PostMicroTools
Utility
Shot naming generator
Build consistent shot and file names with VFX, episodic, commercial or Netflix-style delivery conventions. Generate one or a whole sequence and copy them with one click.
My saved presets PRO
Your cloud-synced naming presets. Load, delete or save new ones with the button above.
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Apply to files — generate rename script
🔒 100% localDrop files or a folder. See the rename preview, then download a .sh (macOS / Linux) or .bat (Windows) script. Run it from your folder to rename. Nothing uploaded.
Drop files or a folder
Renaming follows the pattern + batch start number above.
Tip: on macOS, after downloading the .sh move it into the folder with your files, open Terminal there and run chmod +x pmt-rename-*.sh && ./pmt-rename-*.sh. Always review the script before running.
Naming best practices
A good shot name is readable by humans and machines: no spaces, consistent separators, zero-padded numbers and a clear version field. Number shots in tens so you can insert intermediate shots without renaming the sequence.
Uppercase or lowercase?
What matters is being consistent across the whole project. Many pipelines use lowercase for tasks (comp, roto) and uppercase for sequences/projects. Avoid mixing rules between shots.
What goes in “task”?
The pipeline step: plate, layout, anim, fx, light, lookdev, comp, precomp, roto, paint, matte, track… Keep a fixed, documented vocabulary for the team.
Why VFX pipelines are strict about names
A VFX shot name is an address, not a label. A typical scheme — ABC_101_042_0080_comp_v012 — encodes show, episode, sequence, shot, task and version, and every pipeline tool from ingest scripts to render farms parses it. One freelancer writing final_v2_REAL breaks automated publishing for the whole vendor, which is why studios and platforms (Netflix's VFX guidelines among them) publish naming rules and reject deliveries that violate them.
Zero-padding is the detail people underestimate. Without it, alphabetical sorting puts shot 10 before shot 2 (SH10 < SH2); with 4-digit padding (0010, 0020) file browsers, Nuke and Deadline all agree on order. Numbering in tens leaves room to insert 0015 when the edit adds a shot — a convention inherited from line-numbered code and still saving conforms today.
This generator produces consistent names from presets (episodic, commercial, feature, Netflix-style) or your own pattern, in batches, ready to paste into a folder-creation script or a tracking sheet — so the convention is decided once, not renegotiated per shot. The same identifiers belong on camera too — the digital slate puts them on a QR-tagged board the DIT can shoot.
How many digits should I pad shot numbers to?
Four digits for shots (0080) and three for versions (v012) covers almost any show; padding exists so lexical and numeric order match. Better one digit too many than renumbering mid-show.
Why can't I use spaces in shot names?
Spaces break command-line tools, render-farm submissions and URL-encoded paths; some software silently substitutes them. Underscores separate fields precisely because every parser splits on them — hyphens are best kept inside a field (e.g. a two-part task name).
What goes in the version token?
One monotonically increasing number per published iteration (v001, v002…) — never 'final'. The cut version that gets approved is just the last number; history stays traceable, and 'final_v3_reallyfinal' never happens.