Usage Guide

Command Line Interface (CLI)

The CLI entrypoint is renderkit.

Examples

# Basic conversion (high quality)
renderkit convert-exr-sequence render.%04d.exr output.mp4 --fps 24

# Set specific visual quality (7 is a good balance)
renderkit convert-exr-sequence render.%04d.exr output.mp4 --quality 7

# Using AV1 for maximum compression
renderkit convert-exr-sequence render.%04d.exr output.mp4 --codec libaom-av1 --quality 8

# Multi-AOV contact sheet video
renderkit convert-exr-sequence render.%04d.exr output.mp4 --contact-sheet --cs-columns 4

# Burn-in frame number and FPS
renderkit convert-exr-sequence render.%04d.exr output.mp4 --burnin-frame --burnin-fps

# Profile a conversion (writes .prof + .prof.txt)
renderkit convert-exr-sequence render.%04d.exr output.mp4 --fps 24 --profile

Options

Option	Description	Default
INPUT_PATTERN	File pattern with placeholders	Required
OUTPUT_PATH	Output video file path	Required
--fps	Frame rate	Auto-detect
--quality	Visual Quality (0-10), 10 is best	10
--color-space	linear_to_srgb, linear_to_rec709, srgb_to_linear, no_conversion	linear_to_srgb
--width	Output width	Source width
--height	Output height	Source height
--codec	Video codec (libx264, libx265, libaom-av1)	libx264
--layer	EXR layer/AOV to extract	None
--start-frame	Start frame number	First frame
--end-frame	End frame number	Last frame
--overwrite	Overwrite output file if it exists	False
--burnin-frame	Burn in frame number	False
--burnin-layer	Burn in layer name	False
--burnin-fps	Burn in frame rate	False
--burnin-opacity	Burn-in background opacity (0-100)	30
--contact-sheet	Enable multi-AOV grid mode	False
--cs-columns	Contact sheet columns	4
--cs-thumb-width	Width of each layer cell	512
--cs-padding	Spacing between cells	10
--cs-no-labels	Disable layer name labels	False
--profile	Enable cProfile output	False
--profile-out	Output .prof path or directory	Temp dir

Python API

Basic Usage

from renderkit import RenderKit

processor = RenderKit()
processor.convert_exr_sequence_to_mp4(
    input_pattern="render.%04d.exr",
    output_path="output.mp4",
    fps=24.0,
    quality=10,  # 0-10 scale
    codec="libx264",
)

Advanced Configuration

Use the Builder pattern for complex configurations:

from renderkit import RenderKit
from renderkit.core.config import ContactSheetConfig, ConversionConfigBuilder
from renderkit.processing.color_space import ColorSpacePreset

config = (
    ConversionConfigBuilder()
    .with_input_pattern("render.%04d.exr")
    .with_output_path("output.mp4")
    .with_fps(24.0)
    .with_color_space_preset(ColorSpacePreset.OCIO_CONVERSION)
    .with_explicit_input_color_space("ACES - ACEScg")
    .with_resolution(3840, 2160)
    .with_codec("libx264")
    .with_contact_sheet(
        True,
        ContactSheetConfig(columns=4, padding=10, show_labels=True),
    )
    .build()
)

processor = RenderKit()
processor.convert_with_config(config)

Graphical Interface (UI)

Launch the UI from the terminal:

python -m renderkit.ui.main_window

If you have a Pre-compiled build, run the exe in the RenderKit/ folder.

Qt Backend

PySide6 is the supported backend. You can force a backend with QT_BACKEND if needed:

# macOS/Linux
export QT_BACKEND=pyside6

# Windows PowerShell
$env:QT_BACKEND = "pyside6"

Environment Variables

• OCIO: Path to your system OCIO config (used when selecting ACES/custom input spaces).
• IMAGEIO_FFMPEG_EXE: Path to a custom ffmpeg binary (optional, overrides the bundled or PATH ffmpeg).
• RENDERKIT_FFMPEG_LOG: FFmpeg report logging (default: on). Set to 0 to disable, 1 for temp log, or a full file path.
• RENDERKIT_PROFILE: Enable cProfile output for UI/CLI when set to 1 (or true/yes).
• RENDERKIT_PROFILE_OUT: Output .prof path or directory (default: temp dir).
• RENDERKIT_LOG_PATH: Override RenderKit log file path (default: temp dir renderkit.log).
• RENDERKIT_LOG_LEVEL: Logging level (DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, etc.).
• QT_BACKEND: Force a Qt backend (default is auto-detect; PySide6 is recommended).