Archive for June, 2009

I’m pretty anal about file and project organization.  In fact, many years ago, I wrote my own software called Toontrack to help organize the project management side of things.   When it comes to the file/data pipeline, I’m no different.  I want exacting naming conventions and files put in the right place – everytime!

A while ago, I stumbled across  Open Pipeline for Maya.  It is an incredible set of Mel scripts to help keep your assets in order.  These open source tools are nothing short of awesome.  If you are a one-man operation, or part of a small team, I encourage you to start using this software.  You won’t regret it.  Even for larger teams or studios, it is a great starting place.  You can modify it to your exacting needs.

It makes swapping between assets, shots, sequences, and even projects very easy.  It creates the directories and puts everything in the right place.  It will even publish files to be used as references.

I’ve freelanced for dozens of studios over the years, and this software is better than what 90% of those guys have in place.  This is such a huge part of any project, I just don’t understand why so many people take it so lightly.  Now you have no excuse.