Animation studio Laika joins the Academy Software Foundation
Animation studio Laika has joined the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF), the industry body promoting open-source technologies for VFX and feature animation.
A neutral forum for open-source tools development for VFX and animation
A joint initiative between the AMPAS and the Linux Foundation, the ASWF launched in 2018 as a “neutral forum” for open-source software development in the movie industry.
The organisation now oversees development of many key open-source technologies for VFX and animation software, including MaterialX, OFX, OSL, OpenColorIO, OpenEXR, and OpenVDB.
Founder members included Autodesk, the Blender Foundation, Epic Games, Foundry and SideFX.
The latest major animation and VFX studio to become an ASWF Premier member
Founded in 2005, Laika quickly became known for its technically innovative animated features, blending stop-motion with digital technologies.
The company won a BAFTA Award for Kubo and the Two Strings, and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for all five of its films, which also include Coraline and Missing Link.
The ASWF describes Laika as a “longtime contributor” with engineers active within Open Shading Language project and MaterialX projects, and the OpenUSD Working Group.
“We embarked on a complete rebuild of our production pipeline recently and relied heavily on the open-source projects supported by ASWF,” said Laika CTO Jeff Stringer.
“We are thrilled to join the Foundation officially and support its work.”
Laika becomes the latest major VFX and animation firm to join the ASWF, alongside DNEG, DreamWorks Animation, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Walt Disney Studios and Wētā FX.
Read the official announcement that Laika has joined the ASWF
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