PROJECT GREYLIGHT
Project Greylight is an in-house Solaris tech demo designed to streamline multi-shot workflows, USD department layers, version control, and overall work organization.
The project includes a five-HDA toolkit, demo files, and walkthrough guides, offering a hands-on way to explore and experience a more efficient approach to VFX workflows.
Aimed at students, indie artists, and curious studios, Project Greylight provides a professional VFX workflow experience without the requirement of custom pipelines or content management systems.
GREYLIGHT TOOLKIT
The Greylight Toolkit is being made available for you to use in your projects. It will be updated as issues arise and is designed to be an artist-friendly workflow for developing projects with Solaris.
WORKSHOP
In September, Andreas introduced Project Greylight at the Houdini HIVE Horizon in Toronto. The workshop lessons are available below to help you become more familiar with what Project Greylight can do for you.
1 | Introduction
A brief overview of the project, its creator and the overall goals of Project Greylight.
2 | USD Lingo & The Problem to Solve
A straightforward breakdown of essential USD concepts and the common challenges faced by artists.
3 | Toolkit Overview
An introduction to the fundamentals of the toolkit and its demo project.
4 | Setting Up a Project
Master the built-in project management tools to create efficient folder structures and manage files.
5 | Asset Work
Explore the multiple ways assets can be ingested, created, and exported.
6 | Layout
Get comfortable with setting up contexts and outputs, working with thumbnails, plates, cameras, and settings.
7 | Animation
Discover how to manage animation rigs and multiple animations within a single scene.
8 | FX
Uncover how Toolkit Output nodes can be used in unique ways to manage changes.
9 | Lighting
Learn how to handle shot-specific lighting, tweaks, and grouping, as well as rendering previews through IPR, and render clones.
10 | Tips, Tricks, and Limitations
Gain insight into best practices for overcoming challenges, as well as understanding the toolkit’s limitations and trade-offs.
Project Creator
Andreas Weidman is a Swedish native with over two decades of crafting pretty visuals; initially as an art director and concept artist, to a career in VFX lighting and supervision, contributing to shows like Westworld, Fear the Walking dead, and The Mandalorian.
As one of the early pioneers of Solaris in production, and a passionate developer; his efforts led to the creation of the Greylight Project Toolkit in collaboration with SideFX. At the same time he is launching his companion Patreon where he simplifies USD and Solaris, offers customized help, and helps artists survive and thrive in the VFX world.