Thinkbox Software has teamed with veteran VFX producer Joyce Cox (The Jungle Book, The Great Gatsby, Avatar) to develop Vero, a new cloud-based application that simplifies the VFX budgeting and cost management processes. Encapsulating Joyce’s proven bidding philosophy and methodology into an accessible, easy-to-use interface, Vero helps estimate and track VFX budgets from script breakdown to shot delivery. Attendees of SIGGRAPH 2016 can preview Vero in Thinkbox’s booth #449.
”Joyce truly understands the ins and outs of VFX production, and her bidding and financial management process is solid and predictable having been production proven on many major studio feature films,” said David Taritero, Sr VP VFX, production, Disney.
“VFX is often one of the largest chunks of a film budget; however, the current methods for predicting and tracking the costs of VFX shots vary wildly across the industry. Vero standardizes and streamlines an otherwise overly complicated process, to project and manage the bottom line throughout production as pricing fluctuates with scene changes,” Cox explained.
“Weve focused on alleviating common pain points in all different areas of production and post, so creating a new, secure system for breaking down and planning VFX is right up our alley. Ive known Joyce for years and deeply respect her expertise, so when she approached us with the idea for Vero, we knew we had to get involved,” shared Chris Bond, founder, Thinkbox Software.
Once logged in, Vero users will be able to easily monitor the granular details and big picture activities of a project, which broken into four distinct stages accessible via the interface:
— Script Breakdown allows users to import a screenplay file, and the app automatically breaks down the screenplay into scenes and actions. Scenes can then be manually grouped into sequences, and VFX shots can be added to actions manually, or automatically based on action descriptions.
— Budget Room enables users to manually rate VFX shots based on the level of complexity. The producer can then more accurately estimate generic shot costs and begin to layout the VFX production crew and equipment needs.
— Market Place empowers users to create custom bid packages that can easily be shared with interested VFX vendors. Receive and compare preliminary and secondary bids, evaluate designation scenarios, narrow list of potential vendors and apply costs to a VFX budget.
— Contract Room acts as a central hub where bids are awarded and accepted, changes to scope are managed and communicated to vendors and studios, and contracts are archived.
Vero is currently in development, with beta expected to launch this fall. Its functionality is designed with VFX producers in mind but Thinkbox is evaluating how the solution could be extended across the production chain to benefit VFX facilities. For a demonstration of Vero, visit Thinkbox Software at booth #449 during the SIGGRAPH conference, July 26-28th at the Anaheim Convention Center.
