New production component tool allows teams to focus on creativity and storytelling by reducing the pain points in their pipeline.
Tangent Labs has just unveiled LoUPE, a new CG pipeline tool that helps artists and studios improve productivity, increase efficiency, and collaborate with teams around the world. The software is now available in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace and runs on AWS’ flexible, scalable, pay-as-you-go platform to enable better use of existing on-premises resources. Prior to launch, LoUPE was tested exclusively by leading industry talent, including Halifax-based Island of Misfits.
Developed to solve critical workflow challenges in the creative production industry, LoUPE simplifies and ties together all aspects of 3D digital content creation in one easy-to-use interface. As the world rapidly shifts to remote workforces and adopts the cloud, LoUPE can help studios integrate key aspects of their pipeline in ways previously not possible.
“LoUPE was built for artists, by artists” commented Tangent Labs CEO, Jeff Bell. “Now artists and studios can use the latest technology to scale and compete at a global level – and tell better stories with more on the screen.”
LoUPE brings key components of production into one powerful tool:
- Asset Management - versioning and tracking of all digital assets required to produce any CG production.
- Project Management - production task tracking to enable collaboration while keeping all users and data sets under central control.
- Media Review and Collaboration – create and assign tasks right from active review session, including drag & drop playlist creation, sketching, draw overs, and note taking with no software downloads required.
- Real-time Analytics and Reporting – view heat maps, dashboards, and metrics with an OData connection to popular business productivity tools.
- Virtual Workstations - enable teams to collaborate across offices and continents, minimizing on-premises hardware requirements.
- Render Management - augmenting in-house rendering with powerful cloud-based capabilities through AWS Thinkbox Deadline, a hassle-free hybrid compute management toolkit.
New Product, Long Track Record
Bell created LoUPE to reduce pain points in typical CG production pipelines. His company, Tangent Animation, had been working on Next Gen, Netflix’s first animated feature produced entirely in Blender. As part of the team that first brought Autodesk Maya to market in the nineties, Bell understands how technology can unleash creative productivity. The platform developed for Next Gen eventually became LoUPE, now available for use throughout the community.
“LoUPE provides an excellent experience for our artists, production staff, and technical teams,” remarked Island of Misfits head of technology, Mark M. Pinder. “It allows us to focus on creativity and storytelling without worrying about managing complex legacy production tracking systems.”
Based on customer feedback, LoUPE will launch with plug-ins for major packages including Blender and Autodesk Maya, allowing artists to select their tool of choice. Additional support for SideFX, Houdini, Epic Games UnrealEd, and Pixar Universal Scene Description (USD) will follow in upcoming releases.
LoUPE is supported by leading software providers and partners including Blender, Intel, Teradici, Independent Security Evaluators (ISE) and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Check Out the Upcoming LoUPE Demos
Tangent Labs’ John Annis and Mike DiCarlo will be holding two virtual product demos with live Q&A on Tuesday, December 1 at 10 a.m. (EST) and Wednesday, December 2 at 1 p.m. (EST).
They will also be hosting a live Twitter chat with Tangent Labs CEO Jeff Bell on December 10 at 1 p.m. (EST), hosted by the Tangent Labs Twitter page. For additional information visit Tangent Labs or AWS Marketplace.
Source: Tangent Labs
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
