Abstract:
A list of the most important unsolved problems in VFX production
should include the word “pipeline”. Pipelines are a major source of
efficiency, but they require ongoing development, and are seemingly
never finished. They also resist change. Is it possible to
automatically generate pipelines given desired inputs and outputs
or design one “universal” pipeline that can do everything with no
further modification ever needed? We present similarities between
pipelines and programs, and recall metamathematical statements
which show that the answer to the above question is negative. However,
new approximate solutions may mitigate to a large extent this
negative situation.