GOVERNMENT

CHAMPAIGN, IL -- Computing tools developed to enable scientific discovery can also be used to wow the masses, as the most recent blockbuster movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring proves. Weta Workshop, the New Zealand special effects company that worked on the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, used NCSA's HDF5 in developing some of the film's computer generated fire and smoke effects. HDF5 is the latest version of NCSA's Hierarchical Data Format, a data file format that was developed to help scientists store, organize, manipulate, and share large datasets. HDF is also a handy tool for graphic effects artists, who often need to share, manipulate, store, and organize different textures and shapes used to create computer graphic effects in feature films. Weta Workshop artists used HDF5 in conjunction with their own proprietary special effects software. "It's a nice endorsement of the software," said NCSA's Mike Folk, head of the NCSA group that develops HDF. Other users of HDF include NASA, the Department of Energy's Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Geophysical Data Center. Story used courtesy of NCSA's Access