HPCwire: EFILM AUSTRALIA Doubles Film Production With SGI Storage

The Leading Source for Global News and Information Covering the Ecosystem of High Productivity Computing

Leading HPC
Solution Providers

HPCwire >> Topic >> Visualization

April 18, 2008

EFILM AUSTRALIA Doubles Film Production With SGI Storage

LAS VEGAS, NAB Show, April 15 -- To support changes in film production as well as attract major international productions, EFILM AUSTRALIA is upgrading its existing SAN from SGI with an additional 22 TB of SGI InfiniteStorage systems. The two new SGI InfiniteStorage 4500 systems will be installed in April in the Sydney and Melbourne locations. EFILM AUSTRALIA is a digital postproduction facility that combines client-centered services with the advanced technologies of leading Digital Intermediate facility EFILM, L.A. in Hollywood, and The Atlab Group, one of the largest front end and release printing laboratories in the region.

With three films coming in simultaneously from three internationally-renown Australian directors, EFILM AUSTRALIA, which has relied on the SGI InfiniteStorage CXFS shared filesystem for digital intermediate (DI) in both locations for five years, needed a storage upgrade to accommodate the increased workload. One film production will be in 2K, and another will be a 4K scan with 2K throughput. The third and largest project is Oscar-nominated director Baz Luhrmann's Australia, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, and scheduled for U.S. release by 20th Century Fox in November 2008. Luhrmann, known for his films using eye-popping, oversaturated colors, required Australia to be processed entirely in 4K. A typical 90-minute film with no major visual effects (VFX) component needs 12 to 14 TB of storage for a 4K production workflow. Robert Sandeman, digital services manager at EFILM AUSTRALIA, estimates Luhrmann's WWII romantic Outback epic will need approximately 22 TB or more for online 4K processing, editing, special effects and color-correction and conform.

"We bought more SGI technology because it's solid: it does what it's supposed to do and it works at the speed it's designed to work at," said Sandeman. "We can't be in the middle of a major production for Baz Luhrmann and have disks fail. We've relied on the 16TB SGI SAN for at least two years and it's never missed a beat, and that's what we need. We need things that just keep on working."

To better manipulate colors and imagery in real time, and to provide the storage capacity for increased 2K and 4K film production, EFILM AUSTRALIA purchased, through SGI channel partner Intraware, a SGI InfiniteStorage 4500 controller and 16 TB added to the existing 16 TB SGI InfiniteStorage-based SAN to support two Linux-based Autodesk Lustre suites, with the latest version of Incinerator render farm for the Sydney facility. The central file system will be striped to deliver the bandwidth necessary for 4K resolution projects. Another SGI InfiniteStorage 4500 and 4 TB will be installed in Melbourne to upgrade existing SGI InfiniteStorage-based SAN storage, resulting in approximately 20 TB of additional usable storage.

"From the moment SGI first installed the capabilities for digital processing in the leading film developing and optical labs in Hollywood, everyone knew the future of film postproduction was digital," said Jim Mukerjee, digital content management segment manager, SGI. "SGI has worked hand-in-hand with all the pioneers of DI so they could, in turn, open up the immense artistic capabilities to the directors of photography and film directors who were their trusted clients. SGI's robust servers and reliable, scalable storage deliver the sustained power 24/7 upon which the world's most esteemed filmmakers wield their craft."

About SGI

SGI (NASDAQ: SGIC) is a leader in high-performance computing. SGI delivers a complete range of high-performance server, visualization and storage solutions along with industry-leading professional services and support that enable its customers to overcome the challenges of complex data-intensive workflows and accelerate breakthrough discoveries, innovation and information transformation. SGI solutions help customers solve their computing challenges whether it's enhancing the quality of life through drug research, designing and manufacturing safer and more efficient cars and airplanes, studying global climate change, providing technologies for homeland security and defense, or helping enterprises manage large data. With offices worldwide, the company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., and can be found on the Web at www.sgi.com.

-----

Source: SGI

Article Tools

Share & Save Options

Discussion

There are 0 discussion items posted.

Join the Discussion

You must be a registered user in order to comment on HPCWire stories.

Members enjoy:

	Access to Special Content, including Podcasts, Webcasts, and Whitepapers and more!
	Ability to take an active role in the discussions that are shaping the HPC technology discipline!
	Special offers available only to HPCWire members!

Become a Registered User Today!

Registered Users Log in Here to Comment

Email Address:	Password (case sensitive)

Remember me	Forgot Password?

RSS Feeds

Feeds by Topic

Feeds by Industry

Feeds by Content Type

Feature Articles

The Linux HPC Empire Strikes Back

While the Microsoft juggernaut has been touting the joys of its new Windows HPC Server 2008, the Linux HPC contingent has been somewhat less vocal of late. But now Red Hat has come up with its version of an integrated cluster solution.
Read More...

Nexsan Looks to Scare Up HPC Customers With Storage Beast

Even though the cost of servers still dominates the datacenter budget, storage is actually on a steeper growth curve. HPC storage, in particular, is being singled out as high-growth opportunity. Vendors are scrambling to keep up.
Read More...

The Week in Review

Google datacenters most energy efficient; Cluster Resources to demo Moab Hybrid Cluster; Red Hat Linux releases HPC distro. John West recaps those stories and more in our weekly wrap-up.
Read More...

Read more HPCwire features...

Top Headlines

Oracle and HP's Database Machine Predicated on Voltaire

Oct 06 | The Register | Does the HP Oracle Database Machine represent InfiniBand's big chance to break out its HPC niche? Read more...

3D Imaging Spreads to Fashion and Beyond

Oct 06 | BusinessWeek | A body scan can save a lot of time in the fitting room, and fields from medicine to architecture are adopting 3D computing applications. Read more...

Structural Engineers and Computer Scientists Hope to Integrate Disciplines to 'Revolutionize Building Construction'

Oct 03 | UCSD News | Despite the evolution of computer science over the past 30 years, structural engineering -- hindered by a reluctance to adapt to digital innovations -- has remained relatively unchanged as a discipline. Read more...

Credit Crisis Spreads a Pall Over Silicon Valley

Oct 02 | New York Times | Silcon Valley is starting to feel the effects of the credit crunch. Read more...

Google: 'The World's Most Efficient Data Centers'

Oct 01 | Data Center Knowledge | Google today disclosed details of its data center energy usage, confirming that it operates some of the most efficient facilities in the world. Read more...

Read more headlines...

Featured Whitepapers

Panasas® Tiered Parity™ Architecture

Sep 04 | | Disk drives are approximately 250 times denser today than a decade ago. This is good news for users who are creating, manipulating and storing more data than ever before. It gives them an opportunity to derive more value from their stored data and lowers the capital acquisition and operating expense associated with that data.

View the White Paper Library

Multimedia

Video White Paper: Architecting a Better Network Storage Solution

BlueArc's Titan architecture represents an evolutionary step in file servers by creating a hardware-based file system that can scale bandwidth, IOPS, and overall data capacity well beyond conventional software-based devices. With its ability to virtualize a massive storage pool of up to four usable petabytes of tiered storage, Titan can scale with growing data requirements, offering a competitive advantage for businesses, researchers, or other enterprises seeking to better manage data growth while still ensuring optimal performance.