720050GreenPipe: Animation Pipeline Tools, Hibbert Ralph AnimationClosedGRD Development of PrototypeInnovate UKAnimation production is a complex technical process and business value chain, with a number of distinct phases. The stages and organisation of the technical process and business chain still reflect the procedures of hand-drawn 2D animation. However, an ever-increasing proportion of film and TV animation is produced with 3D CGI technology. GreenPipe will align 3D animation with hand-drawn storyboarding and production planning processes. The project will research and develop novel tools and methods for creative animation control, making it possible automatically to communicate concepts and assets from the storyboard stage into digital layout and then on to posing and animation stages. The project results will enable directors to retain the original freshness and vision of a drawn storyboard and carry it through, accurately and automatically, to the CG (Computer Graphics) stages of the production. The outcome will be a novel pipeline control system, which will drive a 3D animation package, automatically creating not only accurate digital layout but also appropriately timed and posed key-framed animation and an initial animation pass. The approach is based on using novel technologies to automate critical processes in a flexible solution that allows animation companies to work with little or no disruption to their established methods. The research will apply concepts derived from emerging intelligent content technologies with advanced computer vision and image processing, CG animation and games. The business concept is to offer a ‘Software as a Service’ (SaaS) solution with a consultancy-based service supported by a web-based asset management and data transfer service (for multisite working) with local software tools.