Shot Assembly ​

Before Shot Assembly can begin two requirements need to be met. Firstly, shots to be assembled need to have corresponding Tasks on the Kitsu Server, and secondly those shots must have Assets ‘cast’ or associated with each shot. These will describe when the shot happens in the edit and what assets appear in the shot.

Preparing Metadata Strips from a Previz Sequence ​

To begin Shot Assembly it is required to describe the name/length of each shot inside a “Video Sequence Editor” .blend file. Once a Previz Sequence has been assembled into the VSE, 'Metadata Strips’ can be created for each shot. A Metadata Strip is an empty video strip that is linked into the project management software Kitsu. Metadata Strips are used to push updates to the frame ranges of each shot to Kitsu, which are later used in the Shot Assembly process.

Metadata Strips are created from the Previz Strips, they are either linked to an existing Kitsu Shot, or a new Shot/Sequence can be pushed from the VSE to the Kitsu Server. The shot’s in, out and duration will be determined by the strip’s length. Multiple Metadata Strips can be made out of a single previz strip if required, adjust the shot’s timing by simply trimming the Metadata Strip in the timeline. These Metadata Strips are then pushed to Kitsu Server to update the shot info on the server side. Below is a Previz Sequence with it’s Metadata Strips.

Creating your first Asset ​

The next step is to create an asset and store that information into the Kitsu Server.

1. Launch Blender via Project Blender Guide
2. Under Edit>Preferences>Add-Ons ensure Asset Pipeline is enabled
3. Follow the asset pipeline guide to create a new asset collection, ensure these assets are marked as an Asset in Blender.
4. Save the above asset within the directory your_project_name/svn/pro/assets/char (or similar depending on type)

Load Asset Data into Kitsu ​

To match Assets File to the data on the Kitsu server, we need to first enter the data into the Kitsu server and secondly create an Asset Index. This is a json file that contains the mapping of the asset's name to the asset's filepath. Any collection Marked as an Asset in Blender in the directory your_project/svn/pro/assets will be added to this index.

1. Create a matching entry in Kitsu for each asset via the Kitsu Create Assets guide
2. Follow the Kitsu Breakdown guide to assign/cast assets to shots.
3. Create a text Metadata Column with the exact name slug.
4. Populate the new slug column with the exact name of the asset's collection.
5. Use the Index Assets Script to create an asset_index.json file.

*Example of asset_index.json*

{
    "CH-rain": {
        "type": "Collection",
        "filepath": "your_project/svn/pro/assets/chars/rain/rain.blend"
    },
    "CH-snow": {
        "type": "Collection",
        "filepath": "your_project/svn/pro/assets/chars/snow/snow.blend"
    }
}

{
    "CH-rain": {
        "type": "Collection",
        "filepath": "your_project/svn/pro/assets/chars/rain/rain.blend"
    },
    "CH-snow": {
        "type": "Collection",
        "filepath": "your_project/svn/pro/assets/chars/snow/snow.blend"
    }
}

Building your First Shot ​

Before building your first shot, you will need to customize your production's Shot Builder hooks. Inside your production’s assets/scripts/shot-builder directory the Shot Builder hook file should be stored, based on the example included in the Add-On. This file can be automatically created at the correct directory using an operator in the Blender Kitsu Add-On preferences. Hooks are used to extend the functionality of the shot builder, and can be customized on a per project basis.

1. Open Edit>Preferences>Add-Ons
2. Search for the Blender Kitsu Add-On
3. In the Blender Kitsu Add-On preferences find the Shot Builder section
4. Run the Operator Save Shot Builder Hook File
5. Edit the file your_project/svn/pro/assets/scripts/shot-builder/hooks.py to customize your hooks.
6. Open a new Blender File, select File>New>Shot File
7. Select the desired Sequence/Shot from Kitsu and select OK to start Building
8. New file will be saved to your_project_name/svn/pro/shots/{sequence}/{shot}/{shot}.blend

Shot Types ​

• Animation contains all Assets with Rigs and a linked set, Animators work here, all data that needs to move down the pipeline is placed in a shot_name.anim collection.
• FX contains any effects objects in a collection shot_name.fx. This file will have the shot_name.anim collection linked into it and the shot_name.lighting collection if available.
• Lighting contains all lighting objects, like lights, shadow catchers and any other data related to lighting the scene in an shot_name.lighting collection. This .blend file will also contain a linked version of the shot_name.anim collection and the shot_name.fx collection when available.
• Compositing contains linked copies of the shot_name.anim, shot_name.fx, shot_name.lighting collections. Compositing file contains a Compositing Node Group used for final render. The compositing file is usually used for rendering.

Maintaining Existing Shots ​

After shots have been created in some cases the shot’s length or position may be adjusted by the editor. These changes will be tracked in Kitsu using the Metadata Strips described above. If a Metadata Strip for a given shot has been changed, those changes will be pushed into Kitsu. In this case when users open a shot file they will be warned within the Playblast Tools section of their Kitsu add-on to pull the new frame range into their .blend file.