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Event Spotlight
A Rewarding Journey The animated short Picchu highlights the beauty and educational challenges of Ecuador.
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roduced end-to-end by a geographically distributed creative team using Amazon Nimble Studio, the animated short Picchu follows the journey of an Andean girl named Mayu and the unconditional support of her mother. Written and directed by Amaru Zeas, the short follows Mayu’s challenging journey as she must rely on her determination and her mother’s teachings to overcome her fears and doubts to fulfill her destiny. Set to pan flute music against the backdrop of the Andes Mountains, Picchu was brought to life by creative studio FuzzyPixel, which produced the project in nine months with a small geographically distributed team using Amazon Nimble Studio. “In so many ways, Picchu is a reflection of my own story, and how my mom encouraged me to serve and inspire others with my work,” shared Ecuador native Zeas. “I’m proud of my culture, but also know Ecuador’s struggles in education. Picchu is about overcoming your fears with strength and determination to access education in an unequal society.”
Nimble Venture Picchu is the second film created by FuzzyPixel and its first project to fully leverage Amazon Nimble Studio, which provides an end-to-end creative pipeline on Amazon Web Services (AWS). As a creative team within AWS, the artists are the first users of cutting-edge
cloud-based solutions, and their feedback informs development initiatives. Their experiences also shape tutorial content to better guide users through various aspects of the technology. “Picchu is both a creative and technical achievement,” says AWS Animation Producer Jennifer Dahlman. “From the embroidery details on Mayu’s poncho, to the native plants that change as she journeys through different elevations, special attention was paid to honor the location in which it is set. At the same time, we’re pushing the technology and experimenting with how we structure our production workflows — experiments that larger and more established teams can’t afford to take. It’s an exciting time to be at AWS.” Artists began Picchu asset development in July 2021 using Linux- and Windows-based virtual workstations powered by Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) G4dn instances. Centralized storage on Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) enabled the globally dispersed team to collaborate using
the same data and environments. Open source tool Blender served as the primary creative application, alongside Autodesk Maya, Foundry’s Nuke, Pixologic’s ZBrush and Adobe’s Substance Painter. To further support open source initiatives, FuzzyPixel opted to make Picchu Blender assets available for artists to use in their own workflows, at no cost. “We used different tools to fit the style and story, but we also wanted to push Blender to its limits within a real-world production context on Amazon Nimble Studio,” explains Jason Schleifer, FuzzyPixel Principal Creative Director. “We are big fans of the Blender Foundation’s mission to empower creators around the world, and enjoyed the opportunity to dive deep with this production.” For cultural authenticity, Zeas enlisted Ecuadorian musicians to develop the short’s soundscape. Local instruments are complemented by ambient environmental noise that adjusts based on the altitude of Mayu. Adding to the authenticity, Zeas’ mother voiced Mayu’s mother in the film and provided cultural guidance, while
“In so many ways, Picchu is a reflection of my own story, and how my mom encouraged me to serve and inspire others with my work.” — Writer-director Amaru Zeas
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august 22
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