Zero to USD in 80 days: transitioning feature production to universal scene description at dreamworks

ABSTRACT

Productions at DreamWorks starting with How To Train Your Dragon 3 will use Universal Scene Description (USD) [Pixar Animation Studios 2016] as the primary asset and shot representation across the production pipeline, from modeling to compositing. In this talk, we discuss the motivation for adopting USD at DreamWorks and our strategies for adoption on a highly constrained timeline - 80 working days from the initial discussion to having the first production-ready USD scenes. We review our methodology for organizing and planning an extensive USD integration, present details of our implementation, and discuss the successes and challenges encountered in the adoption process.

References

1. Pixar Animation Studios. 2016. Universal Scene Description Website. (2016). http://www.openusd.org Accessed: 2018-02-08.

Index Terms

• Computing methodologies

  • Computer graphics

    • Graphics systems and interfaces

• General and reference

  • Cross-computing tools and techniques

    • Design

• Social and professional topics

  • Professional topics

    • Management of computing and information systems

      • Project and people management

        • Systems planning

• Software and its engineering

  • Software creation and management

    • Collaboration in software development