SAUCE: Asset Libraries of the Future

Abstract:

Storage and retrieval of production assets is vital for every modern VFX and animation facility. From the volume of assets being stored to the constantly changing variety and richness of the asset data, efficiently storing, indexing, finding and retrieving the assets you want is a growing challenge. This paper discusses some of the requirements of modern asset storage systems for VFX and animation, introducing two systems that were built to address these challenges as part of the collaborative EU funded “SAUCE” project; DNEG’s search and retrieval framework, and Foundry’s back-end asset storage. It also presents example use cases of the asset library from Filmakademie’s experiments in virtual production, demonstrating more artist focused and task centered systems that enable greater asset re-use.