Software company Ynput launches early access to animation and VFX pipeline platform AYON

Ynput, previously known as Pype Club, a software company specialising in creative pipeline services, has announced the early access release of AYON. It is an open-source pipeline platform to accelerate workflows at animation and VFX studios. Since 2018, a derivation of Ayon has been used in production on hundreds of projects under the name of OpenPype. 

The platform provides the essential foundations to build a scalable pipeline that supports the complex workflows seen in animation and VFX studios. Modular in its approach, the pipeline tools help to automate the transfer of data into a wide range of industry-standard creative applications and production tracking software.

As studios fragment into smaller teams or look to expand their services into new areas, the need for a pipeline that is production-proven, is flexible to cater for hybrid working, and can scale to various project types is ever growing. Starting a studio from the ground up requires a pipeline that can bridge the gap between multiple departments, locations, software packages and data sources. 

“Ayon gives us confidence that the tools we are using are also being used across multiple companies, so we know it’s been tested elsewhere with industry standards and it’s all open source,” said Cloth Cat Animation CEO Jon Rennie. “With Ynput by our side, we’re a lot more confident in what we’re able to offer to our clients as an animation service. I don’t have to worry about the pipeline being an issue and know it will work. Instead, our studio focuses on the animation quality and we know we can deliver on that.”

“Working closely with studios from the beginning has helped us solve the complex challenges related to deploying and maintaining a robust pipeline,” said Ynput CEO and founder Milan Kolar. “The release of Ayon gives studio owners, supervisors and pipeline TDs the opportunity to have complete control over their workflows with the confidence that their pipeline is battle-tested and continuously evolving as new standards are introduced. We’re delighted to provide an open-source pipeline built for creative studios that they can rely on.”

Powerful pipeline created in tandem with creative studios 

Functionality available in Ayon includes:

1. Ready-made templates: Easily start projects with pre-configured templates tailored for various project types such as 2D animation, 3D animation, VFX, and the flexibility to create and save infinite possibilities for any type of project.
2. Deploy and onboard quickly: Configurable without scripting knowledge allowing Supervisors to customise workflows without needing a TD on-hand.
3. Flexible workflows with isolated data: Deep integrations with many industry standard applications from Adobe including Substance, Autodesk 3ds Max, Flame and Maya, Foundry Nuke, Toon Boom Harmony, TVPaint, Unreal Engine and many more, all supporting on-premise, cloud or hybrid workflows.
4. Works alongside production tracking: Continue to use existing production tracking tools seamlessly with support for Autodesk ShotGrid, ftrack Studio, CGWire Kitsu and more.
5. USD and real-time workflows: Out-of-the-box compatibility with universal scene description (USD) and Unreal Engine for real-time productions to give flexibility when needed. 
6. Infinitely extendable: Go beyond what’s included in Ayon by customising with its API, supporting Python, REST and GraphQL.

Early access to the platform is available from 7 March and is free to install and use. Additional services such as technical support, pipeline consultation, training, deployment and maintenance are available via Ynput’s service team.