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Introduction

OpenPype is a python application built on top of many other open-source libraries, modules and projects. To be able to use it, you need those tools and set your environment. This requires additional software installed and set up correctly on your system.

Fortunately this daunting task is mostly handled for you by OpenPype build and install scripts. OpenPype can install most of its requirements automatically but a few more things are needed in various usage scenarios.

Studio Preparation

You can find a detailed breakdown of technical requirements here, but in general OpenPype should be able to operate in most studios fairly quickly. The main obstacles are usually related to workflows and habits, that might not be fully compatible with what OpenPype is expecting or enforcing. It is recommended to go through artists key concepts to get comfortable with the basics.

Keep in mind that if you run into any workflows that are not supported, it's usually just because we haven't hit that particular case and it can most likely be added upon request.

Artist Workstations

To use OpenPype in production, it should be installed on each artist workstation, whether that is in the studio or at home in case of a distributed workflow. Once started, it lives in the system tray menu bar and all of it's tools are executed locally on the artist computer. There are no special requirements for the artist workstations if you are running openPype from a frozen build.

Each artist computer will need to be able to connect to your central mongo database to load and publish any work. They will also need access to your centralized project storage, unless you are running a fully distributed pipeline.

Centralized and Distributed?

OpenPype supports a variety of studio setups, for example:

  • Single physical location with monolithic project storage.
  • Fully remote studios, utilizing artist's home workstations.
  • Distributed studios, running fully or partially on the cloud.
  • Hybrid setups with different storages per project.
  • And others that we probably didn't think of at all.

It is totally up to you how you deploy and distribute OpenPype to your artist, but there are a few things to keep in mind:

  • While it is possible to store project files in different locations for different artist, it bring a lot of extra complexity to the table
  • Some DCCs do not support using Environment variables in file paths. This will make it very hard to maintain full multiplatform compatibility as well variable storage roots.
  • Relying on VPN connection and using it to work directly of network storage will be painfully slow.