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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / AUGUST 11, 2003; VOL. 2 NO. 32
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Applications:
IBM PICKS "FOODFIGHT" WITH THRESHOLD FOR VISUAL EFFECTS
IBM and Threshold Digital Research Labs announced that they are expanding
their work together to create next-generation digital animation studio
capabilities. At the heart of the deal is IBM's "On Demand" technology, which
enables animation production facilities to be infinitely scalable.
The technology puts horsepower into the hands of animators and producers when
they need it allowing for high quality, high speed production at controllable
costs.
These capabilities will enable Threshold to simultaneously produce a number of
computer-animated movies, location based entertainment, prime time TV
animation and visual effects for feature films.
"IBM's goal is to be the best technology supplier to the Industry. We are
taking the next step in evolving the way digitally animated movies are made by
making animation more effective, faster and on demand. We are applying the
latest in on-demand infrastructures, and establishing capabilities that can be
exploited by the entire industry," said Dick Anderson, general manager IBM
Media & Entertainment and Digital Media.
"We are partnering with Threshold because we saw a tremendous opportunity to
team up with an innovative company with a history of exploiting the
flexibility and power of open standards based computing technology, concluded
Anderson."
"IBM's expertise, equipment and support blow away any boundaries we may
encounter producing highly sophisticated Computer Generated (CG) animation.
Now, no matter what story we want to tell, if we dream it up, IBM helps make
it a reality. With IBM, we are no longer limited by our imaginations," said
Threshold Chairman and film producer, Larry Casino.
The collaborative project will deploy IBM Digital Content Creation solutions,
comprised of IntelliStation workstations running on Linux, as well as industry
leading eServer BladeCenter and xSeries 440 systems. The IBM BladeCenter
represents the densest computing system available and has become the system of
choice for many visual effects firms who require ever increasing computing
power to deliver the jaw-dropping special effects that theater-goers have come
to expect. The effort will also help to shape IBM's industry leading work in
variable processing infrastructures -- to provide render cycles in a shared
service model.
Threshold is currently in production on its first full-length digitally
animated feature film, "FOODFIGHT!" The $50 million CG project takes place in
a grocery store. At night, when the humans go home, the store transforms into
a teeming metropolis where the Chinese food aisle looks like Chinatown and the
Italian foods aisle looks like Venice and out of all the products and
packaging come the character icons we've grown up with for nearly forty years
like Charlie the Tuna, Mr. Clean, and Twinkie the Kid plus a whole cast of new
characters like Dex Dogtective and Daredevil Dan.
"FOODFIGHT!" is the first of a slate of several digitally animated feature
films planned for release every year. Threshold will release through a major
studio, but remain an independent company.
"Scale is no longer an issue,"said George Johnsen, Threshold's Chief Animation
Officer. "It's horsepower on demand and with it we can either power one
building or light up a whole city. And in a world of I want it better, faster
and more cost effectively, it allows us to deliver on that statement," he
continued.
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