Cloud-based pipeline distribution for effective and secure remote workflows

Abstract

We present a secure, cloud based distribution system for just-in-time artist workflows built on the Shotgun Toolkit platform. We cover the original motivations behind this work, the challenges faced, and the lessons learned as the technology has come to unlock new patterns for managing where and how artists contribute on production. A case study of the technology and its use on production by Pearl Studio is included, showing how the company uses the system to meet their distributed organizational needs and why adoption has been beneficial for their technological and business goals. We show how the system began as a means of downloading and caching individual pipeline components via an app store, before organically evolving into a distribution mechanism for a studio's entire pipeline. We include real-world examples of these patterns that are in use by Toolkit clients and illustrate how this technology can be applied to cloud-based collaboration in a variety of ways.