VFX Shot Image Inserter

Google Apps Script that inserts JPG thumbnails into a Google Sheet shot list, matched by shot name.

Prerequisites

• A Google Sheet populated by importing a TAB-delimited .txt file exported from either:
  • vfx_turnover CLI — run vfx-turnover -t
  • web-vfx-turnover web app — use the DB Export button
• The imgs/ folder uploaded to Google Drive (produced by the frame export step in either tool)

Setup

1. Upload images to Google Drive

Drag and drop the imgs/ folder into drive.google.com. Once uploaded, open the folder and copy its ID from the URL:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/YOUR_FOLDER_ID_HERE
                                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

2. Import the shot list into Google Sheets

Export the TAB-delimited file from vfx_turnover (vfx-turnover -t) or the web-vfx-turnover DB Export button, then in Google Sheets: File > Import, select the .txt file, choose Tab as the separator type.

3. Install the script

1. In the sheet: Extensions > Apps Script
2. Delete any existing code in the editor
3. Paste the contents of insertShotImages.js
4. Replace 'YOUR_FOLDER_ID_HERE' with the folder ID copied in step 1
5. Click Save (Ctrl+S / Cmd+S)

4. Authorize the script

Run onOpen once from the function selector and accept the permission prompt (the script needs access to Google Drive and Sheets).

5. Run

Refresh the Google Sheet. A new menu VFX Tools appears in the menu bar.

• VFX Tools > Insert Shot Images — inserts thumbnails into the Thumbnail column, matched by shot name from the Name column
• VFX Tools > Clear All Images — removes all inserted images

Re-running Insert Shot Images is safe: existing images are cleared first.

Configuration

At the top of insertShotImages.js:

Variable	Default	Description
DRIVE_FOLDER_ID	—	ID of the Drive folder containing the JPGs
SHEET_NAME	''	Sheet tab name; empty = active sheet
ROW_HEIGHT	80	Row height in px for rows with an image
FRAME_COLUMN_WIDTH	150	Width in px of the Thumbnail column

How matching works

Each image filename must contain the shot name from the Name column. Example: shot name GDN_033_010 matches file 0000 GDN_033_010.jpg.

Thumbnails

Google Sheets limits inserted images to 2MB and 1 million pixels. The script works around this by fetching a resized thumbnail from Google Drive instead of the full-resolution file. The default width is 320px (sz=w320 in fetchThumbnail_()). Adjust the value in the script if you need more or less detail.