Dev
Our pipeline consists of 12+ departments.. It takes that many divisions, hundreds of people, several years and vast computing resources (all adding up to many, many millions of dollars) to make a CG animated movie, that too in stereo.
Summary: "do not try this at home" :)
So what are the various departments that contribute to movie-making at DW?
Purpose: to come up with stories..
Skills: writing, drawing, storyboarding..
Software/other: storyboard panels, china markers, Photoshop, Cintiq, AE..
I: scripts,, imagination
O: story, storyboards
Purpose: refine shots and camera moves [later on, ongoing: assemble movie]
Skills: film editing, stereo principles..
Software: Maya, Avid, AE..
I: shots, images, audio
O: shots, work-in-progress and completed film
Purpose: create look of the movie, characters..
Skills: drawing, painting..
Software/other: Photoshop, traditional media, Maya, Mudbox..
I: storyboards, imagination
O: art related to environments, props, characters
Purpose: create CG models of characters, props, sets..
Skills: drawing, painting, sculpting, CG modeling, miniatures construction..
Software: Maya (might also use Mudbox etc. in the future)
I: character designs, set designs, prop designs..
O: CG models
Purpose: add joints and controls to CG characters to prepare them for animation
Skills: figure drawing, animatronics, puppetry, matrix math..
Software: adb_setup, EMO, `Script^(TM)`, Python
I: skin geometry of chars
O: 'rigged' chars (with animatable controls)
Purpose: create shots (composition) and camera moves
Skills: architecture layout, space planning, cinematograpy, set dressing, camera operation..
Software: Maya, EMO, Motion Builder..
I: CG models
O: shots [collected into sequences] - animatics first, final animation later
Purpose: animate characters (and props too)
Skills: traditional animation, stop motion, sense of timing/pacing, acting..
Software: EMO, Rig
I: animatable characters, geometry
O: animating characters, geometry
Purpose: create crowds (human, animal, insect, bird..)
Skills: animation (esp. cycles), fx..
Software: in-house (eg. 'scatter'), Massive
I: scenes with standin crowds
O: scenes with crowds
Purpose: create "looks" of things and characters
Skills: painting, photography, makeup, shader writing..
Software: adb_paint, Photoshop
I: CG models
O: texture maps, shader networks
Purpose: create backgrounds, set extensions
Skills: painting, set design, scene painting, model construction..
Software: adb_paint, Photoshop, Vue, Maya..
I: artwork, rendered images
O: matte images, 3D matte geometry
Purpose: add character effects (cloth, hair/fur) and secondary animation
Skills: traditional animation, CG scripting, knowledge of math/physics..
Software: Maya (plus plugins), Flexo (in-house)
I: concept art, characters without cfx
O: characters with cfx and secondary deformation/animation
Purpose: add effects to scenes (water, fire, dust, explosions..)
Skills: traditional animation, CG scripting, knowledge of math/physics..
Software: Maya, pa_setup, Houdini..
I: concept art, scenes without fx
O: fx (additional geometry in scenes)
Purpose: add lighting to scenes to create final look
Skills: lighting design, makeup, photography..
Software: 'light'
I: scenes without lighting
O: scenes with lighting (ready to render)
Purpose: layer parts of scenes (image fragments) to create final frames
Skills: green screen, photography, collage..
Software: 'comp' (in-house), Photoshop..
I: scenes in separate layers
O: integrated (single layer) scenes almost ready for filmout
Purpose: do last-minute fixes
Skills: photo touchup, image editing, tracking..
Software: Photoshop
I: scenes with minor visual problems
O: scenes with problems removed :)
Look here for examples of 'before and after'.
Purpose: create films ready to ship/project
Skills: film-recorder knowledge, titling..
Software: Photoshop, Lustre (for color grading) and in-house film-recorder shooting software
I: image sequences
O: completed movie!
In addition to all the 'Production' depts we looked, these additional ones also help with film-making: