.. _third_party:

Browsing Third-Pary Elements
============================

.. raw:: html

    <video width="900" controls >
        <source src="_static/videos/smartElements_2.51.0.mp4" type="video/mp4">
    </video>

.. raw:: html

    <video width="900" controls >
        <source src="_static/videos/smartElements_2.42.0.mp4" type="video/mp4">
    </video>

smartElements lets you browse online libraries of third party
vendors. We collaborate with `FX Elements <https://www.fxelements.com/>`_
and `ActionVFX <https://www.actionvfx.com/>`_
(eventually others in the future as well...) to bring you all their offered
elements directly inside Nuke. This lets you browse their whole online content
and insert previews of any elements directly into your working files.
Please note that these are previews only. They are downscaled and have no
alpha channel by purpose. In most cases this will however be good enough to
judge if an element fits your needs. You can then easily purchase and exchange
the preview with the fullres version when needed.

Note that the content of third party elements is streamed live from the web,
so an internet connection is required.

How to access third-party elements
----------------------------------
In the stacks dropdown at the top left you will find the third-party vendors
at the bottom below the dashed line:

.. figure:: img/third_party/stacks_dropdown.png

    The stacks dropdown at the top left let you switch to third-party web stacks

.. figure:: img/third_party/dropdown_fxelements.png

    Third-party stacks can be found at the bottom

Once you switched to FX Elements, you will see all their offered libraries.
Click a library to load all its elements.

.. figure:: img/third_party/fxe_library.png

    Browsing FX Element's 'Atmosphere' library

Browsing lists
--------------
In order to get quicker results, we use smartElement's pagination feature and
load just a subset of a list as some lists are large.
At the top right you see how many elements the current library contains.
You can use the left and right arrows buttons to jump between pages.

.. figure:: img/third_party/pagination.png

    Use the left and right pagination arrows to jump between pages

Select an element and hold the **Alt** key to get more information about it.

Click the **browse online** button to browse to the currently selected library
online:

.. figure:: img/third_party/browse_online.png

    Browse to the online library

Inserting elements
------------------
To bring elements into your working file simply drag them into your node graph.
Or select one or multiple elements, and insert them from the right click menu
(hotkey: **I**).

.. figure:: img/third_party/drag_elements_into_dag.png

    Drag elements into your node graph

.. figure:: img/third_party/element_right_click_menu.png

    Insert and browse online via right click menu

When inserting elements into your node graph, a preview will be downloaded and
cached (read on the **caching** section below for more information), so the
next time you insert the element in your working file it will be immediately
available.

Node properties
---------------
When bringing an element from a third party stack into your node graph, the
Read node contains a **smartElements** tab. In here you can view more
information on the element and also browse to the element and its parent
library online.

.. figure:: img/third_party/node_properties.png

    Get more information on an element browse it online

Settings
--------
In the settings section you can change certain things for third-party elements.

Caching
```````
Please note when loading a list the first time, all its thumbnails and
previews will be downloaded and cached to disk. This takes a few seconds.
The next time you load the list it will be a lot quicker as it will from now
on always read from the cache. In the settings you can configure where to
cache to:

.. figure:: img/third_party/settings_cache_root.png

    Set the caching root in smartElement's settings

When working in a team we recommend caching to one central location for all
users as this will let all users use a common cache and loading will be much
faster for everyone.

Alternatively, you can drive the cache root location by setting the environment
variable ``CRAGL_SMARTELEMENTS_NON_LOCAL_CACHE_ROOT``. For further information
on that please also refer to our
`environment variable <env_vars.html#cragl-smartelements-non-local-cache-root>`_
section.

If you want to hide all Third-Party stacks, e.g. when you are a studio and all
your machines are offline anyways, you can set the environment variable
``CRAGL_SMARTELEMENTS_HIDE_THIRD_PARTY_STACKS`` to ``'True'``.

Bulk caching everything
```````````````````````
You can bulk cache all lists. Simply right click any list and choose
**Cache previews...** from the context menu:

.. image:: img/updates/cache_third_party_previews_context_menu.png

In the upcoming dialog click the **Cache** button to start the bulk cache
operation. Depending on your internet speed this might take a few minutes.
Once finished, all lists launch instantly.

.. image:: img/updates/cache_third_party_previews.png

Video playback
``````````````
Third-party element previews are cached as mp4 files. Please note that
depending on your operating system and your currently installed codecs, videos
will play out of hte box or you might need to install additional video codecs.

- **Linux:** In our tests, video playback is successful when having gstreamer
  codec installed
- **Windows:** In our tests, video playback is successful when having K-Lite
  codec installed.
- **MacOS:** Video playback should work out of the box, no need to install
  anything.

In the settings you can also turn '*Play Videos*' off if you don't want a
preview. By default video playback is turned on.