Raynault VFX and Stability AI Join the Academy Software Foundation

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Academy Software Foundation is pleased to welcome two new member companies: Raynault VFX and Stability AI. Joining the Foundation as General Members, Raynault VFX and Stability AI will each play an important role in continued open source development across new areas in visual effects and generative AI.

David Morin, Executive Director of the Academy Software Foundation, shared: "As our open source community continues to grow, we are grateful for our member companies who provide operational support and guidance. As new members, Raynault VFX and Stability AI bring with them the artistic talent and the technical know-how that will help strengthen open source development in the motion picture industry. We are thrilled that Raynault VFX and Stability AI are joining the Foundation!"

Founded in 2011, Raynault VFX is a premiere visual effects studio located in Montreal, Canada, known for its work across feature films and television shows including Deadpool & Wolverine, The Mandalorian, Dune: Prophecy, and Thor: Love and Thunder. The studio strongly believes in the values of collaboration and inclusivity that define open source. As a smaller studio, Raynault VFX has always leveraged open source tools to maximize success for its artists, allowing them to focus more on creativity than technological challenges. The studio already uses OpenEXR, OpenColorIO, and OpenImageIO, and is also interested in getting involved with OpenTimelineIO, the Open Review Initiative, and the USD Working Group. By joining the Academy Software Foundation, Raynault aims to give back to the open source community, and to more directly contribute toward the advancement and sustainability of its various projects.

"Raynault VFX is joining the Academy Software Foundation to contribute to the advancement of open source technologies that drive innovation in the visual effects industry," shared Simon Ouellet, CTO at Raynault VFX. "As a boutique studio dedicated to technical excellence, we believe that collaborating with the Foundation will help shape more efficient VFX workflows while maintaining the highest artistic standards."

Stability AI is a global leader in Generative AI, developing cutting-edge open models in image, video, 3D, and audio, as well as professional applications designed for enterprise-grade visual media creation. Best known for its Stable Diffusion model, first released in August 2022, Stability AI's models are used by creators, developers, and enterprises alike, with over 260 million downloads and counting. Stability AI has also been recognized as one of Fortune's 50 AI Innovators and as one of Time's Most Influential Companies. Additionally, Stable Audio was featured on TIME's list of the Best Inventions of 2023. Its leadership team includes Sean Parker as Executive Chairman, Prem Akkaraju as CEO, and James Cameron as Board Member.

Joining the Academy Software Foundation was a natural step for Stability AI, as it works to ensure that its Generative AI models can seamlessly integrate into existing production pipelines, workflows, and tools. By making its models openly available, users are able to adapt them for diverse applications and drive new innovations in visual media and beyond.

Hanno Basse, Chief Technology Officer of Stability AI, said, "We're excited to join the Academy Software Foundation, an organization that shares a similar ethos to Stability AI in advancing open source innovation for content creation. Stability AI is built on an open-first approach, releasing all of our foundational models openly across image, video, 3D, and audio. This approach has fostered a large and loyal developer community, continuously expanding our models with new tools and functionality. Through our collaboration with the Academy Software Foundation, we look forward to further strengthening the open source ecosystem."

The Academy Software Foundation welcomes new members to support its mission of fostering a healthy open source ecosystem. To learn about more about becoming a member, visit https://www.aswf.io/join/

About Academy Software Foundation
Developed in partnership by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Linux Foundation, the Academy Software Foundation was created to provide a world-class home for open source software developers in the motion picture and broader media industries to share resources and collaborate on technologies for image creation, visual effects, animation and sound. The Academy Software Foundation is home to DPEL, MaterialX, OpenAssetIO, OpenColorIO, OpenCue, OpenEXR, OpenFX, OpenImageIO, Open Shading Language, OpenTimelineIO, OpenVDB, Open Review Initiative, OpenAPV, rawtoaces, and Rez. For more information about the Academy Software Foundation, visit https://www.aswf.io/.

Media Contact:
Emily Olin
Academy Software Foundation
[email protected]

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SOURCE Academy Software Foundation