FMX, the annual Film & Media Exchange Conference, is returning to Stuttgart, Germany from April 23-26. One of the world’s leading conferences dedicated to animation, visual effects, and interactive media, FMX brings together industry leaders to share the latest creative and technological developments impacting pipelines, business models, and the artistic process.
This year, we’re pleased to be partnering with FMX to spearhead an entire programming track dedicated to open source. Curated by the Academy Software Foundation’s Executive Director, David Morin, FMX’s Open Source Track will highlight the Foundation’s cross-industry efforts to develop shared technologies for image creation, visual effects, animation, and sound. As open source software, libraries, and standards set the foundation for many of today’s animation and visual effects workflows, it’s more critical than ever for our industry to collaborate to solve common challenges.
FMX’s Open Source Track will include the following sessions:
The Academy Software Foundation is 5 years old!
Speakers: David Morin (Executive Director, Academy Software Foundation)
Wednesday, April 24, Bertha-Benz-Saal, 10:00-11:00
It was 5 years ago that a group of Chief Technology Officers from studios and software companies decided to create an organization with the mission to become a neutral forum for open source software developers in the motion picture and broader media industries, to share resources and collaborate on technologies for image creation, visual effects, animation and sound. Today, the Academy Software Foundation supports a strong ecosystem of open source engineers that is becoming stronger every day, while hosting 14 projects that were used in movies such as Nimona, Oppenheimer, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Creator, Napoleon, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1, Elemental, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko. Attend this session to learn what the Foundation has accomplished during the last 5 years and, more importantly, discuss where we intend to go in the next 5 years, starting with Dev Days and the Summer Learning Program. Come equipped with your ideas and suggestions, because anyone can contribute to open source projects!
Speakers: Jean-Francois Panisset (Independent Consultant and Technical Advisory Council Member, Academy Software Foundation)
Wednesday, April 24, Bertha-Benz-Saal, 11:15-12:15
The Academy Software Foundation hosts some of the most important open source projects which form the basis of the tools and pipelines used on almost every production and in almost every visual effects and animation facility in the world. In this talk, we will present some of these open source projects and highlight their importance, discuss common tools and processes which help turn these open source projects into robust, high quality software that productions can rely on, and emphasize why you should consider getting involved and the different ways in which you can contribute.
The Academy Software Foundation Open Review Initiative
Speakers: Sam Richards (VFX Software Manager, Walt Disney Imagineering)
Wednesday, April 24, Bertha-Benz-Saal, 12:30-13:30
The Open Review Initiative (ORI) is an umbrella project at the Academy Software Foundation working to build a unified open source toolset for collaborative playback, review and approval of motion picture and related professional media.
The project is comprised of three subprojects:
- xStudio – Contributed by DNEG, xStudio is a playback and Review application that can be used as a standalone player or be integrated into any pipeline.
- OpenRV – Contributed by Autodesk, OpenRV is a native review and playback tool used by VFX, animation and content creation teams of all sizes.
- Video Encoding Guidelines – documents the best practices for encoding image sequences for review using ffmpeg. It encompasses a comparison of numerous codecs, and ffmpeg flag recommendations to ensure the best preservation of the media.
Attend this session to learn about these three projects, and how you can get involved with their development.
Additionally, the Foundation’s David Morin will join several panels as part of FMX’s Interoperability Track, including:
Web browsers, the next 3D platform // Update on open and interoperable standards for 3D
Speakers: Corentin Wallez (Development Lead, Google), Patrick Cozzi (CEO, Cesium and Co-Host, Building the Open Metaverse Podcast), Francois Daoust (Web & TV Specialist, W3C), David Morin (Executive Director, Academy Software Foundation), Marc Petit (Co-Host, Building the Open Metaverse Podcast)
Wednesday, April 24, Bertha-Benz-Saal, 18:15-19:15
Traditionally the Web is a 2D, mostly text-based media. Over the last decade it has transformed into a great 3D platform as well. This talk will go over the unique properties that make the Web so powerful for content creation and consumption, and how recent developments like WebGPU and WebAssembly extend its usefulness to heavier duty 3D applications. We’ll also discuss the technical hurdles to be overcome for a seamless 3D Web experience. The panel following the presentation will review the current state of 3D standardization efforts.
Beyond Boundaries: Interoperability in Production and Visual Arts
Speakers: Mark Elendt (Senior Mathematician, SideFX), Richard Frangenberg (CEO, Prism Software GmbH), David Morin (Executive Director, Academy Software Foundation), Frederic Servant (Director of Engineering & Media Solutions, Autodesk), Paolo Tamburrino (Senior Industry Strategy Manager, Media & Entertainment, Autodesk)
Thursday, April 25, König-Karl-Halle, 18:15-19:15
Join us for an engaging panel, where we’ll delve into the dynamic world of film production, animation, and visual effects, focusing on the pivotal shift towards an open ecosystem and seamless interoperability. Our distinguished panelists will navigate through the complexities and challenges of this transition, highlight potential areas for strategic investment, and share innovative initiatives and workflows that are setting new standards and potentially breaking silos in the industry. This session is a must-attend for professionals eager to stay ahead in the evolving landscape of digital media production.
We look forward to connecting with you at FMX later this month!
