Avere Helps Framestore Create Visual Effects

Avere Systems, Inc. announced that its FXT Series Edge filers are
helping visual effects studio Framestore Ltd, the winner of multiple BAFTAs, Golden
Globes, Emmys and Oscars, to stay ahead of the technology curve.

This case study explains how Framestore – whose
visual effects have brought life to many hit films including Avatar, The Golden
Compass, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Skyfall, War Horse, and upcoming
space drama Gravity – chose FXT 4500 Edge filers to manage the massive
rendering and storage performance requirements.

Essential features Avere brought to Framestore include the ability to identify
hot files, improve storage load visibility, identify ‘rogue renders’ that could wreak havoc on the system, and
accelerate random and sequential read-and-write access to the system’s backend
storage or core filers. The FXT4500 Edge filers served the render farm,
freeing up the storage system to service the rest of the facility.

Framestore CTO Steve MacPherson explained that several competitive SSD-based
solutions were considered – everything from building their own system based on
CacheFS software to adding SSDs to the newly installed core filers.

MacPherson said: "Ultimately, Avere
won the argument with its ability to deliver the type of metrics, analysis and
identification of hot files essential to production efficiency. Simplicity is a
key Framestore engineering design goal. Once we established the correct
configuration for the Avere system, we were able to just step back and let it
do its thing."

He added: "We are also very pleased
with the support and technical knowledge of the Avere team at all levels – from
the installation engineers to the CEO, we have been able to discuss our
challenges in a way that focuses on an informed solution. The Avere Edge filers
were absolutely critical to the delivery of Gravity – the most computationally
demanding film Framestore has ever done. On Gravity Framestore had an
unprecedented level of CG imagery being created and a huge number of people
working on this material simultaneously."

"The Avere FXT 4500 edge filer, with
its ability to deliver up to 150 TB of Flash in a single cluster, was built to
meet the challenging demands of workloads found in the entertainment industry
and other similar types of environments," said Ron Bianchini,
president and CEO, Avere. "Avere
is thrilled to play a supporting role in the production of blockbuster movies
in conjunction with Framestore."