Because compiling professional VFX tooling on Windows shouldn't require a build engineer.
Open RV is the open-source, high-performance image and sequence viewer built for VFX, animation, and post-production review. It is a project of the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF) — the same foundation behind OpenColorIO, OpenEXR, OpenTimelineIO, and USD.
RV has a long and storied history in the industry:
- Originally created by Tweak Software as a professional playback and review tool prized for its color-accurate, frame-perfect, high-framerate playback.
- Acquired by Autodesk, where it shipped commercially as part of the ShotGrid (formerly Shotgun) creative review pipeline for years.
- In 2022, Autodesk generously open-sourced RV and donated it to the Academy Software Foundation, giving the entire industry free access to a battle-tested review tool that studios had relied on for over a decade.
- Today, Open RV is developed in the open by the community, targeting the annual VFX Reference Platform so it stays interoperable with the rest of the modern production stack.
Official project: https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/OpenRV Official docs: https://aswf-openrv.readthedocs.io/
Open RV is a fantastic tool — but building it from source on Windows is genuinely hard if you aren't a seasoned build engineer.
The official Windows build requires you to correctly install and align a long chain of exacting dependencies: a specific MSVC toolset (14.40), Python 3.11.8, Qt 6.5.3 with a precise set of modules, CMake pinned to the 3.x line, Strawberry Perl, NASM, MSYS2 with the right pacman packages, Rust, and more — and then navigate the well-known gotchas (FFmpeg failing to find OpenSSL via pkg-config, CMake 4 rejecting older dependencies, long-path limits, and so on).
For a VFX artist or a small studio running Windows, that's a big ask. You want to use the tool, not spend a day debugging a toolchain.
This project fixes that. Install-And-Build-OpenRV.ps1 is a single, well-commented PowerShell script that:
- Provisions a clean Windows 10/11 machine with every dependency Open RV needs — no Docker, a native host build.
- Pins everything to the VFX Reference Platform CY2024 (Python 3.11.8 / Qt 6.5.3 / MSVC 14.40) exactly as the official docs specify.
- Clones and compiles Open RV for you, following the official Windows setup steps.
- Automatically works around the common, hard-to-diagnose build failures (OpenSSL pkg-config files for FFmpeg, CMake policy compatibility, stale dependency state, and more).
- Optionally packages a polished Windows
.msiinstaller — so you can hand your artists a real double-click install with Start Menu and Desktop shortcuts.
The goal is simple: make Open RV accessible to every artist and small studio on Windows, without needing to be a compiler wizard.
| Turnkey provisioning | Installs Chocolatey, VS Build Tools + MSVC 14.40/14.39, Python 3.11.8, Qt 6.5.3, CMake 3.31, MSYS2, Rust, NASM, and everything else — automatically. |
| Reference-platform accurate | Targets VFX Reference Platform CY2024, matching the official Open RV requirements. |
| Self-healing build | Detects and fixes classic pitfalls (FFmpeg/OpenSSL pkg-config, CMake 4 policy issues, half-built dependency state). |
| Optional MSI installer | Builds a signed-ready .msi with WiX Toolset, including shortcuts and clean major-upgrade behavior. |
| Re-runnable & modular | -SkipInstall, -SkipBuild, and -CreateMsi flags let you install tools, (re)build, or repackage independently. |
| Fully logged | Captures the full build to C:\dev\openrv-build.log and surfaces the first root-cause error, not just the final cascade. |
Run PowerShell as Administrator. The script installs system-wide tooling and enables Windows features.
# 1. Right-click PowerShell → "Run as administrator"
# 2. Allow the script to run for this session
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
# 3. Run it
.\Install-And-Build-OpenRV.ps1That's it. Grab a coffee — a full build downloads several GB and compiles a lot of code, so expect it to take a while on the first run.
When it finishes, your freshly built viewer lives at:
C:\OpenRV\_build\stage\app\bin\rv.exe
# Build a specific Open RV version instead of the default (main)
.\Install-And-Build-OpenRV.ps1 -OpenRVRef v3.0.0
# Only install the toolchain (don't build)
.\Install-And-Build-OpenRV.ps1 -SkipBuild
# Only (re)build — skip re-installing tools
.\Install-And-Build-OpenRV.ps1 -SkipInstall
# Full run, then package a Windows .msi installer
.\Install-And-Build-OpenRV.ps1 -CreateMsi
# Repackage an EXISTING build as a new MSI version
.\Install-And-Build-OpenRV.ps1 -SkipInstall -SkipBuild -CreateMsi -ProductVersion 1.1.0| Parameter | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
-OpenRVRef |
main |
Git ref (branch, tag, or SHA) of Open RV to build. |
-SourceDir |
C:\OpenRV |
Where Open RV is cloned/built (kept at drive root for short paths). |
-PythonVersion |
3.11.8 |
Python version (VFX Reference Platform CY2024). |
-QtVersion |
6.5.3 |
Qt version to install via aqtinstall. |
-SkipInstall |
(off) | Skip dependency installation. |
-SkipBuild |
(off) | Skip cloning/compiling Open RV. |
-CreateMsi |
(off) | Build a .msi installer after (or instead of) compiling. |
-ProductVersion |
4.0.0 |
Version stamped into the MSI (major.minor.build). |
-MsiOutputDir |
C:\dev\installer |
Where the generated .msi is written. |
Small studios often want to build once and then deploy to many workstations. After a successful build, produce a double-click installer:
.\Install-And-Build-OpenRV.ps1 -SkipInstall -SkipBuild -CreateMsi -ProductVersion 4.0.0The resulting .msi includes Start Menu + Desktop shortcuts, a proper Add/Remove Programs entry, and clean upgrade behavior so a newer version cleanly replaces an older one.
The MSI step uses the WiX Toolset v3, which requires .NET Framework 3.5. The script enables it automatically — but on some machines Windows needs a reboot before the feature takes effect. If so, the script tells you exactly what to do.
- Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)
- PowerShell 5.1+ run as Administrator
- A solid internet connection (the toolchain and dependencies are several GB)
- Plenty of free disk space (a full source build is large)
Everything else — compilers, Python, Qt, CMake, MSYS2, Rust, etc. — is installed for you.
- Something needs a reboot — If the script warns that a package (or .NET 3.5) requires a reboot, reboot and re-run with
-SkipInstall(and-SkipBuildif the build already succeeded). - Build failed — Check
C:\dev\openrv-build.log. The script also prints the first error lines, which are usually the true root cause. - Retry a build manually — Open an MSYS2 MinGW64 shell and run:
cd /c/OpenRV && source rvcmds.sh && rvmk
Found a rough edge or a new Windows build gotcha? Issues and pull requests are welcome. The script is heavily commented specifically so others can understand why each workaround exists.
This repository contains build automation for Open RV — it is not Open RV itself.
- Open RV is © its contributors and the Academy Software Foundation, released under its own open-source license. Please refer to the official Open RV repository for its license terms.
- Huge thanks to Tweak Software, Autodesk, and the ASWF community for creating and open-sourcing this incredible tool.
*Made to help artists and small studios on Windows spend less time compiling — and more time reviewing. *