Autodesk ships RV 2022
Autodesk has released RV 2022, the latest version of the image viewer and shot playback system for VFX and animation pipelines, adding support for OpenTimelineIO.
The firm has also now discontinued sales of standalone perpetual liences of RV, although the software remains available via subscriptions to ShotGrid, its production tracking system.
A high-performance image viewer and playback system for VFX and animation production
Originally developed by Tweak Software and acquired by Autodesk in 2015, RV is a high-performance image viewer and playback system designed for VFX and animation work.
The main change in RV 2022 is support for OpenTimelineIO (OTIO), the open interchange format for editorial cut data developed at Pixar and now overseen by the Academy Software Foundation.
RV can now load OTIO files directly via the File > Open menu, with the software automatically setting up the information in the RV graph, and preserving any metadata it finds.
The change makes RV the first commercial application we’re aware of to suport OpenTimelineIO, although last year, Autodesk previewed OTIO support in ShotGrid itself, then still called Shotgun.
In addition, RV now uses Python 3 by default, support for the current version of the programming language having been introduced in RV 2021, although it is still possible to force the software to use Python 2.
You can find a list of smaller new features and bugfixes via the link at the foot of the story.
Live Review in RV now in beta for ShotGrid users
Since we last wrote about RV, Autodesk has also rolled out Live Review in RV: a new cloud-based service that offers live, synced playback across any number of RV sessions.
The system, which is available in beta to clients with hosted ShotGrid sites, enables studios to carry out synchronous shot reviews that individual users can join from anywhere in the world.
Perpetual licences discontinued: now available only via ShotGrid subscriptions
Autodesk has also discontinued perpetual licences of RV, and discontinued transcoding tool RVIO entirely. RV remains available via subscriptions to ShotGrid, with which it has been bundled since 2015.
Pricing and system requirements
RV 2022 is available for Windows, Linux and macOS via a ShotGrid subscription, which costs $40/month or $330/year.
Read a full list of new features in RV 2022 in the online documentation
Read Autodesk’s online FAQs about dropping perpetual licences of RV