PALO ALTO, CA —HP and DreamWorks Animation SKG have marked the latest chapter in their ongoing collaboration by working together to create an epic adventure for worldwide audiences with the breakthrough animation of the studio’s upcoming 3-D movie “Rise of the Guardians.”
Like each DreamWorks Animation film before it, “Rise of the Guardians,” which rolled into theaters in late November, pushes the boundaries of digital animation as the studio’s most technically advanced film to date. (For a detailed look at the CG technology used to create the film, see the October/November issue of CGW, or go to www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2012/Volume-35-Issue-6-Oct-Nov-2012-/The-Magic-of-Belief.aspx.
To create a new level of visual richness in an animated film, DreamWorks Animation also used HP Converged Infrastructure technologies that included HP Cloud Services, HP Z Workstations, HP DreamColor displays, HP Remote Graphics Software, HP Networking and HP Proliant server solutions, Managed Print Services and digital rendering resources.
“Our goal is to push the limits of what is possible in digital animation and storytelling,” said Derek Chan, head, Global Technology Operations, DreamWorks Animation. “Using HP Converged Infrastructure technologies, we increase the functionality that allows our artists to create more innovative animation with every film.”
A video about the use of HP technology on the film, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEBCz4E2bws.
DreamWorks Animation used HP technology throughout the production cycle—from creating character designs, to developing detailed animation scenes, to processing massive amounts of data. Throughout the years, HP technology has played an integral role in creating DreamWorks Animation’s groundbreaking animated feature films, including the franchise properties of “Shrek,” “
How to Train Your Dragon,” ”
Kung Fu Panda,” “
Madagascar” and “
Puss in Boots.”
“Rise of the Guardians” fun facts:
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The DreamWorks Animation renderfarm, spanning across three geographic sites, is the most powerful ever used for a studio production.
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250+ terabytes of disk storage were used in the making of “Rise of the Guardians.”
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The 97-minute “Rise of the Guardians” consists of more than 130,000 individual computer-generated frames.
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The production of “Rise of the Guardians” required more than 65 million render hours.
One of the more complicated and amazing special effects is sand. As many as a billion particles