What is playviz?
Playviz is a workflow in which an artist uses a game build to play out their sequences, record their gameplay session, and then bake it down to a control rig so that the animation can be edited. It all happens in-engine. This allows for quick blocking of master sequences.


How is playviz used in live sessions?
Because you're playing out the scene, it's easy to explore environments in real-time and come up with different ideas. It's a great way to show exactly where you want characters to move and what you want them to do. Live sessions can be used among previz teams or with clients.


How do I implement playviz into my production?
You would need an artist with strong previz skills who is familiar with the game functionality of Unreal. If your vendor is already using Unreal, your production-side playviz artist should be able to leverage the environments built by the vendor and implement the game build within it. The playviz demo video may be enough for some highly skilled artists to implement playviz on their own. However, in the future, we plan to train artists in Playviz. So check back at this website later for a list of playviz-trained artists. Please join our mailing list for updates.


Can I buy playviz?
At this moment, there isn't a purchasable build of playviz. Playviz is a workflow that uses the native tools in Unreal. It can be implemented by a skilled Unreal previz artist familiar with the game functionality of Unreal. In the future, we hope to create tools or a build that can support the playviz process. Please join our e-mail list to keep up to date on our progress.


How do I get playviz at my studio?
Playviz in a vendor environment is specific to your studio's pipeline. Please contact us if you would like to set up a consultation where we can sit down with your TDs and supervisors.


What's next for the playviz project?
We'd like to pursue an Epic MegaGrant so that we can further develop the playviz project to add more functionality and create tools that support the workflow that all studios and independent previz artists can enjoy.


Can I use playviz if my previz team still works in Maya?
Yes. While you lose some of the flexibility of being able to jump freely between recording live sessions and animating, it is possible to export your live sessions into Maya. This can be useful for production-side previz artists utilizing playviz sessions when the vendor is still working in Maya. However, this does slow down the previz process because you'll need to go back and forth between two software packages.