INDUSTRY

To build a more efficient workflow and expand creative capabilities for their artists, Detroit-area powerhouse GTN, Inc., a global production, post-production and new media company, recently underwent a complete technology refresh for its seven Edit and five VFX Suites, converting all to visualization systems from Silicon Graphics. An employee-owned company focused on providing innovative and creative solutions for top advertising agencies and Fortune 500 companies worldwide, GTN purchased 11 Silicon Graphics Tezro visualization systems and one SGI Onyx visualization computer along with a full complement of Autodesk Discreet high-end, industry-leading software. Sam J. Marrocco, senior visual effects artist/R&D, at GTN, who uses the SGI Onyx system with Autodesk Discreet Inferno visual effects system daily, was intimately involved with the decision-making on the upgrade. "We chose the Tezro and Onyx systems because, to this day, I have not seen a machine like an SGI system that can give us the throughput that we need during the deadlines that we work under," said Marrocco. "There are other boxes out there that can do just as fine a job if time isn't a factor, but when isn't it? The types of deadlines we get daily are: 'Here are all the new revisions and I need an updated spot in half an hour.' Nothing can touch an SGI and Flame combination in terms of throughput." Of the 11 Silicon Graphics Tezro visualization systems GTN purchased, seven run Autodesk Discreet Smoke editing/finishing system, and four run Autodesk Discreet Flame visual effects system. The SGI Onyx 350 visualization computer runs Autodesk Discreet Inferno visual effects system. There are also three Autodesk Discreet Backdraft infrastructure systems as well as Autodesk Discreet Stone disk arrays. The entire storage capacity for the editorial suites is 34TB. The purchase and integration of the equipment was handled by Midwest Media Group, the Discreet Systems reseller in Schaumberg, IL. "The entire upgrade works beautifully, from the networking aspect, to the Stone storage arrays on the system," added Marrocco. "We are easily able to switch between, and work with, high res elements and low res elements all at once and still be able to edit without having to save tons of things to disk or worry about where our last revisions are. You don't have to have eight different software applications. You're not worried about whether they're all going to work together today, or where one machine put something and it went somewhere else. At GTN, we work as a team and we tend to have a live, dynamic pipeline between editorial, 3D effects and animation, and rendering. The SGI and Autodesk Discreet combination produces a very integrated turnkey system-and it works." One of the first :30 spots Marrocco worked on as both supervising coordinator and artist using the SGI Onyx 350 with Discreet Inferno was for J. Walter Thompson, for client Ford Motor Company. With two and a half weeks to go before Super Bowl Sunday, the agency commissioned GTN to produce a spot called "Power Slide," which would show a number of SUVs racing at the camera, jamming on their brakes, and doing what's known (to young, male drivers) as a "power slide." The sole materials the agency provided were several still photos for location backgrounds. The entire spot, including the SUVs, was completely computer-created and animated at GTN and aired in the tri-state (NY, NJ, CT) area during the Super Bowl. With other agency clients including BBDO, Young & Rubicam, Campbell-Ewald and McCann Erickson representing a wide range of companies (with automotive being at the top of the list,) GTN employs 130 people throughout its Oak Park, MI, facility. The operation includes a large render farm and a substantial 3D department in addition to the 12 editorial suites. GTN has long used SGI hardware and Discreet applications in a handful of suites, but like many facilities, its workload has increased along with its expenses, and its legacy equipment was faltering. "This business is getting tougher every day in terms of margins, and so it is incumbent upon us, as the people who operate these businesses, to find more efficient workflows to sustain our margins," said Doug Cheek, owner and CEO, GTN, Inc. "If we can't raise our prices then we have to find ways to get more work through: more and faster throughput. We had a mixed bag of technology in the post area-we still had switchers and edit controllers in a few rooms, believe it or not-and we also had Silicon Graphics Octane systems and an older SGI Onyx. We'd been watching Discreet Smoke for some time and when Smoke technology came around to the point where we felt we could leverage the common platforms through effects and editorial, and utilize the networking options through Backdraft, we thought it was the right time for us to do the refresh. "At the same time we were looking at Smoke, we were looking at Tezro," continued Cheek. "We've always found SGI gear to be quite solid-and when we do need service, it's good service. Now that the Tezro systems are installed, the artists love them-in fact the real testimony is that they never complain about the gear or the hardware. Certainly the processing performance of Tezro, which seems to be a much faster platform all around, far surpasses the performance of the older Octanes we had. At the end of the day, we're always pleased with the performance of SGI gear and with this refresh, we're future-proofing ourselves on the workflow side and finding more efficient ways to get things done." "Silicon Graphics Tezro delivers the best price/performance of any four-processor system on the market, along with superior graphics quality and performance, high-bandwidth architecture, and a full suite of professional digital media solutions," said Shawn Underwood, director, Visual Systems Group, SGI. "Autodesk's Discreet high-end software applications, superbly optimized to run on the Tezro system, are the hands-down choice for the creative professional facility handling standard-definition or high-definition materials."