Academy Software Foundation Expands with New Members Ahead of Open Source Days — The Linux Foundation

Event summary

Academy Software Foundation (ASWF) adds CIQ as Premier Member, Evercast as General Member, and Rochester Institute of Technology as Associate Member.
Open Source Days event scheduled for July 19–20, 2026 in Los Angeles alongside SIGGRAPH 2026.
DreamWorks Animation CTO Bill Ballew to keynote on MoonRay's development journey from DreamWorks' Dragons to ASWF.

The big picture

The Academy Software Foundation continues to strengthen its position as the leading open source hub for motion picture, visual effects, and animation industries. The addition of new members ahead of Open Source Days underscores the growing importance of collaborative development in an era where AI is transforming production pipelines. With 22 projects under its umbrella, ASWF is well-positioned to shape the future of digital content creation through open standards and shared resources.

What we're watching

Industry Collaboration: How the addition of CIQ, Evercast, and RIT will impact the technical direction and governance of ASWF.
Open Source Adoption: The pace at which academic institutions like RIT can accelerate the adoption of open source tools in media production pipelines.
Technical Innovation: Whether ASWF's expanded membership will drive significant advancements in render farm infrastructure and real-time review tools.