,The latest release of OpenRV 3.1.0 isn’t just another incremental update for a playback tool. It lands at a moment where the visual effects and animation industry is quietly reshaping how artists review work, collaborate, and build pipelines that aren’t locked into expensive, proprietary ecosystems.
GIF movies are now supported directly in RV.
It sounds small. But in real production environments, artists often share quick iterations, tests, or slap comps as GIFs. Instead of converting or hacking around formats, you can now just drop them in and review.
File Dialog Gets Real Functionality
RV’s file dialog has grown up.
You can now:
- Create folders
- Delete files
- Rename files or folders
- Refresh directories
Inside the app.
This turns RV from a passive viewer into something more interactive.
Hold and Ghost mode.
Also known as onion skinning.
You can now see previous frames while annotating. That’s huge for:
- Animation reviews
- Roto adjustments
- Paint fixes
- Motion continuity checks
On top of that, there’s now a one-click option to clear all annotations on the timeline.
Anyone who has ever scrubbed through a cluttered review session knows why that matters.
OpenRV 3.1.0 updates core libraries across the board:
- OpenEXR → 3.2.4
- OCIO → 2.3.2
- Python → 3.11.9
- BOOST → 1.82.0
- FFmpeg → 6.1.2
- Qt → 6.5.3
- Blackmagic Design SDK → 14.3
- Flow Production Tracking Toolkit → tk-core v0.22.3
- NDI SDK → 6.2.0
This is not cosmetic.
Updating OpenEXR and OpenColorIO ensures compatibility with modern HDR and color pipelines.Moving to Python 3.11.9 means better performance and future-proof scripting.Qt 6.5.3 keeps the UI aligned with modern platform standards.And FFmpeg 6.1.2 strengthens format support and playback reliability.
Originally, RV was a proprietary media review and playback tool used widely in the VFX and animation industry. It earned a Scientific and Technical Academy Award for enabling high-performance shot review across studios of all sizes.
In 2023, Autodesk took a big step: it open-sourced RV’s codebase on GitHub under the Academy Software Foundation’s (ASWF) Open Review Initiative.
The ASWF Open Review Initiative isn’t just OpenRV alone. It’s a collective effort that includes:
- OpenRV contributed by Autodesk
- xStudio from DNEG
- And upcoming tools like Sony Pictures Imageworks’ itView
Open rv read more here : https://aswf-openrv.readthedocs.io/
