Importing & exporting

ftrack comes with a wizard that can help you import project data from an external source such as Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers, a Google spreadsheet etc. The wizard consists of a few steps and can either create or update objects.

The import wizard can be opened by clicking the Import button in the toolbar on any main spreadsheet page.

In the first step of the wizard you select the import method. The wizard supports two layouts of source data, row or column based:

Go to the spreadsheet you would like to use as the source. The only requirement is that the spreadsheet supports copying data in CSV format (the default for most spreadsheet applications). Select and copy the rows and columns, including the relevant headers, that you want to import. Then paste the copied data into the wizard and click Next to continue.

Now you need to help ftrack understand which attributes the columns in your source data should map to.

Move your mouse over the column header you want to map, click the arrow that appears to the right and select an appropriate attribute from the drop down menu.

Mapping a sequence attribute will update or create a sequence. Map the sequence name to uniquely identify the sequence. If a sequence with a specific name already exists, all shots and tasks connected to it will be created or updated. Mapping a shot attribute will update or create a shot. The shot will be updated if a matching shot is found, i.e. a shot with the same name exists. If no such shot exists, it will be created.

The options in the drop-down menu are different depending on which import method you are using:

Tip: After you map the columns to your imported data, you can Save that mapping as a preset for reuse later.

A. Name your mapping and click Save. (Before naming, make sure that the same is not already used for another mapping.)

B. Using the drop-down menu, you can apply and reuse your saved mappings or check what mapping names are already used.

Please note: Currently, there isn't a way to un map a column once it is set without removing all of the mappings or starting over again.

This step is only required when something in the source data cannot be interpreted correctly, ie. a misspelling. Fix the error by manually selecting the appropriate resolution.

Note: The wizard will have already attempted to guess appropriate mappings where possible.

The last step of the import wizard shows a summary of everything that is going to be created and updated. Each row represents an object that the wizard will either create or update.

When you are ready to start import your data, click Import.

Note: The importer won’t ever delete anything, only create or update.

Data in spreadsheets can be exported to Excel, CSV and PDF files.

Go to the spreadsheet you want to export data from, configure it the way you like with attributes, sorting and filtering and then select a format to export to in the Export menu.

Once a format is selected a dialog will open where you can specify a name of the exported file and if neccessary how you want the report to be formatted.

The available options are:

When you click Export an export job will be started and added to your queue.

As soon as the job is done the report can be downloaded by clicking the job in the job queue.

Including a company logotype

When exporting PDF’s you can brand your reports with your company logotype. This is done by adding your logotype file in System settings > General Settings > Custom Branding.

The logotype file has to be an image of either png, jpg or jpeg file type to work.