Pipeline and Technical Direction
AIMS
The aim of this unit is to enable the student to define the technological strategy required for an animation project or pipeline by defining and developing the tools and key development procedures required to see a project to completion.
This will require the definition, design, implementation and maintenance of an animation pipeline and requisite data transformations.
Intended learning outcomes (ILOs)
Having successfully completed this unit the student is expected to:
- critically evaluate and specify the required components of an animation pipeline and associated data.
- implement animation, games or VFX pipelines using a variety of digital content creation tools and teachniques.
- maintain, document and deploy animation tools and pipelines on a specified platform.
Indicative unit content
• Applying software engineering principles to pipeline development • Animation Data structures and transformation • Universal Scene Descriptions (USD) • Scripting for Animation Tools (Python, BASH) • User Interface Design (PyQt) • Operating Systems Administration and setup (Docker) • Software and Plugin installation
Indicative learning resources
DUNLOP, R. (2017). Production pipeline fundamentals for film and games. CRC Press. Okun, J. (2014). The VES handbook of visual effects. 2nd ed. Burlington: Focal Press. Finance, C. and Zwerman, S., 2010. The Visual Effects Producer. Amsterdam: Elsevier.