Reel FX Creative Studios Benefits from Next Generation Render Pipeline Based on Qube!

[Stryker]

Honolulu, HI – April 14, 2008 – PipelineFX, makers of Qube!™ render farm management software for film production, game development, and digital media education, today announced that Reel FX Creative Studios is leveraging the power of Qube! to manage their rendering work and speed up the render pipeline for current and upcoming projects.

Reel FX Creative Studios, founded in 1993, is an integrated group of award-winning design and production studios that produce animation, visual effects, entertainment content, commercials, and conceptual designs. Reel FX Creative Studios uses the latest and most reliable technology and tools to liberate the creative and production process, which they call “creative at the speed of thought.” One such tool they have used for the past five years is Qube!.

Reel FX Creative Studios is currently using Qube! at their Dallas studio to manage the rendering on the animated feature film Open Season 2, scheduled for release this year. “Reel FX is proud to be involved this year in the animation for Open Season 2,” said Chuck Peil, VP of Business Development at Reel FX Entertainment. “A high quality level and a seamless process are critical for this picture to be on par with the original film. Qube! has been a critical tool in maintaining this seamless process.”

Reel FX Creative Studios has also used Qube! on consumer product work for Bee Movie, Kung Fu Panda and Shrek The Third. Qube! has also been used on Enchanted, Spy Kids 2 and The Wild, and on gaming projects like Transformers and the Da Vinci Code.

Five years ago, Reel FX Creative Studios was an all-Windows environment and was using another queing software. At that time, they started the transition towards using Linux and needed a render manager that could work across multiple operating systems, which is when they made the change to Qube!. Reel FX Creative Studios now uses Qube! to execute Python scripts and uses it in conjunction with Maya®, NUKE®, and Mental Ray® in a primarily Linux environment. The artists customized the Qube! interface, both standalone and within Maya. They also integrated Qube! into their in-house project management software that was created by their application development team to help automate their data processes and speed up work.

“Qube! is integral to our pipeline at Reel FX,” said Harry Michalakeas, Director of Pipeline and Technical Supervision at Reel FX. “We use it not only for managing renders, but also for executing most of our other pipeline processes. In the five years we've been using it, we've found that Qube! has provided the functionality we've needed, as well as proving to be a robust solution during times of intense farm usage. Additionally, the Qube! API allows us to extend the functionality ourselves whenever something is not available right out of the box.”

“We've found that Qube! has held up very well despite the incredible pounding we have given it - over 2.5 million jobs over five years,” said Michalakeas. “During peak times, we completed up to 100 shots per week. On Everyone’s Hero, for example, we were finalizing 90 to 100 shots per week during crunch time. At anything from 20 to 50 layers per shot, that's 2,000 to 5,000 renders in a single week, not including fixes and re-dos. Realistically, any software will have occasional issues over such a prolonged period of heavy usage. I feel that during those times, PipelineFX has been responsive and helpful, and cared about making sure everything worked for us.”