Internal Submission

Internal Submission initiates the process of bringing arbitrary files into the production filesystem and tracking them in ShotGrid. It creates a digital shipping record with all the information that the Ingest Queue will use to fully process the files.

Details

Internal Submission is akin to the Vendor Submission app, but is designed to be used within a production studio as a simple tool for bringing "loose” files into the studio’s folder structure in order to begin tracking them in ShotGrid. 

Because it’s an internal tool, its constraints and requirements are less strict: submitted files don’t need to match pre-set naming conventions, fields like Submitted For and Submission Notes are not required, and users have permission to overwrite existing files if they choose to submit a duplicate. 

When you run the tool, you provide the paths to the files in the Submission along with additional metadata about the files.

The tool validates your files and gives you an opportunity to modify any metadata on your Submission, then generates a Delivery record in ShotGrid, which will track the Submission, with an attached manifest, which is used internally to track the individual files in the Submission. 

You can think of the Delivery record as a “shipping label” for the Submission. The Ingest Queue will look to the Delivery record and manifest to complete the process, moving the files into the studio’s folder structure and creating records for them in ShotGrid.

You can use Internal Submission to transfer any files, regardless of type. This can include everything from standard MOVs and JPGs to PDFs and ZIP files.

Note that if you want to track files in ShotGrid without copying them to the studio filesystem, you can use Import Media instead of Internal Submission.  

A Note on Version Terminology

The use of the word “version” can be a little confusing in this context. ShotGrid uses “Version” to refer to a piece of reviewable media that is stored and tracked within the ShotGrid webapp and database. But in regular usage, “version” refers to a number denoting a specific revision or iteration of a piece of media. We’ll be using both definitions in this workflow, so to disambiguate, we’ll use “Version” and “version number” in this documentation. 

Submissions and Deliveries

[RE]DESIGN uses the term “Submission” to refer to a transfer of files from Vendor to Production or to a package of files ingested internally within a Production studio and “Delivery” to refer to a transfer from Production to Vendor. However, ShotGrid uses an entity called Delivery to track transfers in both directions. We’ll use Submission to refer to the transfer itself, and Delivery when referring to the entity in ShotGrid. For example, “This tool will generate a Delivery record in ShotGrid to track your Submission.”

Initial Setup

• Install ShotGrid Desktop and log into the appropriate ShotGrid site
• Identify the files on your filesystem that you wish to submit.

Make sure the files are in a location that the Ingest Machine can access.

• ShotGrid configuration:
  • The Version entity’s Type field is a list field, meaning it has a customizable, finite list of possible values. Ensure that the Type field on Version is populated with all valid Version types.
  • Ensure that your account has permissions to to create Delivery records and see all entities you want to link files to.
  • Ensure that you have Delivery email notifications turned on.

To turn on email notifications in ShotGrid for Deliveries, go to the Account Settings -> Email Notifications tab and then check Email me about Deliveries that I'm involved in (those that I've created or replied to, or where I'm a recipient, except for file attachments). 

You can learn more in the Email Notifications section of the ShotGrid User Guide.

• Editorial notifications: We have an optional plugin that, when enabled, will send an email notification to all users assigned to the the Editorial Group in your ShotGrid site, provided they have enabled email notification on Deliveries in their account settings. Please contact [e-mail] if you would like to have this plugin enabled.

User Interface and Workflow

Launch Internal Submission

Open ShotGrid Desktop, select your project, and click on Internal Submission.

Initial View

Filepath and Metadata Input

Internal Submission needs two sets of data: the paths to the files being submitted and their metadata.  

There are three ways to input these:

1. Files + Manual Metadata Entry
2. Files + CSV
3. CSV Only

Files + Manual Metadata Entry

In the most basic input method, simply drag and drop the files you wish to submit into the main window. Internal Submission will pull the filepaths from the files. As soon as you add at least one file, the UI will change to the Spreadsheet View. In the spreadsheet view, you can manually enter metadata for each file. 

Files + CSV

As with Files + Manual Metadata Entry, drag and drop the files you wish to submit into the main window. Once you’ve done so, you can upload a CSV file to edit metadata in bulk. The headers of your file must match the headers shown in the Spreadsheet View. Simply drag the CSV onto the spreadsheet window after you’ve dropped in your files, and the metadata will be updated accordingly.

Fields in the CSV that are not in the Spreadsheet View will be ignored and the user will not be notified.

Internal Submission will handle any file encoded as “comma separated value” as additional metadata for the Submission files. If you want to include a CSV file as part of your Submission, send it as an Excel file (.xls) instead.

With this method, do not drop in a CSV until you have first dropped in your Submission’s files. Dropping in the CSV before the files will result in an error.

CSV Only

You can input both file paths and metadata with only a CSV file. Just add a column to your CSV called Files, which holds full paths to each file or file sequence associated with a given Version and drag and drop the CSV onto the main UI. 

Files field format and naming conventions: The Files field is a comma-separated list of absolute paths. For file sequences (such as EXR), list the parent folder of the sequence itself, not individual EXR files. For example, if you have folder BGN_0005_comp_v0006 and it contains EXR files (e.g. BGN_0005_comp_v0006.1000.exr, BGN_0005_comp_v0006.1001.exr, and so on) and if you specify L:\VFX\PROJ\shots\BGN_SEQ\BGN_0005\comps\renders\BGN_0005_comp_v0006\BGN_0005_comp_v0006 in the Files field, Internal Submission will properly process it.

Since Files is a comma-separated field within a comma-separated file, be sure to wrap the field values in double-quotes to avoid a clash between the two levels of commas. Most spreadsheet software (Google Sheets, Excel, etc.) will handle this at export time, but be mindful if you are editing your CSV manually.

Spreadsheet View

As soon as you add at least one file, the UI will change to the Spreadsheet View. This view will allow you to enter all metadata related to the individual files in the Submission. 

These fields are required: 

• VERSION NAME: The name of the file that you dragged in.

Internal Submission does not require you to follow your studio naming conventions. If you do, however, the tool will parse the filenames to determine file metadata like LINK, TYPE, and VERSION NUMBER. If not, you need to fill out these fields manually or through a CSV file.

• LINK: The entity in ShotGrid that the Version will be linked to. This can be an Asset, a Shot, etc. It may be automatically filled in based on filename, in accordance with the naming conventions set out by your studio. For example, if you submit a file named 186_MM_8200_v001, it will be automatically linked to an existing Shot called 186_MM_8200. The LINK field uses color coding to show its status:
  • White: No issues
  • Maroon: The required field is empty
• TYPE: A description of the Version that may reflect task, department, or file type. The list of valid types is managed within ShotGrid.

These fields are optional:

• SUBMISSION NOTE: A text field usually used to describe changes since the last submission.
• SUBMITTED FOR: A text field that describes the reason the Version was submitted, eg, revision, review, alternate.

The values for these fields are generated by the app based on the dragged-in files and provide information about the file. They are uneditable, and should not be included in the CSV:

• VERSION NUMBER: The revision number for the specific iteration that the file represents.

• FORMATS: A list of all formats across files represented by this Version.

• EXTENSIONS: The file extension for the submitted file.

If you have multiple files that contain the same media, but in different formats, they will be represented by a single Version. For example, dragging in both a MOV file and an EXR sequence for the same shot will create a single row, with two values in the FORMATS and EXTENSIONS fields.

• EXISTS: This field tells the user whether a Version already exists, and if so gives information about whether the current user can overwrite it. It can have the following values:
  • Blank: No Version with the submitted name exists.
  • White checkmark: A Version with the same name exists in ShotGrid. The user will receive a warning when they click the Create Delivery button, but they can choose to override it.

You can hover your mouse over the checkmark in the EXISTS field to get more information about existing files in ShotGrid.

In addition to the fields in the screenshot, you can add custom fields such as framerange or facility name. Please contact [e-mail] to customize fields.

Manual File and Metadata Management

You can add additional files to your Submission by dragging them onto the Spreadsheet View. You can remove files by right-clicking on a row and selecting Remove Selected.

You can also edit the displayed metadata. To edit a field manually, just click on it and enter you desired value.

You can select a sequence of rows by holding down the Shift key while you click on the first, then the last, row in the sequence. You can select multiple individual rows by holding down the Control key (Windows) or the Command key (Mac) while clicking. Right-click on any selected row to remove all selected files, or edit fields on a single selected row to modify all selected rows.

Once you have entered all the metadata about the files in your Submission, click the Create Delivery button.

Create the Delivery Record

Clicking the Create Delivery button in the Spreadsheet View will bring up the Deliver window. In this window, you can manage metadata related to the Submission as a whole, such as title and description. 

Deliver Window Fields

From	The field to the left of the arrow denotes who the submission will be sent from. It defaults to the current ShotGrid user, but the user can modify it, if, for example, they are submitting files on behalf of a vendor or some other entity.
To	The field to the right of the arrow denotes who will be receiving the Submission. As this is an internal submission, it defaults to your studio, but the user can modify this value.
Title	The title of the Submission will be stored as the name of the Delivery record in ShotGrid. Internal Submission generates a title, but the user can modify it.
Description	You can add a description for the Submission in this field.

The Transfer field at the bottom of the UI denotes that the files are local to the studio. You can safely ignore this button.

Completing the submission

In the Deliver window, click OK to create your Submission. If you see the below window, then the Submission creation completed successfully.

Because Internal Submission is creating a record of file paths on disk, don’t move files in your Submission after you‘ve run the tool. If you do, the Ingest Queue(link) will be unable to find them, and the Submission will fail.

Members of the To and From groups will receive two email notifications when a Submission gets created, with the Delivery name and Project name in the subject, and Delivery details in the body of the email. The first signifies that a Delivery record has been created, the second that transfer of the Submission completed successfully.

Next Steps

You’ve now created a Delivery record to track your Submission, and you’re ready to ingest the files into your production filesystem and begin tracking them in ShotGrid. To carry out the ingest process, run the Ingest Queue(link) app.

Troubleshooting

Error Logs

Sometimes [RE]DESIGN will ask you to view or send us the ShotGrid Desktop app's error logs. To access them, open ShotGrid Desktop. In the pulldown menu in the upper right corner, select "Open Log Folder". Please ZIP up the all the files in that folder and send them to us with your ticket, or email them to [e-mail].

Submission Creation Issues

We’ll occassionally see issues arising from missing data in ShotGrid:

• Missing Link: If you are attempting to link a Version to a Shot, Asset, Sequence, or other entity and it does not appear in the Link pulldown, then ensure that the linked entity exists in ShotGrid and that you have permission to view it. Once you’ve done so, it is not necessary to restart the app; click the Reload Shotgun button to pull in the latest ShotGrid data.
• Missing Task: If your Production is using Tasks and you are not seeing expected Tasks in the Task field dropdown, ensure that the Task exists and that you have permission to view it.

Delivery Record Creation Issues

The Deliver window asks you to give details for the Delivery record that Internal Submission will create in ShotGrid. These are a few issues we've seen:

• Duplicated Delivery error: If the Delivery name already exists in SG, the Production will receive an error when ingesting your Submission. Please ensure that every Submission has a unique name. If a submission must be recreated for some reason, please version up the name or add "a" or "_resubmit" on the end to differentiate it.
• CRUD error: If you see this error, your ShotGrid account does not have permissions to create a Delivery record. Please confirm that your account’s permissions are properly configured.