Get started with the Cinematic Studio Template

Discover Sequences through the sample

Create a new Sequence Asset

Bring the Sequence Asset to life

Manage Sequence Asset Variants

Export your final cut

In this short introductory learning experience, you’ll explore the Cinematic Studio Sample and use some of Unity’s key cinematic features to:

Get familiar with a cinematic built on Sequences

Create and adjust your own content within the sample

Export a video and other data from the sample

Cinematic Content Creation with Sequences

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Overview

Export a video of your Sequence

Export an Alembic animation file

Export Arbitrary Output Variables (AOVs)

Next steps

In this final tutorial, you’ll export your final cut to a video file. You’ll also see how to export other types of data for extended editorial tasks through other software.

Recorder package documentation

You’ve now created your own short cinematic animation within the sample movie. In this final tutorial, you’ll use the Recorder to export a video of the Sequence you edited.

Then, you’ll export other types of data from the movie:

An Alembic animation file of the MICH-L character

Arbitrary Output Variables (AOVs), such as albedo, normals, depth, and motion vectors

To export your edited Sequence to a video file:

1.  From the Sequences window, open the Recorder: right click on S01 and choose Record As.

2.  In the Recorder Window, ensure to clear the Recorder list if it is not empty: in the left pane, click on the option menu and select Clear Recorder List.

3.  Click on Add Recorder and select Movie.

4.  In the Movie Recorder Settings, in the Format section, select the Media File Format you want to export the Sequence to.

5.  Select the Start Recording button.
The Editor starts to play back the cinematic in Play mode from its beginning, but the actual recording starts when the playback reaches the targeted Sequence (S01). The recording automatically stops at the end of the targeted Sequence, and the Editor exits the Play mode.

6.  In the Movie Recorder Settings, in the Output File section, select the output location button at the right of the Path section.

7.  Locate the output file in the file system window and play it with your video player.
If you used the default settings, the file name should be “movie_001.mp4”.

Image of the Sequences window with Sequence “S01” selected and “Record As…” highlighted in the context menu.

Image of the Recorder window with “Clear Recorder List” highlighted in the action menu of the Recorder List.

 Image of the Recorder window with “Movie” highlighted in the “Add Recorder” menu.

Image of the Recorder window with a single Movie recorder listed and the Format section highlighted in the Movie Recorder Settings.

Image of the Output File section of Recorder Settings with the Output location button highlighted.

To export the Mich-L character animation from the S01 Sequence to an Alembic file:

3.  Click on Add Recorder and select Alembic Clip.

4.  In the Alembic Recorder Settings, in Output File > Capture Settings > Scope, select Target Branch.

5.  In the Hierarchy, expand the S01 GameObject, and then expand the MICH-L_S01 Prefab.

6.  Drag and drop the 01_RIG_ch_Mich-l01 Variant Prefab to the Recorder window, in the Target field. 


7.  Click on the Start Recording button.
The Editor starts to play back the cinematic in Play mode from its beginning, but the actual recording starts when the playback reaches the targeted Sequence (S01). The recording automatically stops at the end of the targeted Sequence, and the Editor exits the Play mode.

8.  In the Movie Recorder Settings, in the Output File section, select the output location button at the right of the Path section, and locate the output file in the file system window.

Image of the Recorder window with “Alembic Clip” highlighted in the “Add Recorder” menu.

Image of the Recorder window with a single Alembic Clip recorder listed and the Scope and Target settings highlighted in the Capture Settings section of the Alembic Recorder Settings.

Image of the Hierarchy window with MICH-L_01 > MICH-L_Cinematic > S01 > MICH-L_S01 expanded and “01_RIG_ch_Mich-l01 Variant” selected.

Image of the Alembic Recorder Capture Settings with “01_RIG_ch_Mich-l01 Variant” in the Target field.

You can export various AOVs from your movie content. This mainly includes data related to the material, geometry, depth, motion, or lighting response of the elements present in the movie.

Note: This step shows you how to do the export in JPEG, so that you can see the result more easily through any basic image viewer.

For example, to export an image sequence of the albedo (the true colors) from the S01 Sequence:

1.  If you closed the Recorder window, reopen it from the Sequences window: right click on S01 and choose Record As.

3.  Click on Add Recorder and select AOV Image Sequence.

4.  In the AOV Recorder Settings, in Capture > Aov to Export, select Albedo, and in Format > File Format, select JPEG.

5.  Click on the Start Recording button.
The Editor starts to play back the cinematic in Play mode from its beginning, but the actual recording starts when the playback reaches the targeted Sequence (S01). The recording automatically stops at the end of the targeted Sequence, and the Editor exits the Play mode.

6.  In the AOV Recorder Settings, in the Output File section, select the output location button at the right of the Path section.

7.  Locate in the file system window the series of image files corresponding to the recording and open one of them to see the result.

8.  To test another AOV, select a different value in Capture > Aov to Export, and start another recording. For more information about the available AOVs, see the Recorder documentation.

Image of the Recorder window with “AOV Image Sequence” highlighted in the “Add Recorder” menu.

Image of the Recorder window with a single AOV Image Sequence recorder listed and the “Aov to Export” and “Format” settings highlighted in the AOV Recorder Settings.

Image showing an Albedo AOV recording result example with the MICH-L character in action.

Image showing a Normal AOV recording result example with the MICH-L character in action.

Image showing a Depth AOV recording result example with the MICH-L character in action.

Image showing a Motion Vectors AOV recording result example with the MICH-L character in action.

In this short tutorial series, you’ve started exploring what you can create with Sequences through the Cinematic Studio Template. We hope you enjoy using it, and we can’t wait to see what you create!

For the latest updates and to discuss the Cinematic Studio Template, join us in the Unity Forum.

Export your final cut

1. Overview

2. Export a video of your Sequence

3. Export an Alembic animation file

4. Export Arbitrary Output Variables (AOVs)

5. Next steps

Complete this tutorial