IBRIX and HP for DreamWorks Animation

IBRIX Inc. announced that
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. has added IBRIX Fusion
file servers to its HP server-based infrastructure to improve lighting
and rendering processes beginning with its next theatrical release, Kung
Fu Panda, which opens in the U.S. on June 6, 2008.

DreamWorks Animation added IBRIX Fusion to work with its HP ProLiant
DL385 servers and HP StorageWorks MSA70 disk shelves to streamline
access to digital information and optimize the overall performance of
production data storage. Data throughput enables lighting artists to
work more efficiently, making it possible to add rendering detail and
lighting nuances that contribute to the rich detail of the studio’s
animated films. This joint solution shortens the process of production
lighting and significantly improves the visual detail and richness in
each digitally rendered scene.

In the past, artists’ editing cycles and
ultimately the creative process as a whole were slowed by the need to
wait overnight for high resolution renders. The HP-IBRIX solution
provides high-performance, transient storage to the lighting process,
allowing artists to work up to five times faster. As a result, higher
quality scenes with more accurate lighting detail can be produced faster
and with more artistic control than ever before.

“This storage solution not only allows artists
to see their high resolution renders within minutes but helps us launch
an entire generation of new, interactive tools that we hope will raise
the bar on animated film quality,” said Ed
Leonard, Chief Technology Officer at DreamWorks Animation. “The
HP-IBRIX storage solution provides DreamWorks Animation with outstanding
performance and reliability, a winning combination for our demanding
needs.”

As DreamWorks Animation continues to increase its creative ambition, it
relies heavily on back-end systems to run efficiently. The HP-IBRIX
architecture is a key technology element in the studio’s
ongoing effort to pioneer a new animated film format, stereoscopic 3D. Monsters
vs. Aliens, DreamWorks Animation’s
first-ever feature film produced natively in stereoscopic 3D technology,
will open in U.S. theaters in March 2009.

“Angles, shadows, movement and intensity –
lighting a CG scene is both art and science,”
said Bernard Gilbert, CEO of IBRIX. “Our
technology supports DreamWorks Animation’s
artists as they balance computational calculations with creativity,
speed and accuracy to illustrate the elements of a scene, making images
more detailed and the contrast between characters more distinguishable.
Storing and quickly serving the digital files necessary to render
lighting effects requires an extremely high level of aggregate
throughput scalability, which only IBRIX can provide.”

In addition to improving its lighting process, DreamWorks Animation is
using IBRIX technology to manage its bulk storage needs. A long-term
reference library was created to archive previous films, enabling
artists an easy, efficient way to reference previous films’
production data.

DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.

IBRIX, Inc.