Importing & Exporting

Updated November 03, 2025 21:41

Important note: as of October 2025 the Ftrack main navigation will be changing. While we update our documentation to reflect this change, click here to learn more and orient yourself to the new layout.

Importing

ftrack comes with a wizard that can help you import project data from an external source such as Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers, a Google spreadsheet etc. The wizard consists of a few steps and can either create or update objects.

The import wizard can be opened by clicking the Import button in the toolbar on any main spreadsheet page.

Selecting import method

In the first step of the wizard, you select the import method. The wizard supports two layouts of source data, row or column based:

Row based - In this layout, each row represents a task. Each row must also include a parent-object to link the task to, such as a shot or sequence. When shot or sequence data is present, that information will be used to also update related shots or sequences accordingly, including creating them if missing.
Important note: Row based imports cannot contain any empty cells.
Column based - Columns will be used to represent task data. Each row represents where to import the tasks.
Update based on id - Update tasks and other objects based on their id in ftrack. This mode can be used to export and reimport data into ftrack. When exporting data, include the id column in the result.

Tip: If you're having trouble figuring out which import layout to use, look at which way your task data is laid out:

If each task's data is represented horizontally along the spreadsheet rows = choose Row based.
If each task's data is represented vertically in the spreadsheet columns = choose Column based.

Copying source data

Go to the spreadsheet you would like to use as the source. The only requirement is that the spreadsheet supports copying data in CSV format (the default for most spreadsheet applications). Select and copy the rows and columns, including the relevant headers, that you want to import. Then paste the copied data into the wizard and click Next to continue.

Mapping data

Now you need to help ftrack understand which attributes the columns in your source data should map to. Move your mouse over the column header you want to map, click the arrow that appears to the right, and select an appropriate attribute from the drop-down menu.

Mapping a sequence attribute will update or create a sequence. Map the sequence name to uniquely identify the sequence. If a sequence with a specific name already exists, all shots and tasks connected to it will be created or updated.

Mapping a shot attribute will update or create a shot. The shot will be updated if a matching shot is found, i.e. a shot with the same name exists. If no such shot exists, it will be created.

The options in the drop-down menu are different depending on which import method you are using:

Row based - Map a column to Task Type to specify the type of task that should be created or updated.
Column based - Map a column to any attribute below Task Animation to create a task of type Animation. For instance, map a column to Task Animation Bid to create or update the bid of a task with type Animation. Tasks are only created when bid is not empty.
Update based on id - Map the id column to the id attribute.

Tip: After you map the columns to your imported data, you can Save that mapping as a preset for reuse later.

A. Name your mapping and click Save.

(Before naming, make sure that the same is not already used for another mapping.)

B. Using the drop-down menu, you can apply and reuse your saved mappings or check what mapping names are already used.

Please note: Currently, there isn't a way to un map a column once it is set without removing all of the mappings or starting over again.

Resolving

This step is only required when something in the source data cannot be interpreted correctly, ie. a misspelling. Fix the error by manually selecting the appropriate resolution.

Please note: The wizard will have already attempted to guess appropriate mappings where possible.

Summary

The last step of the import wizard shows a summary of everything that is going to be created and updated. Each row represents an object that the wizard will either create or update.

When you are ready to start importing your data, click Import.

Please note: The importer won’t ever delete anything, only create or update.

Exporting

Data in spreadsheets can be exported to Excel, CSV, and PDF files.

Go to the spreadsheet you want to export data from, configure it the way you like with attributes, sorting, and filtering, and then select a format to export to in the Export menu.

Once a format is selected, a dialog will open where you can specify the name of the exported file and, if necessary, how you want the report to be formatted.

The available options are:

Filename - Name of the exported file.
Layout - If the document should be in portrait or landscape layout.
Page number - If page number should be included.

When you click Export, an export job will be started and added to your queue.

As soon as the job is done, the report can be downloaded by clicking the job in the job queue.

Including a company logotype

When exporting PDF’s you can brand your reports with your company logotype. This is done by adding your logotype file in System settings > General Settings > Custom Branding.

The logotype file has to be an image of either png, jpg, or jpeg file type to work.