What you’ll learn
- Know what a production tracker is for and why Flow Production Tracking used to be called ShotGrid.
- Be able to read a shot code and a version number and say exactly what they mean.
- Know what Nuke, Maya, Houdini and Blender each do, and who in the room uses which.
- Know how a shot gets reviewed and delivered, and what a render farm is actually doing.
Where this leads
By the end you will have written your own Stage 1 plan, checked yourself against MFJF's five Stage 1 statements, and know exactly what to do next: a mentor clinic, an Academy workshop, and Stage 2, the HotList.
The tracker is the job
7 minEvery other piece of software in a VFX house exists to make pictures. One exists to tell everyone which pictures, in what state, for whom, by when. That is the one you will live in.
- readFlow Production Tracking, ftrack, and what a tracker holds3 min
- readShot codes and version numbers2 min
- checkCheck: tracker and names2 min
What the artists are running
7 minYou do not need to operate any of these. You do need to know who uses which, so you can route a question to the right desk instead of the loudest one.
- readNuke, Maya, Houdini, Blender3 min
- readThe render farm2 min
- checkCheck: the tools and the farm2 min
Review, delivery and your part in it
6 minShots are judged in a dark room by people who look at them for a living. Getting the right version onto that screen is your responsibility.
- readDailies, review tools and colour2 min
- taskTask: an hour that makes your first week easier2 min
- checkCheck: review and delivery2 min
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Sources and references
Where this course comes from. Open any of them yourself.
Check it yourself
This course is written from our own experience of the industry. These are the authorities that set the rules, so you can check anything here for yourself.
- Autodesk Flow Production Tracking (formerly ShotGrid) renamed from ShotGrid in March 2024; the tracker most facilities run
- Foundry Nuke the compositing system used for film and high-end television
- ftrack the other main production tracker
- AWS Thinkbox Deadline render farm management; AWS Deadline Cloud is the managed version launched in 2024
- SideFX Houdini simulation and procedural effects; free Apprentice edition for learning
Every link checked 21 September 2026. The rules or figures in this course change on 21 September 2027. We check it again then.
