The Future of Production Amplified: How Open Source Is Taking Hollywood by Storm

Since the advent of digital workflows, film production has been dominated by proprietary software solutions — the result of countless hours of costly R&D undertaken by studios and VFX houses. But with the ability to access and customize the source code, open source software has proven to be a cost-effective and flexible solution for filmmakers at every stage of the production process from pre-visualization and storyboarding to compositing and visual effects.

Open source is taking Hollywood by storm. Enabling workflows ranging from render and color management systems to high dynamic range image file formats used by the likes of Wētā FX and ILM, open source technology is in use in every single major motion picture made within the last 20 years.

Aimed at fostering the development of open source tools, the Academy Software Foundation was established in 2018 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The ASWF’s mission is to support and promote the use of open source software in the motion picture industry, and to help developers collaborate on and contribute to open source projects. Providing resources and support for developers and engineers who want to contribute to open source projects related to the film industry, the ASWF is supported by a consortium of major film studios, technology companies, and other organizations including SMPTE, MovieLabs and the Visual Effects Society.

As part of NAB Amplify’s video series, “The Future of Production Amplified,” NAB Amplify content partner Jennifer Wolfe chats with ASWF executive director David Morin about the Foundation’s mission and its most recent projects, as well as why developing a strong software engineering community is critical to the future of Media & Entertainment.

“The open source software credo, if you will, is about sharing software between different organizations that are otherwise competing on the marketplace but can work together,” Morin explains, outlining a system of checks and balances that allow collaboration among competitors.

“We want to encourage our engineers, give them a place where they can go and where to a degree call the shots on the software that they’re developing, and also promote them, promote their good work, recognize it, and make sure that our engineers stay with us in our industry and they have a good pathway in front of them for continuing to develop leading-edge imaging and other types of software.”

In this exclusive Q&A for NAB Amplify’s “The Future of Production” series, David Morin, executive director of the Academy Software Foundation, chats about the Foundation’s mission and its most recent projects, as well as why developing a strong software engineering community is critical to the future of Media & Entertainment.

In Part 1, Morin provides an overview of the ASWF’s goals and objectives, highlighting its mission to streamline and simplify workflows in the motion picture industry. He also discusses the problems the Foundation aims to solve, and the importance of open source software in motion picture production.

Watch Part 1 below:

In Part 2, Morin discusses the newest “sandbox” project to be adopted by the ASWF: the Open Review Initiative, which uses technology from Autodesk’s review and playback software RV along with code contributions from DNEG’s xStudio and Sony Pictures Imageworks’ itview, and aims to build a unified, open source toolset for playback, review and approval. He also covers the Digital Production Example Library, which grew out of the industry’s longstanding need for production-grade sample content in order to test technology in development and ensure that it can scale to the demands of film and TV production.

Watch Part 2 below:

In Part 3, Morin gives us a closer look at the ASWF’s unique structure and membership, and the talented engineers and tech developers who serve on the Foundation’s Governing Board and Technical Advisory Council. He also takes us on a journey through the Foundation’s growth over time, beginning with the initial investigation conducted by the Academy Sci-Tech Council that, with the participation of the Linux Foundation, led to its formation, and defines what a healthy open source ecosystem looks like.

Watch Part 3 below:

Connect with David Morin on LinkedIn, and learn more about the ASWF and its mission at www.aswf.io. You can also follow the ASWF on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.