[HOU-4062] VrayNodeMetaImageFile Override frame number issues

[frame48]

I was having some issues with trying to offset an animated image sequence plugged into a ImageFile node and found out that the start frame has to be set to "1" for it to work even though our image sequences start at 1001. Is this intended behavior or a bug?

Switching the mode to "Hold" or any other than Linear does not seem to work with the start frame set to "1" and length set to "289" for an image sequence that goes from 1001-1290

I tried every combination I could think of. start frame 1001, length 1290, length 289, etc. and I am not able to understand how override frame number is supposed to work

[Gosho.Genchev]

Hey frame48 ,

I've uploaded a very simple scene that you can grab to easily figure out how things work - simply start IPR and change the settings.
The whole issue comes from the fact that there's no way for us to know in advance what the 'anchor' frame is to start the sequences from. So, we default to frame 1, even if your timeline starts from frame 1001. You can change this by changing the Offset but as you've realized yourself, this offset will behave differently depending on the "Playback Type" parameter.

Regardless, it's been on the To-Do list for a while to add a simple guide below these parameters that will tell you what the evaluated value will be for the current frame. We'll prioritise taking care of it.

Files: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lVN...ew?usp=sharing

Best regards!

[frame48]

I opened up the scene and spent sometime playing with the settings. Playback Type Hold still does not seem to work for me as it only displays a still image depending on a combination of the Start Frame and Length Value, Offset does not seem to do anything when on this mode. The documentation says "Hold – The animation stops at the last frame and it is displayed until the end of the scene animation."

Range seems to work just like I would expect Hold to work, but it seems the documentation is incomplete since I'm assuming range would take two inputs to determine the in and out frames you would like to play from your image sequence.

I believe the ideal scenario would be that the Start parameter would function equally across all the playback options, where you just select the start frame number of your image sequence regardless of your timeline frame start and use the Offset parameter to shift that sequence accordingly. I think this is what most people would expect when navigating the parameter interface.

Thank you for the fast reply! Let me know whenever and if some these suggestions make it onto a nightly or updated documentation.
Best,
Enrique