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Fluxx

Pipeline Architecture

Fluxx is built on five architectural primitives that do not exist as a coherent unit anywhere else in the industry. Each primitive is load-bearing. The combination is the moat.

The five primitives compose into a single workflow that runs from camera sensor to final composite. Productions own the pipeline; vendors plug in as participants rather than gatekeepers; the wall is a peripheral. The architecture is described in Fluxx_Pipeline_Architecture_v0.1.md and the Fluxx_Pipeline_Architecture_Whitepaper_v0.1.md. The patent surface is in 04_Fluxx_Shared/_Master_Canon/Q-G/Q-G38_ComposiTrack_IP.md and Q-G4_FTO_Megapixel_Patents.md.

1. Capture-time clean key (ComposiTrack)

ComposiTrack runs at the LED wall display level and produces three sub-frames as first-class capture artifacts: ChromaTrack (final-image feed), ContentTrack (derived matte), CompensationTrack (compensation pass). In the microsecond between the display frames the human eye sees, the wall flashes a chroma-shifted version of the same background image, where the shift is to the average color of the plate background, not a saturated green or blue. The camera captures both the lit scene as displayed and the chroma-shifted reference. The difference between the two captured frames is a mathematically perfect matte. No green spill, no blue spill, no lighting compromise.

The plate that comes off the camera is already clean because the matte is derived from the same capture inside the pipeline. Every existing pipeline assumes keying happens after camera, in post; ComposiTrack moves the keying decision into capture itself. The novelty is that the keying color is derived from the plate itself.

Patent surface. Nine novel claims filed end of March 2026. FTO analysis clears against the Megapixel patents (see Q-G4). The patent’s legal filing uses ChromaTrack; ComposiTrack is the canonical product name across all Fluxx surfaces per Q-G88.

Where it lives in the build plan. Cat 3 (Fluxx Automate) carries the ComposiTrack on-set workflow as a Norman V7 deliverable (M2 ComposiTrack On-Set Workflow, M3.5 Unreal nDisplay post-process shader). The three sub-frames live in the Vault as first-class Representations with the IProvenancePlugin interface attaching origin metadata. See Development > Build Categories > Cat 3.

Cross-references: Q-G3 ComposiTrack sub-frame architecture, Q-G38 ComposiTrack IP, Q-G88 canonical name.

2. Split compute (Warp + Fabrixx, both layers equal)

Two compute layers operate in parallel with equal weight, not on-set-with-cloud-as-backup. Warp is mobile liquid-cooled enterprise compute (10x NVIDIA RTX Pro 6000 GPUs in 5 flight cases, SMPTE 2110 transport) sized for crew-flow only: drives the LED wall real-time renderer, handles ComposiTrack sub-frame processing in-line, absorbs camera-layer feeds. Fabrixx is GPU virtual machines that receive proxy plus lens data, brute-force render passes at quality, apply the pre-comp recipe in Nuke, and return Near-Time PostViz back to set in 30 to 60 minutes at quarter resolution. The overnight high-res brute-force render produces the final pixel.

Differs from standard pipeline because traditional VFX-on-prem render boxes are sized by shot count; Warp is sized by stage geometry, camera count, and real-time renderer load. The capital does not concentrate on the wall; it concentrates in Fabrixx where the render economics actually live.

Where it lives in the build plan. Cat 2 (Fabrixx Virtual Cloud Infrastructure) owns the cloud-side VM provisioning, multi-tenant VPC topology, TPN-audit envelope. Cat 1 (DCC Pipeline Framework) owns the connector layer that talks to both Warp and Fabrixx. See Build Categories > Cat 2.

Cross-references: Q-G49 Compute Architecture, Q-G52 No real-time render in delivery pipeline, 02_Working/Strategy/Company_Overview/Compute_Architecture_Source_2026_05_03.md.

3. Content-addressed Vault (Fluxx Vault)

The Vault is the system of record for assets, plates, renders, and provenance. Content-addressed at the storage tier: asset identity is a hash, not a file system path. Storage backends are abstracted (S3, GCS, Azure Blob); Vault does not assume a single backend.

Provenance is a first-class field at every Version: camera origin (sensor, lens, takes, timecode), AI origin (prompt, seed, model, model_version, LoRA, generation_timestamp, generation_tool, parent_asset_id), pipeline origin (which render pass, which agent, which artist), and C2PA Content Credentials pass-through. The C2PA layer is table stakes for EU AI Act Article 50 (August 2 2026 deadline); Fluxx productions meet disclosure obligations by default.

Differs from standard approach because incumbent asset libraries hard-code file system semantics in their load and publish code paths. Making the file path an S3 URL would require rewriting every plugin. Vault is the Fluxx-native substrate; the architectural rail “no third-party at the core” is written about this substrate.

Where it lives in the build plan. Cat 3 (Fluxx Automate) owns the Vault entity model, schema redesign, and provenance ingestion. Cat 1 (DCC Pipeline Framework) integrates the load and publish paths. See Build Categories > Cat 3.

Cross-references: Q-G18 AI Provenance Stance, Q-G50 AI Human Likeness Policy, Q-G80 Fluxx Automate Orchestration Module.

4. Two-track finish through one workflow (Near-Time + Near-Time VFX)

Every shot enters one of two finishing tracks after the on-stage Near-Time PostViz checkpoint. Both tracks ride the same Fabrixx pipeline upstream: same render, same metadata, same Fluxx Vault.

Near-Time track. The overnight high-res render is the deliverable. Light comp finish, ship. Carries the bulk of runtime on any show. If changes are needed later, the shot reopens cleanly without roto recovery (the ComposiTrack clean-key plate plus the pre-comp recipe plus the USD scene graph all stay live and re-renderable after first delivery).

Near-Time VFX track. Same render picked up for hero finishing on the heaviest creative work (full CG creatures, complex destruction, character VFX, story-beat shots). Slap comp at 80 to 90 percent final, director call, polish via Agentic Sequence Assist propagation across the sequence, comp review, delivery.

Type of show and type of shot decide which track a shot rides on, not the shoot type and not the budget. The workflow is identical across LED, green screen, and practical location. Per-shot track assignment is a Vault-side field. Shots can flip tracks mid-pipeline without leaving the system.

Differs from standard approach because incumbent pipeline managers have no per-shot finish-track primitive in their entity model. The “shot opens back up cleanly” reopen semantic requires that the substrate (ComposiTrack plate, pre-comp recipe, USD scene graph) be live and re-renderable; it is a substrate property, not a workflow property.

Where it lives in the build plan. Cat 3 (Fluxx Automate) owns the per-shot finish_track field and the ITrackAssignPlugin interface. Cat 1 owns the DCC connector layer that consumes finish-track assignment. See Build Categories > Cat 3.

Cross-references: Q-G45 Two Finishing Tracks, Q-G47 Two Finishing Tracks, Q-G31 Capture To Delivery Workflow.

5. Pipeline-owned VM lifecycle

The pipeline service owns VM provisioning, teardown, and attribution. VM provisioning is the lifecycle event: bundle resolution, addon distribution, DCC license attachment, tenant identity injection all happen at provision time. The DCC runs inside the Fabrixx VM, not on the artist’s box; the artist remotes in via PCoIP or NICE DCV topology.

The pipeline emits vm.provision_requested, vm.provisioned, vm.session_started, vm.context_changed, vm.teardown_requested, vm.teardown as first-class persistent events. Plugins react via on_vm_provisioned and on_vm_teardown hooks.

Differs from standard pipeline approach because AYON, ShotGrid, and OpenPype all assume a long-lived host. Their launchers do not provision VMs; there is no addon-side hook for VM lifecycle. Owning provisioning is also the anchor for per-VM-hour cost attribution at the multi-tenant tier (every VM provision is a billable event in Fluxx Cloud).

Where it lives in the build plan. Cat 2 (Fabrixx Virtual Cloud Infrastructure) owns the VM lifecycle service. Cat 4 (Agentic Build Assist) integrates VM lifecycle hooks into the plugin SDK as a Fluxx-native extension over the AYON Port catalogue. See AYON Port / Reject for what is ported and what is rejected.

How the primitives compose

The five primitives operate as a single workflow.

  1. Pre-production builds the viz cascade (TechViz, LightViz, CompViz) which produces the lighting recipe Fabrixx renders against and the Nuke script that auto-assembles render passes.
  2. On shoot day, Warp drives the LED wall and the camera captures three ComposiTrack sub-frames in parallel.
  3. Fluxx Automate absorbs the capture and routes the sub-frames into the Vault as first-class entities with provenance attached.
  4. Fabrixx spins up VMs (lifecycle owned by the pipeline service), renders at quality, applies the pre-comp recipe in Nuke, and returns Near-Time PostViz to set in 30 to 60 minutes.
  5. Overnight high-res render produces final pixel into the Vault.
  6. Per-shot finish-track assignment routes the shot to Near-Time track (light comp, ship) or Near-Time VFX track (hero finishing).
  7. Vendors plug in via three modes (Lead vendor inside Fabrixx, loan-out of named artists, or scope-defined builds) without owning the pipeline.

The chain runs identically regardless of shoot type. The wall is a peripheral.

Open architectural decisions (gate v0.2)

Per Fluxx_Pipeline_Architecture_v0.1.md §10, the following decisions are not yet locked:

  • Vault USD posture: native or aware (USD as one possible Representation format)
  • Multi-tenant VPC topology: per-tenant or shared with tagging
  • Per-shot cost attribution algorithm (naive proportional, weighted by pass cost, or fully provider-priced)
  • DCC integration priority list for v0.1 (Nuke + Unreal + Maya working assumption)
  • Plugin SDK scope at v0.1 (public for third-party studios or internal-only with public v1.0)
  • Pre-comp recipe serialization format (Nuke fragment, USD layer, custom JSON)
  • v0.1 render farm manager (Deadline, Tractor, Royal Render, Fluxx-native)
  • Specific GPU cloud provider stack pick (Q-G49 §7 parked)
  • Velvet to Fluxx-pipeline cover relationship
  • Post-delivery archive plus reopen plus life-of-IP semantics (Q-G26 + Q-G45 open list)

Audience visibility

industry, investor, vendor, counsel.