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“Technology should be used to enhance the production process not impede it.”

CGT : How, when and why was Mind the Gap Inc. founded? And can you shed some light on the secret behind the name?

Marlon : While working on the Valiant we learnt quite a lot from mistakes and realized the importance of a methodical approach towards production management and a smooth and structured Pipeline. We had to work on a limited infrastructure within a committed schedule and the system slowly started to take the Brute Force Method of working. But we still pulled it off.

It was in 2005 in UK then that we formed Mind The Gap, Inc. along with Kevin Cureton who has over 13 years of large-scale systems engineering experience in CG production, video game production, and web development. Mind the Gap Inc. offers feature animation pipeline development and consulting services. The company combines the expertise of George and Cureton in designing effective feature animation pipeline solutions with my production management experience.

George : We actually came up with the name “Mind the Gap” while in a pub in UK. We had been brainstorming on all sorts of names when we struck gold. Coincidentally, Gap stands for Global Animation Pipeline.

CGT : So, what according to you are the constituents of a perfect Production Environment?

George : There are number of systems that need to be in place in order to have a smooth Production process . And believe me however small or big there has never been a “Perfect Production Environment” ever. There have always been issues of different proportions. But i would say a good Production Tracking Solution for overall production management overview as well as assigning tasks, a strong Asset Management System, a standardized Naming Conventions are the minimum that a production house should have in place for a smoother production.

Marlon : I would like to add that building tools and scripts to support your various departments is also equally important. Besides that, Version Control Mechanisms and a system to track your assets to the point of where they are being used and at what stage of production they are is equally important

Marlon : Project Management is all about Communication. Procedures might be set and systems built, but if the notes are not being communicated properly, then there is a major risk of things going wrong. There might be people joining and quitting in the middle of production. So, it is very important for the process to move ahead that the correct handover takes place between them. With most of the production houses dealing with hand written notebooks or excel sheets, vital data gets lost during transaction.

George : Actually thats the reason why our product FPS is considered so powerful. fps is project management software that allows teams to track film assets as they move through the production pipeline. fps lets studios focus on making better films by helping management and artists communicate, track, prioritize, and coordinate all the tasks needed for film delivery. Every little information stays inside a centralized archive. So accountability of all responsibilities can be made. People cant hide from their responsibilities. Status tracking and finding Daily Notes of artists becomes a fairly easy task.

Marlon : Actually during the production of the short film - " The Moon Girl" by Laika Entertainment, FPS was used and the asset management System populated the Production Tracking System.

For more features on FPS, click here

CGT : What according to you is the main difference between a TV Series and a Feature Production when it comes to handling the Production perspective?

George : Feature Production means both more number of assets as well as more people to manage. When it is a small team, communication can be within themselves via passing notes or in just a verbal manner, although i wouldn't advise that even with a very small group. As the number increases, the demand for a tool to trak the production is of prime importance. The System has to be more standardized.

Marlon : While working in Shrek, the production managers to the artists ratio increased , so different tools had to be brought in to help the production managers keep tab of the production process.

CGT : You had mentioned something about Version Control Mechanisms. Can you elaborate a little on that ?

Marlon : According to me the Version Control System should go beyond and be a Revision Control and Distribution System . A set of tools that control versions of animation data and the distribution for production and rendering work flow. This system allows production departments to work independently of each other without overwriting each others files. Files are merged back into a common master tree and redistributed for updates to other departments and segregated rendering.

CGT : How important do you think is the User Friendliness or beautification of the tools and systems built by the Techies in production environment predominated by Artists?

George : Well, whatever it takes to enhance the production and help the artist is ok. What is of more importance is that the artists should use it. There is nothing worse than a production tool being made but left idle because the artists are not able to use it properly. So, of course the GUI has to be easy to understand and user friendly.

But the actual reality is hard. The artists also have to look at the larger goal when they demand for beautified production tools and realize that if within a limited time frame there is a requirement then they have to make the best out of whatever is provided to them.

CGT : Well, all said and done, we all have faced situations when even if all has gone well, its the RENDERING time that sweats out most of the Production Engineers. So, where would you position a Render Management System in the Workflow ?

George : I believe a Render Management System should be there in a number of place doing various tasks. It should be made maximum use of in order to have the optimum Compucost utilization of the render farm. For example, the process of creating Playblasts of scenes can be parallelized. Similarly, lighting renders as well as simulations can also be parallelized to make the best use of the farm. Time taking processes can be packaged to be executed in the farm in a distributed manner.

Another good use of the render management system can be to do “Trending”, that is generating trends in rendering. The system should be able to notice trends in error problems and forecast the same based on previous renders. This can be very useful at the final render stage during a production. Besides that, its the Lighting TD who can make the best out of a shot both technically as well as aesthetically.

CGT : With all these leaps in technology and the process of Feature Film Making, How realistic do you think is a globally Distributed Production Pipeline?

George : Well, technically i definitely think it is possible. We already have all the technologies in our disposal to make the nest use of. But, i still feel it is physically inherent. There are lots of other factors also involved, you know. Production Houses need to be geared up and ready with their internal Pipeline structured first before going for a distributed format.

Actually in one of the new projects that i am doing will involve a bit of a distributed pipeline. So, i am all excited about it.

CGT : In the end, with all the productions that you have seen, what according to you is the most common “Bottleneck “ in a production environment?

Marlon : Production Management is the biggest crunch in any scenario. CPUs, I/O Devices, Disk Space, Network Bandwidth are all quantifiable and balanced resources. Bottlenecks created due to these can be easily tackled. But it is actually the human element in production that a pipeline architect has to look at. The production guys should understand and make the most optimal use of the pipeline systems in place during production.

CGT : Well, this is your first trip to India. How does it feel and what are your expectations of the Indian Animation Industry?

Marlon : Well, Mumbai has lots of people We are both amazed as well as excited to be here. Lots of work happening. It all seems to be growing for good to me.

George : India is doing very good right now and talking to as made me realize the potential around here. But the studios just have to take baby steps first. Even PDI |Dreamworks initially just started with a simple Video Conferencing System first and then went on to grow its Production Engineering and Pipeline tools to the best that is possible right now.

It is very important to make the studios realize the Need for a Pipeline and Production Solution. Its all about Constraint Management, constraints being Computing Power, Network Bandwidth, Processing Power. More throughput is what is the need of the hour. Technology is there to help enhance the production, not impede it. So, one has to make the best out of it.

CGT : Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with the entire cgTantra community . We also thank NVIDIA for providing us this opportunity to be able to meet George and Marlon via the NVIDIA Lecture Series.