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Virtual frame edits and conforming in Dragonframe
Dragonframe
Definition
In Dragonframe, deleting, hiding, holding, moving or cutting back frames on the timeline is a virtual edit: the change is recorded in the take's edit decision list, not applied to the captured image files. Conforming is the deliberate, irreversible step that writes those edits to disk, deleting hidden frames and renumbering the source files into final frame order so that software reading the files directly sees the same sequence the animator sees in playback.
Overview
Most editing software treats a cut as an instruction, not as an act on the footage. Dragonframe applies the same idea to stop motion, where the footage is thousands of single still files. Its manual says outright that all frame editing on the timeline is virtual: hide a frame and it disappears from playback, hold a frame and it repeats, delete or cut back and the order changes, yet the high-resolution files the camera delivered are untouched. What changes is the take's edit decision list. Dragonframe's own FAQ describes it: the take.xml file holds an EDL in which each entry pairs a timeline position with a file number on disk. A hold is two positions pointing at the same file; a reshot frame gets a new file number; a hidden frame keeps its entry but carries a flag bit; colour tags (from version 5.2) are stored as further bits in the same field.
This is the right default for animation, because the decision to lose a frame is often provisional. An animator who has popped a pose can hide the frame and judge the move without it, then bring it back. Deleted frames go to a delete bin, kept in shooting order; the bin marks which timeline frames were shot before and after each one, so a frame can be returned to its place. Nothing is destroyed while the shot is still being performed.
The cost of virtual editing appears the moment anything other than Dragonframe reads the files. Dragonframe is designed to give direct access to the high-res captures without an export, and its integration with After Effects imports straight from the scene's source folder. Software of that kind sees file numbers, not the EDL. Conforming closes the gap. When there are unconformed edits, Dragonframe highlights the conform button on the timeline. Pressing it (or File > Conform Current Take, or Conform All Takes) deletes hidden frames, permanently renumbers held frames and removes their hold markers, renumbers the whole sequence after moves, deletions, copies and cuts, and moves deleted frames to the delete bin. The manual's caution is blunt: once conformed, the edits cannot be undone.
The practical rule, set out in the manual's chapter on exporting, is simple. If a shot leaves Dragonframe only as a movie or image-sequence export, it never needs conforming, because exports always follow the timeline. If anyone will open the source files directly or import them as a sequence into compositing, conform first. The manual also points the other way: an animator using Dragonframe for traditional 2D pencil tests can disable the conform options in Preferences, so that the original file numbers keep matching the drawings. Pipelines can react to the step as well. Dragonframe's action scripts receive a CONFORM event, so a studio can trigger a backup or hand-off when a take is finalised (see dragonframe-scripting-automation). The 2026.07.4 release notes on Dragonframe's downloads page list a major speed boost to the conform process. On long, heavily edited takes, that is a real saving of crew time.
The view taken here: treat conform as a hand-off, not housekeeping. It marks the point where a shot stops being an animator's working material and becomes post-production's input (see dragonframe-editorial-export-workflow and after-effects-compositing), and because it cannot be undone it belongs at an agreed moment in the pipeline rather than whenever someone tidies a scene.
Workflow
- Animate and review on the timeline, using hide, hold, delete and reshoot freely; these edits only change the take's EDL.
- Recover anything cut too early from the delete bin, using its before/after markers to find where each frame was shot.
- Decide how the shot leaves Dragonframe: a movie or image-sequence export follows the timeline and needs no conform.
- If post will read the source files directly (for example an After Effects import from the scene folder), run File > Conform Current Take, or Conform All Takes.
- Treat the conform as final: hidden frames are deleted and the sequence is renumbered, and the step cannot be undone.
- Optionally hook the CONFORM action-script event to back up or hand off the conformed take automatically.