DCC integrations

Bernard plugs into content creation software (DCC, for Digital Content Creation). Artists find their tasks there, open the right file, publish a new version with its thumbnail and move their task forward, without leaving their software.

Principle

A plugin never talks to the server: it talks to the Bernard client open on the same workstation, through the Python API (see Scripts and Python API). Three consequences:

• Bernard must be running and signed in on the workstation before you use a plugin;
• the plugin acts with the permissions of the signed-in user: a refusal from the server (state, permissions) applies in the software just as it does in Bernard;
• the plugin goes through a local port of the machine, set in Local Settings › External Api Port (see Local Settings). Only change it if your administrator asks you to.

A plugin is delivered with Bernard. It must be enabled in each software, either through the plugin manager or through an installation script (see below).

The plugin manager

Bernard › Settings › Local Settings › Plugins Manager installs and removes the plugins for Maya, 3DEqualizer, Nuke, 3ds Max, Blender and Houdini.

• It works on Windows only. Elsewhere, it displays "Plugins currently supported on Windows only.".
• It detects the installed versions of each software. If none is found, it displays "No software installations found.".
• For each detected version, a checkbox installs (ticked) or removes (unticked) the plugin. A message confirms: "… plugin was successfully installed !" or "… successfully uninstalled !".
• Some software has two plugins side by side, Legacy and Next-Gen. The manager then displays two columns:

• A version of a software that does not yet have the folder where the plugin is stored (for example a Maya version that has never been launched) still appears, with the plugin shown as not installed.
• The manager also recognizes the "3DE4 rX" folders of recent 3DEqualizer versions.

If "Permission denied !" is displayed, restart Bernard with Run as administrator (right-click Bernard › Run as administrator) and try again.

Animate, After Effects and TVPaint are not in the manager. They are installed with the installation scripts supplied with Bernard, run as administrator: see their sections.

To reserve installation for a workstation administrator, see Workstation installation and administration.

Maya

In Maya: a "Bernard : My Tasks" panel, added when Maya starts (both plugins, Legacy and Next-Gen, can be installed through the manager).

What the artist does:

• see their projects, shots and tasks, with the version, the dates and the state;
• Open: opens the task's scene, after saving the current scene;
• Save: saves a new version in Bernard and updates the thumbnail.

Save and Increment also saves the OBJ associated with 3D object and set type items, with the file names defined in the templates. Maya 2020 to 2023 is supported for import from 3DEqualizer.

Nuke

In Nuke: a My Tasks panel added by the plugin (Legacy plugin).

What the artist does: see their tasks, Open and Save, as in Maya.

Houdini

In Houdini: a "Bernard : My Tasks" Python panel (Next-Gen plugin), placed among the interface's panels.

What the artist does: see their tasks, Open and Save.

3ds Max

In 3ds Max: a "Bernard : My Tasks" panel (Next-Gen plugin).

What the artist does: see their tasks, Open and Save.

Blender

Requirements: Blender 4.2 or later. The plugin is a Blender extension, which installs the Python libraries it needs by itself. It replaces the old Blender plugin.

In Blender: a floating "Bernard" panel (Open Bernard Panel command).

What the artist does:

• the panel lists their tasks, grouped by project; for each shot: thumbnail, parent, task, file version, start and end dates, state in color, which can be edited directly;
• tasks load in the background without blocking Blender; a button reloads them;
• Open opens the task's .blend file, after saving the current scene;
• Save saves a new version in Bernard and updates the thumbnail with a capture from Blender.

3DEqualizer

Requirements: 3DEqualizer r7, r8 or r8.1 (the same plugin serves all three; after a Bernard update, reinstall the 3DE plugin once).

In 3DEqualizer: a Bernard menu in the main window.

Things to know:

• Export Undistorted Plates computes the whole sequence in a single pass, on all the cores of the workstation, and displays the elapsed and remaining time. It always uses the camera's "Main" footage, even if a proxy version is displayed. A missing plate is reported with the camera name and the footage path.
• Creating and checking 3DEqualizer and Maya scenes use the Adjusted FilmBack value first, falling back to FilmBack if it is empty or 0 x 0.
• The render launcher uses the 3DEqualizer version configured on the project and the task's output paths (Output Paths), falling back to Render Plate for older projects.

Animate

Installation: outside the plugin manager. An installation script supplied with Bernard, run as administrator, installs the panel and enables the developer mode of Adobe extensions (CEP).

• On a non-administrator artist session, Bernard enables this mode at launch in the user's Windows profile. If the "Bernard - Export 2 After" panel displays empty or white, restart Animate after launching Bernard once.

In Animate: the Bernard panel.

What the artist does:

• Save & Increment: saves a new version (in under a second);
• Sanity Check: checks the scene before export. It renames to "CAMERA" a layer named "CADRE" or a variant, regardless of case, and its Last Log lists all the renamings;
• Export 2 AE: exports the animation to After Effects (in under 3 seconds), with its options (Hide untagged, Guide untagged, Include hidden Layers, Optimize for AE, Compress);
• Open AE, Tag selected items, Remove tag on selected, Remove All Tags, Open Log.

The Sanity Check messages are in French.

After Effects

Installation: outside the plugin manager, with the Adobe installation script supplied with Bernard.

In After Effects: an Adobe extension. The Update After button updates the composition with the latest Animate export: it finds the SWF to import, even with differences in case or versioned folders, and writes a detailed log for diagnosis. After an Animate export, the backgrounds (BG) last the whole scene.

TVPaint

Requirements: TVPaint 11 or 12 ("TVPaint Animation" or "TVP Animation").

Installation: outside the plugin manager. An installation script, run as administrator, copies the plugin into all user profiles and for all installed versions; it returns an error if no TVPaint installation is found.

What the artist does:

• save and increment the version; if the task is not in WIP, Bernard refuses, recalling the path of the shot and of the task;
• Export: retrieves the latest export produced by TVPaint for the open file and stores it in Bernard as a new version of the shot's export file (identified by the "Export Files" tag, excluding compressed versions), with an option to follow the version number of the TVPaint file;
• Export Camera: exports the project's image sequence through the camera.

The Bernard identifier saved in the TVPaint file is updated without asking for confirmation. The plugin window remembers its position separately for TVPaint 11 and TVPaint 12.