From Production to Education: An Analysis of Pipeline Requirements and Practices

Animation, visual effects, and video game studios have to manage complex and highly iterative productions. The processes, tools, and data flow that carry a production from initial idea to finished state is called a ?pipeline.? Students in academic programs, even ones focused on educating for digital production, often do not have a well- defined pipeline and spend unnecessary time on technical details rather than creative work. Through interviews with industry professionals, analysis of published works on pipeline and digital production, and study of current academic pipelines, this thesis presents general principles for pipelines as well as suggestions for applying these principles in academic environments. Implementing these suggestions could provide a foundation for a robust academic pipeline that lets students spend more time creating and collaborating and prepares them for employment in the digital production industry.