SideFX Announces New Partnership Designed to Transform Synthetic Data for AI
Endava has announced a groundbreaking strategic partnership with SideFX, a leader in Houdini 3D procedural animation and visual effects software, aimed at revolutionizing the creation and deployment of synthetic data for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) applications within the realm of Computer Vision.
This collaboration promises to enable artists and developers to generate highly diverse and realistic data sets in Houdini, complete with pixel-perfect ground truth annotations that replicate complex real-world environments. Such advancements are particularly critical for industries such as manufacturing line inspection, autonomous vehicle training, and other advanced simulations where precision and realism are essential for driving innovation.
Synthetic data, crafted meticulously by skilled artists using visual effects tools, simulates realistic, high-quality images and environments. This visual synthetic data, encompassing images, videos, and 3D model data, is crucial for scenarios where human labeling or annotation of real-world images is impractical, complex, or downright impossible.
The partnership highlights the intersection of visual effects and data science, merging technical artistry with machine learning expertise to unlock AI-driven capabilities for understanding visual information. This union combines Endava’s prowess in generating high-quality synthetic data and expertise in building production-ready machine learning models, with SideFX’s renowned VFX software suite for simulation and procedural content creation.
At the partnership’s core is a mutual commitment to empowering teams that build AI-powered computer vision systems. It aims to provide more accessible, efficient, and scalable workflows, enabling artists, developers, and data scientists to maximize the effectiveness of synthetic data solutions.
Originally devised by the AI Vision team at Endava, SideFX Labs now publishes a suite of tools designed to generate dataset variations and annotations tailored for training Computer Vision models.
Judith Crow, VP Strategic Partnerships at SideFX, remarked, “Endava’s robust synthetic data expertise will help us work even closer with studios that rely on Houdini to address their computer vision production challenges. As we continue to build on the foundation of Endava’s synthetic data tools, artists will become more efficient in creating training datasets through a standardized framework that seamlessly integrates into existing workflows.”
She added, “This collaboration with Endava not only makes sense on a technical level, but it is also closely aligned with our ethos and core values. Balancing innovation with integrity is an essential part of what we do, and Endava’s customer-centric vision helps us empower artists and revolutionize the world of visual simulation and visualization together.”
Jon Hanzelka, Global SVP & Head of Synthetic Data at Endava, commented, “Artists continue to play a critical role in the advancement of AI and machine learning. The ability to create realistic, high-quality synthetic data is directly tied to their skills and expertise in content creation, proceduralism, and simulation. Given these skills are essential to building better machine learning models, it’s important that artists feel empowered to contribute directly to the development of production-ready AI systems and have the right tools to do so. Working with SideFX to make this a reality is both exciting and rewarding.”
The collaboration between these two industry leaders marks a significant step towards innovation in synthetic data creation, ensuring more robust AI and ML systems. Their combined resources and expertise are set to transform the technology landscape, unlocking new potentials for AI-driven visual understanding and simulation.
