Puzzle Pieces
"All the pieces fit, but the puzzle carries on..." - Chris Squire
Puzzle Pieces are a editing technique where segments of a round are rendered separately into "pieces" to create advanced techniques or saved on render time. First being seen in the late 2000's and popularized by players with more complex (at the time) styles like MycroProcessor, using puzzle pieces has become the mainstay in modern matches due to how complex they often become.
History
The term "puzzle pieces" was coined in the late 2000's. Much of the earliest tennis did not rely on any pieces whatsoever; everything that needed to be done could be whipped out in a single render.
Usage
There are two major types of puzzle pieces:
- "Parts" which are rendered to be part of a larger composition.
- "Renders" which are completed parts that are a bit too complex alongside its neighbors in a video for the editor to handle. Thus, they are rendered separately to save overall rendering time.
Making a puzzle piece is quite a simple process.
- Isolate the sequence that you want to make into a piece. It should not be the whole video - just that particular part!
- Render that isolated part. This is your puzzle piece.
- Import that piece back into your editor of choice for further use!
Compilations
Puzzle pieces are often compiled together as Puzzle Piece Compilations, where all the pieces of a particular video or match (sometimes including unused ones) and strung in a row and shared with the world.
The idea of stringing progressive renders together is the basis for multirenders as well.
Here's an early example, with the pieces of round 6 of GreatBritishTurd vs. MycroProcessor
Here's a newer example, with a more general collection of pieces:
These collections can also be a great way to archive video sequences that aren't generally seen; if you're running out of space on your drive, render one of these and share it with the world before you get rid of it forever!