What’s new in ftrack Studio

The sidebar has now been updated with a new design for all Studio and Enterprise users allowing three different modes: floating, docked and modal. This was introduced in a previous update and is now being rolled out across all instances 

Status Permissions was introduced as a Beta feature allowing users more granular control over who can change statuses on certain tasks. Our latest release has this feature moved out of Beta, toggled on by default for all Enterprise users with the option to toggle it off or on as needed.

Split Tasks is now available as an Enterprise only feature. We previously introduced Split Tasks as a Beta feature that enables users to break up their tasks in the Gantt scheduler and allow each split to have its own start and end dates. 

Enforce two factor authentication (2FA) was introduced to all Studio and Enterprise users as a way of controlling security access to your entire workspace. This latest release enables Enterprise accounts to have the ability to toggle it on or off for whole workspaces. It is turned off by default. Note that for Studio users this will now become a limited feature, meaning that  if it is turned off, it will no longer be able to be turned on and enforced on all users on your workspace.

What is it? ftrack Connect 2.0 is now available to download – the reimagined desktop application that enables you integrate ftrack Studio with creative apps, publish assets, and more. ftrack Connect 2.0 is designed to support today’s VFX pipelines and remove friction from production and pipeline TD workflows. With Connect 2.0, it’s easier to launch integrations, find what you need quickly, and help artists to get up and running on projects in a way that makes sense to them.

How does it change my experience? Here’s what we’ve improved in ftrack Connect 2.0:

What is it? Connect 2.0 launches alongside two new ftrack Studio integrations with Nuke and Maya 2022+. These integrations work seamlessly with the most recent versions of Nuke and Maya and can be accessed and downloaded from Connect 2.0’s new Plugin Manager. ftrack Studio’s new Nuke and Maya integrations are built on ftrack’s new Pipeline Framework – a new way of building, delivering, and updating integrations with ftrack Studio.

How does it change my experience? Here’s what you can do with ftrack Studio’s new Nuke and Maya integrations and the new Pipeline Framework:

What is it? We’ve substantially updated ftrack Studio’s client review interface, using the new technology stack and design that underpinned ftrack Review’s April 2022 update.

How does it change my experience? ftrack Studio’s updated client review offers a new design, a new user experience, and a substantial improvement over past media review workflows in ftrack Studio. When using the new client review interface, you’ll find your reviews are more collaborative, less friction and a more seamless back-and-forth, and more ways to communicate and make your feedback clear. Features include:

You can turn on the beta client review interface via System settings > Advanced > Experimental and selecting “New client review player.”

What is it? Split Tasks enable you to break up tasks in the Gantt scheduler and visualize any interruptions/hiatuses. As you split up a task, you can give each portion of the task its own start and end dates and label each part of the split task to describe the work planned for each split stage.

How does it change my experience? Sometimes in production, tasks are worked on in segments rather than continuously before completion. For instance, you might need to switch between tasks to keep multiple plates spinning throughout the course of a day, or the first part of a task might require approval before the artist can move on to working on the second part. With Split Tasks in ftrack Studio (beta), you can visualize these breaks in a task and gain more control over organizing your team’s projects.

You can turn on Split Tasks via System settings > Advanced > Experimental and selecting “Split Tasks.”

What is it? The Lightbox Player in ftrack Studio enables quick playback of versions from within the ftrack Studio UI without launching a “formal” review session. A new beta version of ftrack Studio’s Lightbox Player is now available, which replaces the older version of the player with a new technology stack.

How does it change my experience? The enhanced Lightbox Player offers more speed and less friction when launching reviews:

You can turn on the new Lightbox Player via System settings > Advanced > Experimental and selecting “New web player.”

What is it? We have added a new “Security settings” page to ftrack Studio, where you can manage your password, personal API key, and two-factor authentication – all in one place.

How does it change my experience? This update simply makes it slightly easier to manage your security settings!

What is it? Two new options in the nodes column let users hide the ‘author’ and ‘date’ information from notes when viewing notes in the Tasks/Versions spreadsheet or when exporting data from the spreadsheet.

How does it change my experience? Previously, the ‘author’ and ‘date’ information, seen when viewing or exporting notes, could take up too much space on the screen. Enabling users to hide these two columns provides more flexibility when using notes and emphasizes the actual client feedback/text (over who gave it and when).

Please note: The author and date options only affect the notes column in the Tasks/Versions pages of a Project.

What is it? Users can now multi-select several tasks in the project Gantt chart and resize them simultaneously. All selected tasks will be resized to show the same number of days/hours.

How does it change my experience? In the past, altering the length of Gantt tasks had to be accomplished task by task. Now, with users able to multi-select several Gantt tasks and change those Gantt lengths simultaneously, users can work with much more speed in the project Gantt scheduler.

What is it? We’ve introduced drag-and-drop folders to media review in ftrack Studio, enabling you to organize your client reviews more efficiently.

How does it change my experience? An ongoing project can have upwards of 10 or even 100 reviews. Previously in ftrack Studio, it could be hard to quickly find a review or distinguish between different categories of reviews. The introduction of drag-and-drop folders means you can now organize your client reviews much more efficiently and find what you need, faster.

Follow the below process to organize your client reviews. You can also watch this process in the attached video.

1. Go to a project where you would like to create a folder.
2. Click on the dropdown icon to open the menu.
3. Select ‘Folder’ and give the folder a name.
4. Drag and drop a client review into your new folder.

What is it? There is now a Mute All function in the Review Participants/Sync area in the upper right of the ftrack review player.

How does it change my experience? This function allows logged-in users to quickly mute any live audio, which is useful when reviewing with a large group.

Please note: The Mute All button will appear in Sync reviews only; you won’t see it if you’re not in sync. The Mute All button will only affect other users in sync with you. Individual participants can still control their own volume if required.

What is it? ftrack Studio’s review interface now offers on-screen zoom controls, which allow users to easily control their zoom functionality. When using the zoom tool, the zoom level will display in the lower right of the player interface. You can use the +/- buttons to zoom in or out and the reset button to return to 100%.

You can also use zoom at any time without needing to select the zoom tool. Even with any other tool selected, you can still zoom using your mouse wheel or by using the zoom gesture on your trackpad. The same zoom controls will appear on the ftrack Studio UI and will remain while zoomed in but will disappear automatically when the zoom resets to 100%.

How does it change my experience? It’s much easier to zoom in and discuss in detail!

What is it? ftrack’s UI looks different—and much nicer! We’ve updated ftrack Studio’s overall style to align with our brand colors and give the media you’re working with more focus in the web player.

How does it change my experience? For starters, ftrack Studio looks cleaner and is more joyful to work with, and it sports more consistency across different parts of the UI. In addition, the new colors make it easier to see what you’re working with and differentiate between UI elements. You’ll also find the updates emphasize the media in the web player during a review session so that everyone can give it their full attention.

We’ll be implementing this across ftrack’s other product offerings with an aim to harmonize all platforms as they become more tightly integrated.

What is it? A standardized UI and media player in ftrack Studio, so whether you’re performing internal, client-facing, or standalone reviews, you’ll enjoy the same manageable review experience.

How does it change my experience? All users who log in to an ftrack Studio review session now have full user rights, even in Client Review.

Previously, some users only had the same rights as guests. Now, all logged-in users have access to review functionality, such as updating the media playlist, sending review invitations, and changing ftrack Studio version/task statuses directly inside the review (rather than managing things from inside the ftrack Studio interface).

We’ve also added new features to the updated interface, such as drag-and-drop reordering and the ability to group versions in the playlist.

Here’s a quick list of everything that’s changed:

What is it? Manually open and close client reviews in ftrack Studio, rather than relying solely on availability schedules.

How does it change my experience? Previously, you could only set client review sessions as “open” at specific scheduled times, and everyone would have to join at that particular time. The added functionality of manually opening and closing client review sessions means you no longer need to rely on scheduled timeframes, making things much more flexible!

What is it? Group by custom attribute links in the Tasks Spreadsheet, just as you can with other attributes. If there are multiple linked items, ftrack Studio will treat them as a group, similar to the Assignees attribute.

How does it change my experience? You gain more flexibility around visualizing your custom attribute links and ftrack Studio data.

What is it? Filter on related entities or custom attributes from related entities in Overview.

How does it change my experience? You now have more options for filtering in Overview to find the information you need. As well as filtering on related objects, you can also filter on List membership, Versions based on review sessions, and more.

What is it? Exclude tasks when exporting data from a Tasks Spreadsheet.

How does it change my experience? Previously, you could only export Task Spreadsheet data without tasks when looking at a flat list of Shots and Asset builds. Now you can exclude Tasks from exports directly from the Tasks Spreadsheet! This workflow is useful when exporting a set of deliverables only, for example, or when exporting a report that does not require task information.

What is it? The page title of your ftrack Studio page is now visible in its web browser tab.

How does it change my experience? It’s a little quality-of-life bump! Previously, all browser tabs were labeled “ftrack.” Now you can see the name of the specific ftrack Studio view each tab contains, making it much easier to distinguish between tabs and understand context—especially if you’re a serial multi-tabber!

Custom attribute links are now available in ftrack Studio with UI and editing support. This exciting new feature allows you to link existing objects to create more powerful and practical views.

Learn how to use custom attribute links

You can now manage additional storage directly using the Additional Storage add-on from your subscription management page instead of needing to contact ftrack support. Workspace administrators will receive alerts when their storage usage is reaching capacity.