  We present the VVV-SkZ_pipeline, a DAOPHOT-based photometric pipeline,
created to perform PSF-fitting photometry of "VISTA Variables in the V\'ia
L\'actea" (VVV) ESO Public Survey data. The pipeline replaces the user avoiding
repetitive interaction in all the operations, retaining all of the benefits of
the power and accuracy of the DAOPHOT suite. The pipeline provides an
astrometrized photometric catalog reliable up to more than 2 magnitudes
brighter than the saturation limit, where other techniques fail. It also
produces deeper and more accurate photometry. These achievements allow the
VVV-SkZ_pipeline to produce data well anchored to the selected standard
photometric system and analyze important phenomena (i.e. TRGB, RGB slope, HB
morphology, RR Lyrae), that other methods are not able to manage.
