Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Building a production pipeline is challenging. Building one while producing a film is even harder.
In this episode, Jase Lindgren talks with Wyatt Ayars about Ozone Story Tech's journey creating the interactive short film Like while simultaneously developing the tools behind it. Starting with a small team, shared file storage, and manual processes, the project eventually grew into a production pipeline built around Unreal Engine, ShotGrid, automation, and Perforce P4. Along the way, Wyatt shares practical lessons about scaling teams, simplifying artist workflows, and using AI as a force multiplier for technical development.
In this episode:
How Ozone used a film project to validate its rigging technology
The challenges of scaling production with Unreal Engine
Why version control became essential as the team grew
How AI accelerated pipeline development and automation
Lessons learned reducing technical overhead for artists
Career advice for technical artists, developers, and animators
Timestamps:
[00:00:00] Cold Open
[00:02:18] Project Origins
[00:03:29] Early Team Setup
[00:04:12] Ozone Rigging Explained
[00:05:00] Maya to Unreal Workflow
[00:06:07] Growing Pains Without Tools
[00:07:12] Version Control Conflicts
[00:10:34] ShotGrid and Perforce Shift
[00:13:39] LLMs for Pipeline Glue
[00:15:26] Automating Maya to Unreal
[00:20:08] Shot Publish Button
[00:22:41] Build Farm Round Trip
[00:23:57] Early Renders in Unreal
[00:24:47] Sequencing in Unreal
[00:25:58] Animator Submission Flow
[00:26:49] Common Pipeline Pitfalls
[00:28:08] Versioning vs Perforce
[00:34:13] Reducing Artist Clicks
[00:35:27] Embracing True Version Control
[00:37:01] References and Asset Drift
[00:39:27] Bespoke Pipelines and AI
[00:43:57] Future Bottlenecks in Rigging
[00:45:21] Lessons and Career Advice
[00:48:15] Wrap Up and Thanks
Building a production pipeline is challenging. Building one while producing a film is even harder.
In this episode, Jase Lindgren talks with Wyatt Ayars about Ozone Story Tech's journey creating the interactive short film Like while simultaneously developing the tools behind it. Starting with a small team, shared file storage, and manual processes, the project eventually grew into a production pipeline built around Unreal Engine, ShotGrid, automation, and Perforce P4. Along the way, Wyatt shares practical lessons about scaling teams, simplifying artist workflows, and using AI as a force multiplier for technical development.
In this episode:
How Ozone used a film project to validate its rigging technology
The challenges of scaling production with Unreal Engine
Why version control became essential as the team grew
How AI accelerated pipeline development and automation
Lessons learned reducing technical overhead for artists
Career advice for technical artists, developers, and animators
Timestamps:
[00:00:00] Cold Open
[00:02:18] Project Origins
[00:03:29] Early Team Setup
[00:04:12] Ozone Rigging Explained
[00:05:00] Maya to Unreal Workflow
[00:06:07] Growing Pains Without Tools
[00:07:12] Version Control Conflicts
[00:10:34] ShotGrid and Perforce Shift
[00:13:39] LLMs for Pipeline Glue
[00:15:26] Automating Maya to Unreal
[00:20:08] Shot Publish Button
[00:22:41] Build Farm Round Trip
[00:23:57] Early Renders in Unreal
[00:24:47] Sequencing in Unreal
[00:25:58] Animator Submission Flow
[00:26:49] Common Pipeline Pitfalls
[00:28:08] Versioning vs Perforce
[00:34:13] Reducing Artist Clicks
[00:35:27] Embracing True Version Control
[00:37:01] References and Asset Drift
[00:39:27] Bespoke Pipelines and AI
[00:43:57] Future Bottlenecks in Rigging
[00:45:21] Lessons and Career Advice
[00:48:15] Wrap Up and Thanks
