Using referencing has made our pipeline a lot more streamlined and has allowed us to progress in every area of the process at the same time. For example, from the perspective of an animator I can't start animating or blocking our a 3D animatic until the rig is at a certain stage in its development. But by referencing the rig file into the scene, Greg can continue to update the rig while I'm still using it because I'm only referencing the file into the scene and haven't actually opened it. This means that, by reloading the rig when updates are complete, I can begin to use a new features Greg has added onto the rig without losing any animation data I've already created within the scene. It also means that Ollie can continue to work on the model and the weights until a much later stage, meaning that every aspect of the film can remain in a constant state of development until such a time where we begin to render.
Referencing is controlled entirely though the reference editor, where all the files can be managed. If I were to be animating a shot in the office I would need to reference in the rig file, the cubicle and the rest of the office floor. I can also switch each reference on and off without removing it to make the scene lighter and easier to manage. As I use this feature a lot, I create a custom shelf with two shortcuts on it so it saves me a whole two clicks on a mouse. You can't put a price on that really.
Our referencing would run nearly as smoothly if our files weren't all sourced from a communal Dropbox account. Greg gave us all the password to his existing 50GB account a while ago and that is where all of the files for the film are set to.The good thing about that is that, providing everyone has a internet connection, we get notified on screen when a file has been added, updated or removed. So if I see that the rig file has been updated then I can reload the reference and continue working.
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