Doing computer graphics at scale means connecting the efforts of many artists, who are using many applications and generating data in many formats. We manage these connections with a complex system we call "The Pipeline." Each studio/company (and often each project) has its own pipeline. Each pipeline is constantly changing, and they are all different and yet similar in interesting ways.
The fundamental assumption behind all pipelines is that the various applications will work separately, and we must connect them by saving from one application, transforming the data, then loading into another application. The main thing our pipelines do is manage and track this process, and all the associated files, versions, transformations, and syncing.
In this talk, Bill will propose another way: to connect various applications directly via web calls, and substantially eliminate the handoff files and associated complexity. In many ways this represents the end of pipelines as we know them, and points to a future where applications and artists cooperate much more freely.
Technicolor is rebuilding its tech stack on this idea, using NVIDIA Omniverse as a webservice backend. Bill will outline the steps taken so far, and the incredible promise this approach holds for the entire industry.
Bill Polson is the Chief Technology Officer for the Technicolor Group, which comprises the business units of Mikros Animation, Mill Advertising, MPC VFX, and Technicolor Games. Bill is a member of Technicolor's Executive Committee and is responsible for all technology strategy and delivery across all business units, encompassing software development, third-party software integration, production infrastructure and networks, and enterprise IT.
Prior to assuming this position last December 2023, Bill had various positions at Technicolor, including SVP Technology Strategy and Head of Software Research and Development.
Prior to Technicolor Bill spent 19 years at Pixar Animation Studio in a variety of roles, including Supervising Technical Director of Pixar University, where he founded the curriculum; Supervising Technical Director of Short Films, where his projects won one Oscar and were nominated for several others; Director of Pipeline; and Director of Industry Strategy in the Office of the CTO. Bill was the driving force behind Pixar's OpenSubdiv and helped lay the groundwork for Pixar's USD effort.
Bill was part of a small team that developed the first shipping RenderMan renderer, where he coded the geometry, scene, camera, and shading models. He has worked as an artist in almost all technical disciplines, with an emphasis on FX, shading, and rigging. Bill has been very active in SIGGRAPH and was the founder of the popular venue SIGGRAPH Dailies.
