SENIOR WORKFLOW

AKA “THE TECH TALK” EVENTS THURS 9/13 7:30P The Greatest Showman SVA Theater

FRI 9/14 3:00-5:00P Harris Wu, Rigging Artist Talk Room 1022C 8:00P SVA Premieres SVA Theater

SAT 9/15 2:00P Ferdinand (3D) w/ Morr Meroz SVA Theater 2:00P Diverse Toons w/ Monique Henry Hudson Room 301C 8:00P Black Panther (3D) w/ Ruel Smith SVA Theater

SUN 9/16 2:00P Coco w/ Montaque Ruffin SVA Theater

SAT 9/29 Epic Games: Unreal Training SVA Theater UPDATES ● Mocha VR ● CaraVR ● Red Giant plugins ● RevisionFX plugins ● Frischluft plugins ● 3.1 has a new GPU viewport mode and a new built in denoiser ● Unreal has to be started via the Editor Icon and not from the Launcher. ● rendering requires use of Arnold. See a sysadmin for a detailed pipeline.

WORKFLOW

● Maya 2018.4

● 16.5

● Arnold 3.1

● 11.2v2

BACK UP YOUR DATA!!! BACK UP YOUR BACK-UP BACK UP YOUR BACK-UP BACK UP YOUR BACK-UP BACK UP YOUR BACK-UPBACK UP YOUR BACK-UPBACK UP YOUR BACK-UPBACK UP YOUR BACK-UPBACK UP YOUR BACK-UPBACK UP YOUR

BACK- UPBACK UP YOUR BACK-UP BACK UP

YOUR BACK-UP BACK UP YOUR BACK-UP

BACK UP YOUR BACK-UP BACK UP YOUR BACK-UP BACK UP YOUR BACK-UP BACK UP YOUR BACK-UP BACK UP YOUR BACK-UP BACK UP YOUR BACK-UP BACK UP YOUR BACK-UP BACK UP YOUR BACK-UP

BACK \\file\students is only for non-production storage (notes, handouts)

\\hub\share is deleted every Sunday night \\prod is for production storage.

\\prod\class is for class-related production needs. Put your work inside a related folder for your class!

\\prod\thesis is for thesis-related production needs.

\\render is for network rendering.

Terrablock volumes are for compositing and editing. Properly set your program preferences for Disk Caches, Temp Storage and Autosaves

Set them to: your personal drive or the data drive Avoid using the desktop for storage.

Use the spare DATA DRIVE or your own personal drive for all local data, such as Mari caches.

● Desktop folders will get reset without warning. ● Caches work better on a non-OS drive SHOTGUN bfacad.shotgunstudio.com You are REQUIRED to update your Shotgun Page regularly

Want to use Shotgun Pipeline Automation Tools? Don’t know your Shotgun Account? You are REQUIRED to update your Shotgun Page regularly

Want to use Shotgun Pipeline Automation Tools? Don’t know your Shotgun Account? SEE YOUR TECH ADVISOR TO GET SET UP PIPELINE

Project Files go to \\Prod\Thesis\*YourFolder* Please only use the folder with the SHOTGUN CODE provided.

Don’t know the CODE? Project Files go to \\Prod\Thesis\*YourFolder* Please only use the folder with the SHOTGUN CODE provided.

Don’t know the CODE? SEE YOUR TECH ADVISOR TO GET SET UP SEE YOUR TECH ADVISOR TO GET SET UP Always log in to the computers as yourself. Maya>Set Project>PROD server BAD BAD BAD C:\users\myfolder \\file\students \\prod\thesis\folder\scenes\images J:\PortableDrive\MyStuff\Scenes

Renders go to \\Render\Thesis\*YourFolder* RENDERING

Single Frame Tests: Use local rendering Longer tests and Full Sequences: Deadline

What about Local Rendering? If your job requires Full Sequence Local Rendering you must be pre-approved.

See a sysadmin if you think you need to “Team Render”

All Local Renders must be monitored and attended.

Before you send a render to Deadline: IT MUST BE TESTED locally (on your machine).

Scene Errors? The jobs will fail.

Fix the errors before you send anything to Deadline! Render submissions must be named appropriately.

TEST submissions to Deadline: Name the job with a (P) for Prototype.

These must not be full sequences. Render submissions must be named appropriately.

TEST submissions to Deadline: Name the job with a (P) for Prototype.

These must not be full sequences. Only send tests on 5’s or 2’s. (1-100x5) or (1-100x2) Render submissions must be named appropriately.

Final submissions to Deadline: Name the job with an (F) for Final.

Do not submit a Final unless you are sure it’s DONE.

Low sample count at first. AA 1, the rest: 0/0/0

Be sure you are working in Linear Color Space.

Avoid high-frequency detail on small or distant objects.

Convert textures to .TX files.

Render on 10’s, 5’s and 2’s - never on 1’s until done.

Arnold has a denoiser, use as a last resort

Cryptomatte is included. Use it!

Very shiny or reflective surfaces cause “firefly” noise!

Sample settings are determined Shot By Shot!

Watch your subdivision levels!

Avoid referencing references into references…...

Import All References > Save As > Send to Deadline.

Use Maya’s Optimize Scene Size for common errors!

Use Maya’s File Path Editor for relinking files!

Turn off Autoconvert to .TX and process manually!

DEADLINES RENDER DEADLINE Thur. March 7th, 11:59pm College Closed - Fri. March 8th

THESIS DEADLINE Wed. March 27 TECHNICAL REVIEWS Wed. March 27 - Fri. March 29

CHAIR’S REVIEW Mon. April 1 - Wed. April 3 TIPS + TRICKS Rendering always takes longer than you think it will. Animation always takes longer than you think it will.

Be honest with yourself and your abilities. “CRUNCH TIME” CAN BE AVOIDED

Do render tests now. Keep doing them.

Make deadlines for project milestones. Adhere to them.

Don’t save audio for last.

Get a compositing pipeline set up early. Set aside time for compositing / color grading / editing.

Don’t sit in silence: ASK FOR HELP. Be efficient in your data pipeline. Large datasets will need to managed very carefully. RAM is limited!

Use Instanced Billboards instead of Geometry.

Use Matte Paintings for Backgrounds.

Avoid Hair and Fur if you can.

Delete old cache and render data. Keep textures under control.

Keep texture sizes low. 2K or less unless it is a closeup.

The only maps that should be 32bit color are color maps. All other maps should be 8bit.

Convert all textures to .tx with Arnold. Rendering is iterative. Start with 0 samples for tests.

Each AOV and render layer adds to rendertime. Use only what is needed.

Motion Blur with a motion vector AOV and then use RevisionFX ReelSmart Motionblur.

Remember! Renders are just the START of a LONG FINISHING PROCESS! DELIVERY FORMATS Thesis naming convention: LastName_FirstName_ThesisTitle CG Projects Resolution: 1280 x 720 (720p) Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square Frame Rate: 23.98* CODEC: Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) Audio: AAC or WAV / 2 Channel Stereo

VFX Projects Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (1080p) Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square Frame Rate: 23.98* CODEC: Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) Audio: AAC or WAV / 2 Channel Stereo +Breakdowns of VFX shots Interactive Projects Published Unity or Unreal build as a standalone Windows / Mac executable.

● For non-interactive theater playback, you must also create a movie file conforming to the VFX Project specifications.

WE’RE HERE TO HELP! PS

YOU’RE GONNA DO GREAT