03 - HDRI Report & Manifest

Overview

A lightweight pipeline tool designed to transform unstructured production files into structured, validated metadata for use across VFX workflows.

It automatically scans production directories, extracts asset information from naming conventions, and provides an artist-driven interface to complete missing context before syncing data into a centralized production database: Shotgrid.

Problem

Production data is often:

• Inconsistently named across departments

• Missing shot or scene context

• Scattered across filesystem structures

• Not immediately usable by pipeline tools

This creates manual tracking overhead and weakens automation across departments.

Solution

A Python-based ingestion and validation system that:

• Scans filesystem structures to detect assets (HDRIs)

• Extracts metadata from folder and file naming conventions

• Provides a PySide2 UI for artist validation

• Generates structured JSON manifests

• Syncs validated data into ShotGrid for production-wide access

Impact

This system reduces:

• Manual tracking overhead

• Naming inconsistencies

• Fragmented production data

And improves:

• Cross-department visibility

• Pipeline automation reliability

• Asset traceability across shots