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Fluxx

Vendor Integration Path

Vendors plug into a Near-Time pipeline in one of three modes: lead vendor inside Fabrixx, loan-out of named artists, or scope-defined builds across the wall. The vendor keeps its creative identity and its brand on the show. Pipeline ownership migrates to the production. Choice of mode is per show, per shot, or per vendor relationship, set by the production’s needs. The brand stays on the show; the pipeline and the data don’t.

The three modes

Vendors integrate with a Near-Time pipeline in one of three modes. Productions choose per show, per shot, or per vendor relationship. The modes are not mutually exclusive across a single production.

Mode 1, Lead vendor inside Fabrixx

The production designates one vendor as the lead. The vendor’s artists log into the production’s Fabrixx virtual machines for the duration. Work happens inside the production’s perimeter, not the vendor’s. The vendor’s bespoke pipeline does not apply on this show. The Vault, the asset library, the version history, and the review flow are all production-side. The vendor’s name stays on the show, and the vendor’s VFX supervisor anchors the creative. When the show ends, the vendor’s people walk back to the vendor’s office. The work stays.

This is the mode for shows where one VFX supervisor’s creative authority is the architecture, common for tentpoles where a director-supervisor relationship is core to the project.

Mode 2, Loan-out of named artists

The show runs an internal team (freelance, vendor-loaned, or a mix), and the vendor loans out specific named artists into that team. A lighting lead, an FX lead, a CG supervisor, a comp lead. The artists join the production’s core team on the call sheet for the duration of the show, work inside Fabrixx alongside the show’s core crew, and return to their home vendor at wrap.

The relationship is staffing, not procurement. The production gets specific named talent without taking on the vendor’s full pipeline overhead. The vendor’s brand is preserved as the place where world-class artists keep their day-job homes.

Mode 3, Scope-defined builds

The vendor takes a defined slice of the work (environments, creature builds, FX simulation, specialty CG, hero asset construction) and delivers a near-final, look-developed handoff across the wall into Fluxx Vault. The vendor most likely does the initial work inside its own pipeline, where its tooling and R&D investment already live. Once assets cross the wall into Fabrixx, they never return. The production’s team picks them up from there for final integration. Even when scope is outsourced after the wall crossing, that outsourced work happens inside Fabrixx’s Virtual Studio, not on vendor infrastructure.

This is the mode for the kind of work that benefits from a specialised house’s deep R&D: Weta-style creature work, MPC-style environment depth, ILM-style CFX history. The vendor delivers the asset; the show finishes the picture.

What the model does not preserve

The administrative middle layer does not survive. Production coordinators, vendor-side VFX producers, file operations between facilities, supervisors managing workflow across time zones, the tissue that exists because work is split across continents at four vendors that don’t share infrastructure. When the production owns the pipeline and the work happens inside one perimeter, that layer is structurally unnecessary. It is most of the headcount at the legacy houses. This is stated as a structural fact of the new model, not as an attack on the old one.

How vendors get plugged in technically

The vendor writes a Fluxx plugin (fluxx_plugin.py manifest, six-folder layout, lifecycle hooks). Out of the box the plugin gets:

  • Authentication and tenant isolation via FLUXX_TENANT_ID and FLUXX_API_KEY injected at VM provision time
  • Vault access via the SDK’s load and publish paths (content-addressed; no file system paths)
  • Event spine subscription, tenant-scoped
  • VM lifecycle hooks (on_vm_provisioned, on_vm_teardown) for pre-warming caches, flushing state
  • AI provenance attachment via IProvenancePlugin
  • Cost attribution via cost.attributable_event events into the multi-tenant cost ledger
  • C2PA Content Credentials pass-through

See Plugin SDK > Vendor Integration Story for the full surface.

Norman / GlassBox as Cat 3 vendor

Norman / GlassBox is the current Cat 3 (Fluxx Automate) vendor for the V7 milestone series. Vendor only, per Q-G89. Not partner, not co-founder, not deferred-comp. Full M1 to M5 timeline at Dev Plan v0.3 > Norman V7.

Where each mode lands in the workflow

ModeWhere it touches the workflow
Lead vendor inside FabrixxAcross the whole production. Artists active in shoot day plus finishing.
Loan-out of named artistsCore team integration; artist follows the call sheet.
Scope-defined buildsAsset delivery into the Vault. Vendor exits when the asset is approved.

Cross-references

  • Plugin SDK (the SDK surface vendors integrate against)
  • Pipeline Architecture (the primitives the SDK exposes)
  • Build Categories (Cat 3 Fluxx Automate where Norman / GlassBox operates)
  • Two Finishing Tracks (finishing-tier vendor work)
  • Q-G44 VFX House Role Recast at 04_Fluxx_Shared/_Master_Canon/Q-G/Q-G44_VFX_House_Role_Recast.md
  • Q-G89 JV Excluded From Fluxx Canon (vendor-only boundary)

Sources

  • 02_Working/Strategy/Company_Overview/Vendor_Recast_Source_2026_05_01.md
  • 02_Working/Strategy/Company_Overview/Gap_5_VFX_Role_Recast_Draft_2026_05_01.md
  • 02_Working/Strategy/Company_Overview/Fluxx_White_Paper_Near_Time_VFX_DRAFT_v0.1.md §4
  • 04_Fluxx_Shared/_Master_Canon/Q-G/Q-G44_VFX_House_Role_Recast.md

Audience visibility

industry, vendor, sales, investor, counsel.