Ahmed Hindy

VFX Pipeline TD

Ahmed Hindy

Cairo, Egypt

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Overview

Pipeline Technical Director

I build pipelines and cross-DCC workflows for VFX and animation.

5+ years in VFX, with 3+ years focused on pipeline development.

I started as an FX artist before moving into pipeline development. That background gives me practical experience with artists and the problems they face in production every day.
In my free time, I tinker with C++ game mods, small Rust apps, Vue.js, self-hosted Docker homelabs, and local LLMs.

Departments supported
FX, Character, Groom, Lighting and Compositing.

Selected public tools.

Featured tools

USD Optimize App interface showing the Safe Cleanup workflow and scene hierarchy

USD Optimize App

Standalone CLI and GUI for inspecting, validating, and optimizing OpenUSD stages.

  • OpenUSD
  • Optimization
  • NVIDIA
  • PySide6
  • CLI
Universal Scene Converter format cycle between OpenUSD, FBX, OBJ, STL, and glTF

Universal Scene Converter

Standalone CLI for converting between OpenUSD, FBX, OBJ, STL, and glTF files.

  • OpenUSD
  • FBX
  • OBJ
  • STL
  • glTF
  • CLI
Kitsu running from the production Docker stack

Kitsu Docker Prod

Production-style Kitsu deployment with separated services, persistent data, and automated backups.

  • Docker
  • Kitsu
  • Postgres
  • Traefik
  • Pipeline
RenderKit image sequence conversion interface

RenderKit

Image-sequence conversion tool with burn-ins and contact-sheet support.

  • PySide6
  • OpenImageIO
  • OpenColorIO
  • FFmpeg

h_denoise_utils

Standalone denoising GUI with bundled OptiX and OIDN, including multi-AOV EXR support.

  • Nvidia
  • OptiX
  • CLI
  • Intel
  • OIDN
  • PySide6
  • EXR

Pipeline work grounded in real production problems.

2023 - Present / Trend VFX

Pipeline TD

Designed and maintained hybrid USD publishing and render handoff workflows used across FX, Lighting, and Character departments. Built Python tools, PySide/PyQt interfaces, HDAs, and utilities for validation, render submission, asset handoff, and production debugging across Houdini, Solaris, Maya, Deadline, and PDG.

2022 - 2024 / Trend VFX

Houdini FX TD

Created Houdini FX work for photoreal projects using pyro, RBD, POP particles, vellum, muscle, and crowds. That background helps me build pipeline tools with a practical understanding of artist scenes, caches, render errors, and handoff problems.

2021 - 2022 / Freelance

FX Artist

Delivered Houdini FX work for international clients, with a focus on clean setups, reliable caches, and production-ready simulation results.

More tools

Utilities, infrastructure, and side projects.

Pipeline / USD utilities

Kitsu dashboard open in the Kitsu Desktop application

Kitsu Desktop

Windows desktop client for artists using Kitsu, with connection checks and system-tray actions.

  • Tauri
  • TypeScript
  • Kitsu
  • Desktop
Substance Painter USD Creator plugin interface

Substance Painter USD Creator

Substance Painter plugin for publishing layered USD assets.

  • USD
  • Substance Painter
  • Materials
  • Publishing
Arnold OBJ light to USD translator running in Houdini Solaris

Houdini / USD Utilities

Houdini/Solaris utilities including an Arnold OBJ light to USD translator.

  • Houdini
  • Solaris
  • USD
  • Arnold
  • Artist Tools

Materials Processor

Material ingestion and conversion tool for standardizing networks across USD and MaterialX.

  • Houdini
  • USD
  • MaterialX
  • Arnold
  • Redshift

USD Scene Audit

OpenUSD audit tools for mesh naming, hierarchy, materials, and layer structure.

  • Python
  • OpenUSD
  • SanityCheck
  • CLI

hou-scene-inspector

Houdini .hip inspector for reading node data.

  • Python
  • Houdini
  • HIP Files
  • Parser
  • CLI

Infrastructure & experiments

Homelab / Local LLMs

Docker-based homelab for self-hosted tools and local LLM workflows.

  • Docker
  • Homelab
  • Local LLMs
  • Self-hosting

Side quests

Hitman ItemSpawner

Hitman 3 mod for spawning items in-game, built on top of ZHM Mod SDK.

  • C++
  • ZHMModSDK

Tools and workflows I use in production.

Core strengths

  • Python
  • Qt / PySide6 / PyQt6
  • Houdini
  • Solaris
  • USD
  • Publishing
  • Validation
  • Deadline
  • PDG
  • Artist-facing tools
  • Production debugging
  • Documentation

Production working knowledge

  • Maya
  • AYON
  • Kitsu
  • MaterialX
  • Arnold
  • RenderMan
  • Redshift
  • Rendering
  • Farm support
  • Git
  • Cross-DCC handoff

Supporting / side experience

  • Docker
  • SQLite
  • Postgres
  • Bash
  • Basic C++
  • Basic Rust
  • C#
  • Unreal Engine basics
  • JavaScript / Vue enthusiast

Let's talk pipeline, tools, and production workflows.

I am open to Pipeline TD, Houdini Pipeline TD, USD Pipeline Developer, and DCC Tools Developer roles, especially on teams building practical tools for artists and production.

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