The Academy Software Foundation, in conjunction with the Visual Effects Society’s Technology Committee, today announced its new Wayland for Artists Working Group. Wayland is a modern display server protocol for Linux that replaces its legacy X Window System (X11) protocol, aiming to be easier to develop and maintain. The Working Group will provide a neutral industry-wide forum to explore this change and its effects on the VFX and animation industry, and to ultimately ensure the long-term viability of Linux as the premier platform for professional VFX and animation artists.
“As the Linux desktop is evolving to replace its underlying aging X11 display system with Wayland, the goal of our Working Group is to explore and understand the impact that this shift will have on the professional workstations used by many studios and artists in our industry,” said Nick Cannon, Chair of the VES Technology Committee and SVP Production & Technology at Walt Disney Animation Studios. “Right now our industry doesn’t yet understand the full impact of this transition on high-end content creation applications – whether open source, commercial, or proprietary – as well as the high performance remote access solutions so critical to modern workflows. This Working Group will bring together stakeholders from across the community to better understand this evolution and plan the best path forward.”
The Wayland for Artists Working Group will explore a range of industry-specific areas that may be impacted, including graphics tablet support, window management, input focus, key bindings, desktop customization, remote access solutions, GPU acceleration, color management, High Dynamic Range displays, and compatibility with commercial, open source, and in-house applications.
Ultimately, the Working Group plans to align stakeholders on a set of shared goals, with a clear roadmap for implementation.
Interested contributors are welcome to join the #wg-wayland channel on the ASWF Slack, and to sign up for our monthly meeting series here: https://www.aswf.io/meeting-calendar/
