Animation workflow, pipeline, asset management & production control.

Next Monday, December 8, 2008, at 10 am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern you can attend a a free webinar (by StudioDaily.com and sponsored by Autodesk): Learn how to build and use a hyper-efficient animation pipeline with the team from Reel FX Creative Studios. They'll talk about working on Open Season 2 and other projects using their proprietary people and pipeline management tool, Insight, with an emphasis on the use of Autodesk products. This webinar will cover: • Creating character animation, movement and style using modular rigging systems • Moving back and forth between 2D and 3D environments • Render layer configuration and other challenges of VFX planning and execution • Smart media-management on Hollywood studio-sized projects • Executing feature length projects in a short time frame You can register in this link .

Jim Callahan kindly sent me an invitation to attend their "Birds of Feather" session at SIGGRAH 2008 next Tuesday. I won´t be attending SIGGRAPH this year, but I thought it´d be interesting for the people who visit this blog. Temerity Pipeline User Group Tuesday 12 August Los Angeles Convention Center Room 307 2 - 5pm "This year we will start by giving a brief overview of the core ideas behind Temerity Pipeline and its major features for those who have not been exposed to the software before. Then we'll talk in more detail about some of the more interesting new features introduced since last year's SIGGRAPH. Finally, we'll wrap up by talking about some important new features we plan to introduce in the next 6-12 months. These BOF tend to be pretty informal and we encourage both questions and general discussion from the audience throughout the meeting. Attendees will likely be a mixture long time Pipeline users, people from studios interested in Pipeline a...

I just found out about this LinkedIn Group: (From their web:) "This group was created mainly as an attempt to keep and promote the contact between spanish tools and pipeline developers ( CG productions ). There are a lot of us scattered all over the world, but unfortunately there is no easy way to connect. If your goal is to make artist's life easier, or you are always the one keeping order between departments, or simply are involved in the creation of tools for a CG production, join us at LinkedIn , you are more than welcome."

As announced in Highend3D , a new version of openPipeline "an open source framework for managing animation production data and workflow" implemented as a "MEL-based plug-in for Autodesk Maya" has been released. OpenPipeline "handles specific aspects of production: automatic directory structures, file naming conventions, revision control, and modularity that makes multi-artist workflows possible."

Miguel A. kindly informs: "Not long ago a new audiovisual project management software came out, ir is called "Project Overlord" , seems to be based on Alienbrain, but it is completely focused to management of sequences, shots and asset libraries. And the best part, it´s only 50 $ per licence..." Thanks for the info!

A couple of interviews: California State Polytechnic University Pomona held an INTERVIEW with Disney character design supervisor, Chen Yi Chang. The interview, which can be streamed over the net HERE , covers a number of different topics from Chang’s background, a rough breakdown of the production pipeline of a feature film, as well as character design and technique. A bit outdated interview to Technical Director VK Gupta (Berliner Film Companie., Berlin, Germany) on Pipelines Some projects I have found. I haven´t tested them, and they might work or maybe not, but are always interesting and might give you ideas. The Web3D Consortium will support a collaborative environment and drive programs to develop and advance an open standards, royalty free 3D interchange format based on XML, along with tools to represent and communicate 3D scenes and objects between diverse authoring and presentation hardware and software on the web, distributed networks and mobile devices. Maybe you know...

It´s been a while since the last post, so I thought I should update it a little bit and check older posts, dead links, etc. As always, I would love to receive your comments, news, suggestions, tips, tricks, ideas, questions... P.D. If you want to know what is keeping me busy, have a look at El Viaje Imposible blog .