Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

GPL Technologies Builds Flexible IT Infrastructure for Moonbot Studios

05/01/2016

Shreveport, Louisiana is the home to Moonbot Studios, a 6-old-year multimedia production studio with a knack for creating storytelling magic. Founded by filmmakers William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg and Lampton Enochs, the company won an Academy Award in 2012 for the whimsical animated short The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Currently boasting a staff of 50 artists, producers and support personnel, Moonbot has also produced feature-quality animation for television, games, apps, branded entertainment and a myriad of other mediums. Along the way, it's filled its trophy rack with four Emmys, 12 Clios, 14 Cannes Lions and five Webby Awards.

The company's output covers a wide scope, but its work is unified by engaging, heartfelt storytelling and impeccable execution. One week we may be working on a book and the next week on a film, notes Brandon Oldenburg, Moonbot's Chief Creative Officer. Every project is different, but it all focuses on stories that appeal to the child inside us all.

Moonbot's team of master storytellers is empowered by an impressive array of technology, much of it supplied by GPL Technologies. GPL has outfitted the company with everything from artists' workstations and software to the scalable EMC Isilon storage units that serve as its data hub. GPL also provides technical support and acts as technical advisor, providing Moonbot with recommendations on technology acquisition, pipeline management and other IT issues. GPL have been really smart in figuring out how technology can enable the creative process, rather than drive it, Oldenburg says. Their support on the tech side allows our team to focus on daydreaming up big ideas.

The diversity of Moonbot's work poses a number of technical challenges. The workflow employed on an animated film is different from that used to create an interactive-web video. Moonbot has to be able to adapt quickly to the demands of individual projects. Flexibility is big for us, explains Pipeline Supervisor, Brennan Chapman. We do 3D projects that require big render nodes, but we also do 2D work where they aren't necessary. Render nodes are expensive. If you use them all the time, it makes financial sense to buy them. But for us, GPL's rental option is more prudent. It allows us to avoid spending money on fixed assets that we don't use on every project.

Moonbot can easily add capacity, which gives them the leverage to pursue a wide range of projects. We work on a lot of projects that have short time lines, and we have to be able to add resources quickly, Lampton Enochs, Moonbot CEO says. We are always looking for projects that excite and challenge our creative team. When the right opportunity comes along, we want to be able to say, yes.' A technology partner who can help us do that is gold.

Moonbot's latest project is Taking Flight, a 5-minute animated short, directed by Oldenburg, that it has submitted for Academy Award consideration. For that 4-month project, GPL provided the company with a 36-node render farm that it used to process some 178,000 frames of animation. Using our old nodes, it might have taken as much as four hours to render each frame; the nodes GPL provided reduced that to an hour per frame, Chapman recalls. That shortened the turnaround time for iterations. It also reduced costs as the licensing fee for the rendering software is by the hour. We got a lot more bang for our buck.

The ability to call on technology experts with a deep understanding of animation and the creative process has been invaluable. We were racing to meet our client's deadlines, adds Enochs. We needed to stick to our schedule and meet our goals with no room for error. Without the flexibility built into our pipeline, we wouldn't have finished in time.

There are a lot of IT companies, but only GPL specializes in the technology used in animation and visual effects, notes Chapman. They are not just a tech vendor; they are a company that we can partner with. We can ask them How should we this?' or What should we do moving forward?' That is super helpful to us.

###
LINK: https://news.creativecow.net/story/880470...
See more stories from creativecow

Most recent headlines

09/12/2024

Dalet Named an IDC Innovator in Media and Entertainment

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced that it has been named an IDC Innovator in the IDC Innovators: ...

09/11/2024

Dalet Expands Leadership Team to Fuel Next Stage of Growth

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced three new members of its executive team. Tara Bryant joins as Chi...

15/10/2024

Music Videos in Beta Brings an Improved Viewing Experience to New Markets

Earlier this year, Spotify introduced music videos in beta, giving Premium subscribers in 12 markets another way to connect with the songs and artists they love...

15/10/2024

Revisit Some of Music's Most Iconic Hits With Our Spotify Anniversaries' Video Series

Music serves as a powerful memory booster, and Spotify recently introduced a new...

15/10/2024

Statement on the passing of George Negus

Statement on the passing of George Negus 15 October, 2024 Media releases We are deeply saddened by the passing of George Negus, a giant of Australian journ...

15/10/2024

EXTENSION OF: INVITATION TO SUBMIT DOCUMENTARY SLATE PROPOSALS 2024

The National Film and Video Foundation (herein referred to as NFVF) is a statutory body set up by the government to grow and develop the South African Film and ...

15/10/2024

Viasat Selects ST Engineering iDirect's Next-Generation Ground Technology to Accelerate Customers' Digital Transformation

Long-term partnership expands with new technology, paving the way for further ef...

15/10/2024

L3Harris Introduces New Autonomous Ground Vehicle

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2024 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) debuted its new autonomous reconnaissance and security vehicle system, Diamondback , at the Associa...

15/10/2024

The Gauge: Poland | September 2024

September typically brings changes in viewing habits of video content on TV screens which are primarily attributed to the start of the school year and the end o...

15/10/2024

The Gauge: NFL Scores in September as Audiences Continue to Adapt to Multi-Platform Viewing

Amazon Prime Video exhibits the highest monthly growth among streaming platforms...

15/10/2024

Adobe Brings Generative AI to Premiere Pro

Adobe has expanded its Firefly family of creative generative AI models to video, in addition to new breakthroughs in its Image, Vector and Design models. The Fi...

15/10/2024

Nick Pemberton Joins Lawo as Global Partner Development Director

RASTATT, Germany Lawo said it hired Nick Pemberton as global partner, business development director, responsible for leading the strategic and commercial develo...

15/10/2024

WOWOW's Yours Shot and Graded with Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci Resolve Studio

WOWOW's Yours Shot and Graded with Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci R...

15/10/2024

Making the dragons fly

Martin Pelletier, visual effects supervisor at Rodeo FX, explains how House of the Dragon's fantastic flying beasts are able to take to the air By Matthew ...

15/10/2024

Adobe adds Gen AI video extension capabilities to Premiere Pro

The company has also unveiled updates to Frame.io and plans to help 30 million people develop AI literacy and content creation skills by 2030 By Jenny Priestle...

15/10/2024

Watch: What caught our AI at IBC

Watch a panel featuring TVBEuropes content director Jenny Priestley discuss some of the biggest talking points from IBC2024 By TVBEurope Staff Published: Oct...

15/10/2024

Ofcom extends Channel 4's licence for a further decade

The new licence is designed to support Channel 4's digital content and distribution strategy, while safeguarding its investment in UK content, said Ofcom B...

15/10/2024

Mid-Month Drop: AEAF Awards, Dark Matter, NHL 25, Saudi Film Confex, and more.

We're halfway through a thrilling October, so it's time to take a beat and celebrate our wicked achievements so far. Caroline Parot, CEO Technicolor G...

15/10/2024

Red5's Chris Allen on Syncing Low-Latent Video Feeds to Deliver Unique Experiences to Fans

Red5's Chris Allen on Syncing Low-Latent Video Feeds to Deliver Unique Exper...

15/10/2024

Olympic Gold: Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe's Scott Young Breaks Down Summer Success In Paris

Olympic Gold: Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe's Scott Young Breaks Down...

15/10/2024

SVG All-Stars: Sarah Backerman, Senior Director, Production Operations, Big Ten Network

SVG All-Stars: Sarah Backerman, Senior Director, Production Operations, Big Ten ...

15/10/2024

NBA App Adds Multiview Capabilities on Connected Devices

NBA App Adds Multiview Capabilities on Connected Devices Fans can view up to four games simultaneously on TV with NBA League Pass subscription By Brandon Costa...

15/10/2024

Rohde & Schwarz drives AirFuel Alliance RF standardization efforts with first RF wireless power tester prototype

Rohde & Schwarz drives AirFuel Alliance RF standardization efforts with first RF...

15/10/2024

Top 10 Week of Oct. 7: Outer Banks' and The Menendez Brothers' Debut at #1

Back to All News Top 10 Week of Oct. 7: Outer Banks' and The Menendez Bro...

15/10/2024

HMS Networks changes organization to strengthen customer focus and cross-selling

HMS Networks changes organization to strengthen customer focus and cross-selling 15 Oct 2024 at 07:30 GMT+2 Regulatory press release HMS Networks AB (publ)...

15/10/2024

2024-10-15

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today introduced the new iPad mini, supercharged by the A17 Pro chip and Apple Intelligence, the easy-to-use personal intelligence s...

15/10/2024

Thales radios successfully tested by the German Armed Forces to be deployed within the NATO enhanced Forward Presence

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn The German Armed Forces conducted operational te...

15/10/2024

KNDS selects Thales Power Systems Solution for the Leopard 2 A8

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn KNDS awarded Thales a contract to deliver compact, programable and scalable High-Power Solid-State Power Distribution Boards (SS...

15/10/2024

RT Player debuts new original sitcom Good Boy exploring comedy, career and coming to terms with ADHD

RT Player debuts new original sitcom Good Boy exploring comedy, career and comi...

14/10/2024

Indigenous People Will Save the World: A Spotlight on Sundance Institute's Merata Mita Fellowship

Libby Hakaraia speaking at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Jovelle Tam...

14/10/2024

Spotify Launches Audiobooks in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg-and Premium Listeners Get Instant Access

Since its launch just over a year ago, Spotify's Audiobooks in Premium offer...

14/10/2024

RADAR Artists Give FC Barcelona an Assist With Their Matchday Takeover

Through our first-of-its kind partnership, Spotify and FC Barcelona are committed to uniting the worlds of music and sport. And when the Bar a men's squad r...

14/10/2024

UK creative industries named as growth driver' in government's Industrial Strategy

A green paper published today outlines the governments aim to attract investment...

14/10/2024

Tim Kiely, Longtime Producer of Inside the NBA, Returns to TNT Sports as VP & Executive Producer of NBA Studio Production

Tim Kiely, Longtime Producer of Inside the NBA, Returns to TNT Sports as VP & Ex...

14/10/2024

Bring Back the Heat! 'Culinary Class Wars' Returns for a Sizzling Second Season

Back to All News Bring Back the Heat! Culinary Class Wars Returns for a Sizzlin...

14/10/2024

Helping Brands Engage and Influence Buyers with New...

Helping Brands Engage and Influence Buyers with New Advertising Capabilities Published on Oct 14, 2024 Categories: Product News, Company News, Europe, EMEA ...

14/10/2024

ESPRIT module for Lunar Gateway orbital outpost set for a significant upgrade

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Thales Alenia Space and ESA sign contract amendment to extend and optimize ESPRIT module Milan, October 14, 2024 - Thales Aleni...

14/10/2024

VEON Announces Plan to Move its Headquarters to Dubai International Financial Center

14 Oct 2024 VEON Announces Plan to Move its Headquarters to Dubai International...

14/10/2024

VEON appoints Andrey Pyatakhin as the incoming CEO of Beeline Uzbekistan

14 Oct 2024 VEON appoints Andrey Pyatakhin as the incoming CEO of Beeline Uzbekistan Amsterdam and Tashkent, 14 October 2024: VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON, Euronext...

14/10/2024

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: JetWave Wireless' Jim Dugan on Delivering Wireless Comms for Large-Scale, Small-Scale Events

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: JetWave Wireless' Jim Dugan on Delivering Wireles...

14/10/2024

Carving Powder: Austrian Broadcaster ORF on the Challenges of Bringing the Alpine Ski World Cup on the Rettenbach Glacier to Viewers

Carving powder: Austrian broadcaster ORF on the challenges of bringing the Alpin...

14/10/2024

On the Piste: ORF on Bringing New Innovations in Sound and Interactivity to Ski Coverage

On the piste: ORF on bringing new innovations in sound and interactivity to ski ...

14/10/2024

ESPN's Adam Whitlock on the Under-discussed Side of Live Sports Video Transmission

ESPN's Adam Whitlock on the Under-discussed Side of Live Sports Video Transm...

14/10/2024

March to Victory+: A Parent Media Company Starts From Scratch To Give Dallas Stars, Anaheim Ducks a New Broadcast Home

March to Victory : A Parent Media Company Starts From Scratch To Give Dallas Sta...

14/10/2024

FOX Sports, TNT Sports Elevate Production Plans For MLB's Star-Studded League Championship Series

FOX Sports, TNT Sports Elevate Production Plans For MLB's Star-Studded Leagu...