Filename from Flow

Every VFX studio has a filename convention, and every VFX studio has a file that violates it. Filename from Flow is the comfyui_vfx-flow pack's attempt to make the second one impossible: it generates your output filename from the pipeline context instead of asking you to type it.

The idea is clean. Your shot, sequence and project live in the flow pipe, so a name like ProjectX_SEQ01_SH010_comp_v004 can be derived, not memorized. The node takes that context, optionally appends a suffix, and hands you a filename plus an output_folder you can wire straight into a save node. The pack's README pairs it with the VFX Bridge EXR Save node, so "load the plate, process, save with the right name" becomes a closed loop.

The inputs and outputs

• flow - the pipe from upstream (Project Browser → Shot Browser, or through Task Selector if you're using it).
• suffix - appended to the base name, e.g. _beauty makes ProjectX_SEQ01_SH010_comp_v004_beauty. Handy when one shot produces several layers.
• base_path - where the output folder starts, default ~/renders.

Outputs:

• filename (STRING) - the derived name, no extension.
• output_folder (STRING) - base_path/<project>/<sequence>/<shot>.
• info (STRING) - a breakdown showing the filename and the full .exr path it's suggesting, so you can see the convention in one glance.

That info output is worth mentioning because it's the node's sanity check: run once, read what it would name things, then wire the real outputs.

Installing it

Same as the rest of the pack: ComfyUI Manager, search VFX Flow, install, restart. Or:

cd ComfyUI/custom_nodes
git clone https://github.com/beverlyhillscop90210/comfyui_vfx-flow
cd comfyui_vfx-flow
pip install -r requirements.txt

Only shotgun_api3>=3.3.0, no model downloads.

Where people get burned

Right now, the naming only works if the context actually carries the data - and as shipped, it might not. This is the honest catch. Reading the pack's source, Shot Browser computes the shot, sequence and version number into a new pipe object but returns the original flow, so the updated context doesn't reliably make it downstream. Wire Filename from Flow straight after Shot Browser today and you may get a generic output filename, or a NoneType error where the shot should be, until the author fixes the propagation. The node's design is exactly right - derive the name from pipeline data, never hand-type it - but treat the happy-path diagram in the README as aspirational for now. Test on a dummy project first, and check the info output to see what the context actually contains.

A couple of softer notes: the base name carries no extension, which is deliberate (you add .exr or .png at the save node), and base_path expands ~, so ~/renders works on both Windows and Linux. The suffix convention is yours to invent - pick one and make it a standard, or the "consistent naming" promise quietly dies.

Filename from Flow is a genuinely good idea inside a young pack. If the context propagation gets tightened upstream, this becomes the most quietly valuable node in the set - the one that deletes an entire class of "why is this file named gen_1234_v5_final_really_final" problems.