1. ftrack Studio
  2. Connect & Connect Framework
  3. Using Connect

Installing & Using ftrack Connect

Updated

Latest Release: 24.11.0

Your very first step would be to download and install Connect, which can be found on the official ftrack Integrations GitHub repository, where previous versions and the source code are also available.

ftrack Connect is a desktop application designed to integrate ftrack Studio with various creative applications. It enables easy publishing of assets, customisation through scripts and plugins(integrations), and streamlines creative workflows.

 

Are you a Connect 2 user and want to move to 3?

New Migration page on the developer hub from version 2 to version 3

 

Requirements

  1. Windows

    • 10, 11

    • Server 2016/2019/2022

  2. Mac

    • 10.15 (Catalina) and onwards

    • Intel and M1/M2 (Rosetta)

  3. Linux

    • CentOS 7 & 8

 

Using ftrack Connect

Launching the app

  1. Windows users: Double-click the shortcut on the desktop or find it in the start menu.

  2. macOS users: Double-click the ftrack-connect executable in the Applications folder.

  3. Linux users: double-click the ftrack-connect executable in the folder where the installation .tar file was extracted.

MD5 - Enables verifying data integrity and detecting unintentional data corruption

Signing into the app

Please note: Before you can start using Connect, you will need to sign in with your ftrack user account

 

There are two ways how you can sign in to the Connect app:

Signing in automatically

1. Enter the site name or https://sitename.ftrackapp.com account URL on the sign-in screen.

2. Upon clicking Sign in, your web browser will open and let you log in to your ftrack user account. If you’re already logged in to your ftrack user account, you will be authenticated and prompted to close the browser window.

3. You are now signed in to ftrack Connect and ready to use the app.

Signing in by using an API key

Users can also sign into ftrack Connect without a web browser using their API key.

1. Click Sign in with username and API key at the bottom of the sign-in screen.

2. Enter the site name or https://sitename.ftrackapp.com account URL.

3. Enter your ftrack account user name.

4. Find your personal API key on the My account > Security settings > Personal API key. (More info here).

6412cc82d5feb.jpeg

5. Copy and paste the key into the ftrack Connect app and click Sign in.

6. You’re now signed in to ftrack Connect and ready to use the app.

Tip: Once signed in, you will not have to sign in again, even if you close and reopen the app

 

Launching via ftrack studio UI

The Actions tab displays shortcuts of available Actions and supported desktop applications.

  • For example, if you have Adobe Photoshop installed on your computer, a shortcut to the app will display in this tab and let you launch it together with the ftrack integration.

Tip: Learn more about Actions and how you can add your own

 

actions_mytasks.gif

The above shows the action button in ftrack studio (My tasks / Tasks Board ). If you have connect downloaded and running on your machine, when you select this button the Actions UI will load showing you the Actions that your studio has installed or the ones that you have running in Connect(Downloaded connect plugins and integrations).

The Actions UI

Are you using the New Actions UI 🚀 

actionsSelect.gif

Customizing ftrack Connect

ftrack Connect is an incredibly powerful app that can be deeply integrated into your pipeline with custom plugins and processes.

Our newly launched Developer Hub has the information that you need in customising Connect and the Integrations Framework: Go here to find out more

Troubleshooting / FAQs

Running ftrack Connect air-gapped

  1. Option 1 - pull with Connect:

    1. Install Connect on a computer with an Internet connection.

    2. Run Connect and install all or selected plugins.

    3. Copy the deployed plugins to an air-gapped network, central place or into each workstation.

  2. Option 2 - download manually:

    1. Open the plugin JSON file in a browser: https://download.ftrack.com/ftrack-connect/plugins.json

    2. Download the plugin ZIP:s using the URL:s in the JSON.

    3. Extract into a central place or into each workstation.

How do I troubleshoot if I am having problems with installing ftrack Connect?

  1. Make sure you are using the latest app version.

  2. Contact us at support@ftrack.com or via the 'Submit a request' button. [Send us a detailed description of the issue with screenshots]

Why my application is not shown in the Actions tab?

  1. If you can’t find an application in the Actions tab and have installed it in the default location, first browse to and select a task as the action context at the top of the tab, then wait a second for the tab to reload, and the application you are looking for should be displayed. If you know the application is installed in a non-default location on your computer or network, you will need to modify the application Action hook file (which requires Python knowledge and is only recommended for advanced users).

Why are my DCCs not showing up when opening ftrack Connect?

  1. To launch a DCC using ftrack, the app needs to know the context in which you want to launch that DCC. This is most commonly done by setting a context for the task that you wish to work on.

  2. By default, when you first launch the ftrack Connect desktop app, a context is not set, which means your installed DCCs will not show as available launchers. Once you’ve set the task context, you will then see the available DCCs that you have installed plugins for, and you can select which one you want to launch into.

  3. To set your task context in ftrack Connect, you can either use the Browse button or assign the task from ftrack (Right-click on a task > Actions, and the DDC should appear amongst the available launchers.)

How do I know what version of Connect I’m using?

1. Details of the ftrack Connect version you have installed can be found in the About dialog

connect_about.gif

2. Select About in the context menu that will be displayed when you click the ftrack icon in the menu bar/taskbar. Here you will also find information about bundled integrations, user signed-in, ftrack server currently connected, etc.

 

Where can I find the ftrack Connect log files?

  1. The log files can be found in a separate directory from the ftrack Connect installation. You can open the directory from the About dialog by selecting About in the context menu that will be displayed when you click the ftrack Connect icon in the menu bar/taskbar, and then clicking Open log directory.

The actual filesystem locations for the 3 main operating systems

  1. Windows: C:\Documents and Settings\<User>\Application Data\Local Settings\ftrack\ftrack-connect\log

  2. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/ftrack/ftrack-connect/log

  3. Linux: ~/.local/share/ftrack-connect/log

Uninstalling ftrack Connect

Below are the instructions for uninstalling ftrack Connect on Windows and OSX. 

OSX

1. Open Finder

2. Select the Application folder

3. Select the application and either right-click and Move to Bin or move the icon to the bin.

Windows 11

1. Press the Windows key and select the cog icon in the Start Menu. (Better yet, use the Windows key + I keyboard shortcut to launch the Settings app.)

2. Select Apps on the sidebar and select Apps & features.

3. Scroll through the page, select the three-dot menu icon next to the app you want to uninstall, and select Uninstall.

4. Select Uninstall on the confirmation to remove the app.

Windows 10

1. In the search box on the taskbar, type Control Panel and select it from the results.

2. Select Programs > Programs and Features.

3. Press and hold (or right-click) on the program you want to remove and select Uninstall or Uninstall/Change. Then follow the directions on the screen.

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