Doodly Intermediate Tutorial

Rapidly Export Multiple Assets

Intermediate Tutorial #29

Rapidly Export Multiple Assets

Displaying method one of combining all assets onto a single canvas layout and showing the settings to rapidly export Doodly assets out of Doodly.

Displaying method two of have each asset in its own canvas and showing the settings to rapidly export Doodly assets out of Doodly.

This documentation explains about rendering times in Doodly and the configurations and settings necessary to export multiple assets rapidly in Doodly for use in other software programs.

The Issues

Native Exporting: Doodly does not provide a method to natively export the assets from Doodly in a readable format by another program. The only thing you can export to is a .das file or a Doodly Assets file which is only good for importing into Doodly. This holds true for assets that you import into Doodly as well.

Render Times:

There are times we want to use the assets from Doodly in other software programs. As long as they are somehow related to Doodly, this is legal from the license for Doodly the last time I received clarification from Bryxen. You should always read the licensing yourself and not take my word for it.

We are all aware of the horrendous rendering times in Doodly so it doesn’t make it worth the time to export them, but not everyone is aware why those times are so horrendous and what contributes to those horrendous rendering times.

Testing

We’ve tested various situations to find out what effects the rendering times in Doodly.

Rendering Times can vary but this is average from our testing. All testing was completed on a 1920 X 1920 canvas. Any other suggested canvas sizes in this documentation remain untested.

Expediently Exporting Assets from Doodly

There are 3 preferred methods to accomplish this, for which two of them will use either Adobe Photoshop or another image manipulation program that can read .mp4 files) and the final method does not have that requirement. I will explain all in detail. There are other methods but there are downsides to those methods.
Method 1: (Uses Adobe Photoshop)
This is the fastest exporting method available but may not be the best method for everyone due to image editing time afterwards and the use of Adobe Photoshop or another image editor that can handle working with .mp4 files.

  1. Set a custom canvas size of 1920 X 1920 or 3840 X 3840.
  2. Fit as many assets as you can.
  3. Set the canvas as Whiteboard.
  4. Additional Time at the End of the scene remains .5s.
  5. All assets duration and delay are set to 0s.
  6. Exit Animation is set to none.
  7. Export your assets to a .mp4 file.
  8. Open the .mp4 file with Adobe Photoshop and simply scroll over and edit the asset out of the image by removing the background with the magic erase tool and cutting the asset then pasting it to its own canvas.
Method 1 Render Time: 7 seconds

Method 2: (Uses Adobe Photoshop)
This is the second fastest exporting method available but may not be the best method for everyone due to the need for Adobe Photoshop or another image editor that can handle working with .mp4 files.

  1. Set a custom canvas size of 1920 X 1920 or 3840 X 3840.
  2. Fit 1 asset per scene.
  3. Set the canvas as Whiteboard.
  4. Additional Time at the End of the scene remains .5s.
  5. All assets duration and delay are set to 0s.
  6. Exit Animation is set to none.
  7. Export your assets to a .mp4 file.
  8. Open the .mp4 file with Adobe Photoshop and simply scroll over and edit the asset out of the image by removing the background with the magic erase tool and cutting the asset then pasting it to its own canvas.
Method 2 Render Time: 59 seconds

Method 3: (Does not require Adobe Photoshop. Slowest method)

  1. Choose either method above but the Additional Time and the End of the Scene should be set to 10s for the first scene and at least 5s for each additional scene.
  2. Play the video in full screen (Usually VLC Media Player is a good choice).
  3. Let the playback controls disappear.
  4. Take a screenshot.
  5. Pause the video.
  6. Open your image editor.
  7. Paste the asset into a blank canvas in your image editor.
  8. Repeat steps b – h until all your assets are in your image editor.
Method 3 Render Time: Will be the same as render time 2. The only difference is the screenshot to obtain the images instead of the direct import into the an image editor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to the most common questions regarding this topic.

Doodly only allows you to save these items as a specific file type that works exclusively within its own system. This means you cannot natively save them in a common format that other applications can easily open or read.

Based on testing, several settings increase the time it takes to process a video. Adding an exit animation to a scene adds significant time, and having a one second duration for an asset revealed by a hand can add a full minute to the process. Even a short delay at the end of a scene will increase the wait.

The fastest approach involves setting up a large custom canvas and packing it with as many items as possible. You need to turn off all delays, durations, and exit animations, then save it as a video file. Finally, you open that video in an advanced editing program like Adobe Photoshop to erase the background and extract each individual image.

You can still get your images by saving your project as a video file with longer pause times at the end of each scene. Then, you play the video in full screen using a standard media player, wait for the controls to hide, and take a screenshot of the screen. You can then paste that screenshot into any basic image editor to crop out what you need.

It is generally acceptable to use these graphics in outside applications as long as the new project is connected to Doodly in some way. However, you should always review the official software license agreement yourself to ensure you remain fully compliant with their terms.

About the author

Wayne Leiser
Wayne Leiser
Editor & Contributor
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