Thursday, August 8th, 2019 Posted by Jim Thacker

Joyce Cox launches Curó 2.0

The original demo for Curó, UST Media’s cloud-based platform for budgeting visual effects projects, based on workflows developed by Avatar VFX producer Joyce Cox. Curó 2.0 adds support for episodic series.


Veteran VFX producer Joyce Cox has launched Curó 2.0, the latest version of the cloud-based platform for planning and managing budgets for visual effects projects.

The update, which adds support for episodic series as well as individual productions, went on show at Siggraph 2019 last week.

A production-proven, semi-automated way to estimate costs for VFX projects
Originally demoed by Thinkbox Software under the name Vero, and now developed by UST Global, Curó is based on Cox’s own workflows, developed through work on movies like The Jungle Book and Avatar.

Curó implements that workflow as a semi-automated online service, with users uploading a script in PDF format, and the system breaking it down into scenes, action and dialogue.

From there, users can identify shots and group them into sequences, build a list of assets and VFX elements required, and create ‘assumptions’ about the work required to produce each shot.

Curó’s budget projection tools then estimate overall cost, updating dynamically as shot complexity is revised. The system also automatically flags up changes when a new version of a script is uploaded.

Projections can also be adjusted to take account of local tax incentives or labour costs where a large visual effects project is split across vendors working in different countries.

The system is “completely secure, with the option to build in two-factor authentication”, and can create and export reports in standard spreadsheet formats.

New in Curó 2.0: support for episodic series, plus UX improvements to the online dashboard
Whereas the original release focused on individual projects, Curó 2.0 adds support for episodic series, with the option to link or copy assets, FX and budgetary assumptions between episodes.

The update also redesigns the service’s dashboard to improve speed of workflow, and makes “multiple backend security and stability enhancements”. You can find a full list of changes via the links below.

Pricing and availability
For a single user, Curó costs $150/month for one project, or $250/month for multiple projects. Multi-user accounts cost $250/month/user for one project, or $1,250/month/user for multiple projects.

You can find more pricing details here. The service can be trialled free for 30 days.


Read a full list of new features in Curó 2.0

Find out more about Curó on the product website