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Color script

A color script shows the colour and value flow of a sequence or a level at a glance: one frame per shot, side by side. Limner renders each frame in the viewport, so it shows the real lighting and post process, not a guess.

Build one

Section titled “Build one”
  1. Open the Color Script page.
  2. Pick where the frames come from in Frames from:
    • Sequence shots: the middle frame of every shot of a Level Sequence. Pick the sequence, or leave it empty to use the one open in Sequencer.
    • Cameras: every camera actor in the level, by name.
    • Bookmarks: the level’s bookmarks (set with Ctrl+0 to Ctrl+9 in the viewport).
  3. Click Build color script.

Limner renders each frame in the viewport in game view, without the overlay, after Warm Up Frames frames so exposure, anti-aliasing and Lumen settle. A progress dialog shows each frame; you can cancel it. Afterwards the viewport goes back to where it was.

Sequences

Section titled “Sequences”

For Sequence shots, Limner opens the sequence in Sequencer, locks the viewport to its camera cuts while rendering, and restores the playhead and the lock afterwards. Each cinematic shot gives one frame, at its middle, named after the shot. A sequence without shots uses its camera cuts instead. Open in Sequencer opens the picked sequence.

The result

Section titled “The result”
  • Value curve: the mean lightness (L*) of every frame as a line, with the darkest frame marked. The labels under the curve are the shot numbers (sh010_arrival shows as 010), or the frame’s position.
  • Frames in rows of six: a thumbnail, the frame’s palette, its average colour, its name and its lightness and frame number.

Click a frame to go back to it: Sequencer jumps to the frame, the camera is piloted, or the viewport jumps to the bookmark. From there, fix the shot and build again.

The palette of each frame has Shot Palette Size colours (4 by default). Thumbnails are Thumbnail Width pixels wide (320 by default).

The color script is kept until you build another one or restart the editor. Export it or add it to the board to keep it.

Export and share

Section titled “Export and share”
  • Export PNG writes the strip as ColorScript_<date>_<time>.png and a .json file with the same name to the Export Folder (Saved/Limner by default) and opens the folder. The PNG has all frames in one row, each with its palette and average colour below it.
  • Add to board places the strip on the board as a reference, in rows of six, with the shot names as its caption.

The JSON file lists the source and, for every frame, its name, frame number, duration, average colour, mean lightness and palette:

{
  "source": "Sequence",
  "sourceName": "LS_Trailer",
  "image": "ColorScript_20261013_154210.png",
  "shots": [
    {
      "name": "sh010_arrival",
      "frame": 48,
      "duration": 96,
      "average": "#5B6470",
      "meanL": 41.2,
      "palette": [ { "hex": "#2E3440", "weight": 0.412 }, { "hex": "#E8956B", "weight": 0.118 } ]
    }
  ]
}

Errors

Section titled “Errors”
Message Fix
Open a level with a perspective viewport first. The color script needs a perspective level viewport.
Open a Level Sequence in Sequencer, or pick one. Pick a sequence, or open one in Sequencer.
The sequence has no shots and no camera cuts. Add a camera cut track or shots to the sequence.
The level has no camera actors. Place cameras, or use bookmarks.
The level has no bookmarks. Set them with Ctrl+0-9 in the viewport. Set bookmarks, or use cameras.
Could not go back to that frame (the camera, bookmark or sequence is gone). The frame’s source was deleted or renamed. Build again.