CG & 3D - overview

The CG phase produces rendered product imagery from 3D models, plus animation and cam solve, feeding the same Iconik review and PPID export as photography.

Blender version is locked

Use Blender 4.5 LTS and keep it through end of year. Patch updates (4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.5.3, …) are fine; do not jump to a new minor/major. Version consistency preserves node-based shader compatibility, geometry node setups, Python API stability, render engine consistency, and USD/Alembic export parity with other DCC apps. Upgrading risks broken modifiers, incompatible add-ons, and export discrepancies.

The pipeline

Every SKU moves through these stages, all run inside Blender with the Tasty Publisher add-on driving saves, versions, render paths, and publishes.

1. Project init - place STEP/STP source in 00_in/cad/, convert to Blender in 00_in/3d_model/. Projects live on LucidLink at Volumes/video-working/team/amc/cgi/_projects/[year]/....
2. Model (asset build + modeling) - build the base mesh, refine topology, optimize geometry.
3. Look dev - materials, UVs, textures, shaders.
4. Layout - position models, set up and name cameras, compose shots.
5. Lighting - key lights, HDRI, mood, shadows. All final catalog images are rendered from this stage, from the published file - always.
6. Render - Set Render Path, then render. Outputs land in 02_renders/....
7. Review - renders go to Iconik for PM review; revisions loop back as new versions.

Optional/contextual stages: previz, animation (shot-based, sh010…), camera solve (integrating CG into a real plate), and 360° turntables.

The env (environment) and pro (product) branches stay separated through the entire pipeline.

Special case: the catalog 7-camera stills

The lighting file for a catalog product holds 7 static cameras, each bound to a marker. Rendering frames 1-7 produces seven distinct stills (not an animation). After publishing and rendering, the stills are handed to the Design/PPID team. See Cross-team handoffs and the deep how-to in Blender + Tasty Publisher.

Reference

• File naming conventions - render filename pattern, scene/shot/version rules.
• Folder structures - the CGI project layout (00_in / 01_working / 02_renders / 03_out).
• Automation ecosystem - how Monday, MIFFED, Iconik, and LucidLink connect.

Deep how-to

• Blender + Tasty Publisher
  • the full Save Work / Version Up / Set Render Path / Publish workflow, stage by stage, with render-name decoding and the 7-camera case.
• Tasty Publisher setup - install, configure, verify the add-on.

Definition of done

The renders subitem is Approved in Iconik (structural integrity confirmed), and approved catalog stills are copied to graphix-working.wac/product_images/images/renders for the Design/PPID team.