SIGGRAPH: Autodesk Intros New AI-Powered Tools for Artists & Producers

Autodesk returns to SIGGRAPH this year to unveil its latest advances in generative AI and cloud-enabled workflows to support the creative and production processes. The dev announced the release of Flow Generative Scheduling as well as new AI capabilities in Maya and Flame. These solutions and more will be showcased as part of the Autodesk Vision Series educational sessions and demonstrated at the Autodesk booth #409 on the showfloor.

Flow Generative Scheduling accelerates the creation of production schedules with constantly shifting project variables like deadlines, budgets and team availability.

Powered by Autodesk AI, Flow Generative Scheduling is designed to help keep projects running smoothly. In a fraction of the time previously required, teams can now compare multiple schedule scenarios, evaluate tradeoffs and create resource-optimized and balanced schedules for even the most complex projects. The tool can be accessed via Flow Production Tracking (formerly ShotGrid) for a tightly integrated collaborative workflow.

“For years, Flow Production Tracking has been the de facto connective tissue for VFX workflows. We’re thrilled to bring Flow Generative Scheduling to help our customers plan and run projects more efficiently,” said Mimi Hoang, VP of Production Management & Platform at Autodesk. “Being able to evaluate different scenarios without impacting a live project, and then publishing a revised schedule directly into Flow Production Tracking is a game changer for creative teams.”

The company is also continuing to explore the application of AI to accelerate and augment artist workflows. New features coming to Maya and Flame come on the heels of Autodesk’s recent acquisition of Wonder Dynamics, makers of Wonder Studio, a solution which combines AI with established tools to help artists more easily animate, light and compose 3D characters within live-action scenes.

“Artist’s time is the most valuable resource for our customers. Being able to bring them AI tools to augment their creative process unlocks a host of new possibilities,” said Eric Bourque, VP Content Creation, Media & Entertainment at Autodesk. “They can spend more time iterating on their creative ideas, and less time on repetitive tasks.”

Maya’s new ML Deformer enables artists to work with complex characters for animation, VFX and games projects. The tool processes complex deformation systems and represents them with a fast, machine-learned approximation. For example, if you have a character with a complex deformation system that runs slowly, Maya can train to represent that deformation system using ML Deformer. Artists can then use this fast representation to work more interactively and switch back to the original for final polish or render.

Flame’s AI toolset continues to grow with ML Timewarp, a new mode that generates an intermediate frame between two frames in a shot for retiming of clips. Users will benefit not only from high-quality renders, but also from a fully integrated tool that maximizes their workstation’s hardware, eliminating costly file transfer workflows across multiple tools. For the most demanding workloads, this new mode can also be queued to render with remote systems via Autodesk Burn.

In addition to these new features, the latest versions of Autodesk Maya and 3ds Max, with increased support for open standards and improved modeling, animation, simulation, look development and enhanced rendering capabilities, will be demonstrated at the Autodesk booth.

You can hear more about these exciting updates in the Autodesk Vision Series at SIGGRAPH, featuring presentations from world-leading studios, including Rising Sun Pictures, Rodeo FX, Cinesite, Dexter Studios, Wētā FX, Crafty Apes and Fin Design + Effects, alongside Autodesk M&E subject matter experts. This year’s Vision Series sessions will delve into the latest AI advances amplifying creativity at studios, how open connected workflows are the industry’s path forward, and the making of this year’s biggest blockbuster movies.

The Vision Series runs July 30-31, from 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. MDT in Room 401 at the Colorado Convention Center.