lab.

Ci Media Cloud File Request URL textfield
The field to enter the file request URL. If the URL is valid, additional information will be fetched and displayed.

Check button
Tests if the entered request link is valid.

8. Checksum creation#

Checksum Method dropdown menu
Sets the checksum method used to generate hashes.

Create Manifest dropdown menu
Defines if a hash manifest is created at the source or not. Option “None” creates hashes for the library only.

9. Verify#

The Verify activity does not have any special options to configure. It cannot have subordinate activities.

10. Dynamic metadata extraction#

The Dynamic Metadata Extraction activity does not have any special options to configure. It cannot have subordinate activities.