When two 3D students revolutionise the production workflow

Currently working on their graduation film, Adrien and Tom have also begun developing an innovative tool aimed at maximising the potential of the noise reduction system of Pixar’s rendering engine, RenderMan.
This system offers a valuable advantage by considerably reducing the time needed for the rendering process (for example: reducing the noise present in the rendered images: what may appear as grains or undesirable imperfections, often due to technical limitations). This solution optimises resources and maximises the efficiency of the production workflow.
To learn a little more about their background and approach, they answer a few questions:

Can you tell us about your time at Esma and where you are now?

[A] We both started at Esma in 2019 with the Entertainment prep course, then we decided to follow the 3D Animation course. In the third year, we chose to specialise in rendering and, at the same time, developed skills related to the technical aspect of 3D production. This includes, for example, the production pipeline, tool development and solving technical problems.

You are working on the graduation films El DODORADO and RUSH MORE; what positions do you hold?

[T] Like Adrien on EL DODORADO, I am the Technical Director (TD) and FX artist on RUSH MORE.

So we both develop solutions to facilitate and automate the production process. Faced with similar problems, we have collaborated on various tools, including Dopoise.

Can you tell us more about how you created your tool?

[T] Dopoise is a tool that allows you to efficiently use Renderman’s new denoiser IA in a production environment, in particular by allowing it to be used on a Tractor render farm. We have automated numerous tasks such as the detection of AOVs, LPEs and Layers, and its deployment on the farm so that, in the end, all we have to do is select a folder containing images and the entire process is completed.

[A] In view of the high technical demands of our productions, in particular the large quantities of Groom, Scattering and special effects, the power and quality of the denoise algorithms we were using were insufficient. Furthermore, in order to meet deadlines and quotas between the different productions on campus, we use a fairly low sampling rate in order to save as much time as possible on the render farm. All this led us to look for an alternative solution and, as luck would have it, at the same time, Renderman released its new AI-based denoiser.

Do you have any ambitions for this tool?

[T] We first developed this tool specifically to meet our production needs, then worked on making it more flexible to allow for wider use, first for the other film groups on campus, then more generally for anyone who wants to use it.

[A] We would like to add support for Deadline in order to cover the two main dispatchers on the market.

As for you, where do you see yourself in 5 years?

[A] In five years, I would like to continue learning about special effects and tool development. I am passionate about taking on new technical challenges and honing my skills in these ever-evolving fields, particularly by drawing on my experience in creating Dopoise, the USD pipeline on EL DODORADO and the various tools I have designed. At the same time, I want to put my knowledge to good use by participating in various productions. My goal is to contribute to many new films and series, using my knowledge to meet increasingly complex technical challenges.

[T] For my part, I would like to work as a technical director for a renowned film studio and take part in cinematographic creations that may one day make their mark on their era. I also aspire to explore the field of research and development (R&D) so that I can collaborate and contribute to the evolution of our industry’s production technologies and methods.

Tom and Adrien have posted the tool download link on their respective websites: https://www.tom-perony.fr/ and https://www.lhabitantadrien.com/