Prime Focus also developed a custom delivery tool powered by Shotgun that allowed them to easily log and track shot deliveries to the client. “That was really key for me,” Cowley explained. “That tool came in very handy 3 weeks before our final deadline when the client changed a spec in our deliveries, which often happens at the 11th hour on a show. This meant we had to go back and re-deliver an entire month’s worth of work – around 360 versions – of these shots. Thanks to Shotgun, one coordinator was able to easily find and re-deliver everything in a single day, whereas previously it would have taken several people several days and caused a lot of gray hairs in the process.”

Looking Ahead
Prime Focus is also currently beta testing Revolver, Shotgun’s new powerful all-in-one review product. Revolver combines production tracking and review, making it easy for teams in any location to view the latest work in the context of the cut, browse and compare iterations, annotate on images, write notes, and collaborate on work in real-time. Tweak’s high-end native player, RV, is integrated to provide real-time playback of hi-res frames from local storage at the desktop or in the screening room.

“My background is in industrial engineering, which is all about how to make products more efficient,” said Cowley. “Revolver does exactly that. It allows us to dramatically decrease the time between when the VFX supervisor reviews a shot and when notes on that shot get back to the artist. Now I can be looking at a shot and annotating it in real-time during dailies review, and before I even leave dailies I know that my notes are already being addressed by the artist. The size of that gap is what can make or break a deadline – so the immediate feedback that Revolver provides is really invaluable.”

Shotgun and Revolver ultimately allowed for smoother and faster project management and delivery on Prime Focus’ MIB3 VFX pipeline, positively impacting their 200 artists worldwide who worked on the film. Prime Focus is currently working on visual effects for Total Recall and other upcoming feature films, building their workflow around a Shotgun and Revolver core.

To learn more about Revolver, watch the video tour, or sign-up for updates and the private beta, please visit http://www.shotgunsoftware.com/revolver.