FATface is a boutique VFX and animation studio based in Hong Kong. For more than a decade, FATface’s talented team of 40 artists has serviced both commercial and film projects and earned a strong reputation in Hong Kong’s competitive marketplace.
As the company has expanded to tackle larger and more complex projects, FATface began looking for a flexible production management tool that would be easy to implement and integrate with its existing structure, provide value to users at all levels, and easily scale along with the company.
The FATface team first had the chance to break Shotgun in on its recent production of sci-fi short film “VIRTUS,” a fully photoreal CG project where robots engage in intense battles. VFX Supervisor Alan Lam explained, “We only had a limited timeframe to complete VIRTUS, and Shotgun helped us organise a massive amount of data and assets. Since everyone on the production team can input into and access Shotgun, it saved us time and resources on data sharing between departments, and eliminated communication errors. Having Shotgun in place let us focus on the art and not worry about tracking our data.”
Lam continued, “Shotgun gives me a bridge to communicate with my producers and artists efficiently. It shows the progress of projects clearly and centralizes all updates. I can review and leave comments, and know that they’re being communicated directly to the artists. It just makes my day easier.”
One of the most popular Shotgun features proved to be the Shotgun Pipeline Toolkit. “Pipeline Toolkit is highly configurable and adaptable to our common CG applications,” explained Pipeline TD Daniel Wong. “Artists can load and share their work with just a few clicks, and each publish can be revised on the Shotgun website and marked with a thumbnail and descriptions. It lets everyone track information easily and centrally. Tools like this are crucial because the pipeline is our everyday working environment, and a strong pipeline helps ensure that a project is progressing in the right direction.”
Ultimately, Shotgun has allowed FATface artists and supervisors to feel more confident as they prepare for expansion. “Using Shotgun on VIRTUS was a great test for us. In order to keep growing and taking on more complex and high quality projects, a good pipeline will give us the power to maximize our resources,” Lam concluded. “With Shotgun we’ve accomplished this and are ready to take the next step.”
