The Rings of Power producer Ron Ames discusses how cloud was a major part of the shows production process, enabling the production team to make art with technology as a support
By Jenny Priestley
Published: November 28, 2022 Updated: November 29, 2022
The Rings of Power producer Ron Ames discusses how cloud was a major part of the show's production process, enabling the production team to make art with technology as a support
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
To create the world of Middle-earth you need an army. From Peter Jackson's epic trilogies to Amazon Prime's The Rings of Power, creatives and artists across the globe helped bring JRR Tolkien's stories to the big screen.
In the latest adaptation of Tolkien's work, technology was at the heart of the workflow, and central to that was AWS.
Speaking at AWS re:Invent 2022, producer Ron Ames discussed how AWS and the cloud helped the production team achieve many of the jaw-dropping visuals seen in the show's first season.
The power of the cloud Much of the production employed cloud, with areas from pre-visualisation to exhibition interconnected, including, camera capture, colour pipeline, post production, visual effects, and delivery to Amazon's platform. That was the key, said Ames. When we were on set, and a director was chasing the light, we had every possible asset at our fingertips. We had crews spread across New Zealand, a studio in Los Angeles, artists all over the world, we were able to connect, communicate efficiently, scale as necessary, and meet all of our goals and deadlines, cost efficiently. This is not about technology as a standalone thing, it is actually practical, useful and efficient.
Ames added that showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay believed that the technology used on the project helped them to imagine the craziest things .
In 2018 we started in Los Angeles in an office, and the writers room was down the hall from our production office. We would sit there and they would come out of the writers room and give us outlines for this fantastic story, Ames explained. We would look each other and our jaws would drop. We said, how are we going to do this? We said this is too big for the tools we have.
The team began to answer those questions by looking to JRR Tolkien himself for inspiration. Tolkien said that when he started to create the world of Middle-earth, he started with a map and made the story fit. So we started that way as well. We recognised that we were going to have to plan this very carefully.
Their map involved working with AWS on building a cloud-production pipeline. AWS is creating the future of filmmaking, Ames told the audience. The future of filmmaking is cloud-based production.
That decision to employ cloud-based production became even more important when three months into filming in New Zealand, the Covid pandemic hit. We were told that we had to shut down, explained Ames. We took all of our hardware, sent it off to our teams because we couldn't completely shut down, we would lose our vendors, our staff, all these artists we'd collected around the world. We had to continue the visual effects post production because we had already shot an episode. Within a weekend, we started cloud-based production in earnest. We were doing it anyway, but Covid made it a requirement and sent us to the next level of development.
In total, the production team worked with 12 global vendors, including DNEG, ILM and Company 3, on the show's visual effects, creating 9,146 shots. The price of admission to join us was a willingness to explore new technology, to share assets in a standard way so that every visual effect could be used by a different vendor, said Ames. By creating a standard, and everybody knowing they would be working together, we determined that we could actually do this.
The power of the metadata Another key part of the workflow that helped the production team throughout the project is metadata. Ames explained that when he started working in the industry, metadata was edge code on negative film. typed script notes, call sheets and production notes. But again, working with AWS meant that the Rings of Power were able to push the boundaries of data forward. Now, every single frame has every piece of content that went into making that frame from beginning to end, said Ames.
We are using metadata in ways that when we started our production we never dreamed of using on set. Each department had their own software that they fed into QTAKE. From that point on the metadata stayed with the shot all the way through. We could always identify the nature of that frame, where it came from, and how it was connected to the rest.
With each department accounting for the metadata that was important to them, we knew the information was accurate, added Ames. By the end, we had total faith. We never lost a frame, we never lost an asset. It was trackable and easily shared with our vendors, and all the technology companies that worked with us everybody was willing to play and discover these tools and help us to figure out how to do this.
The power of the team Ames finished his talk by paying tribute to all of the production team who worked on the series, adding that many came to the project from more traditional ways of filmmaking. There were many people on this project who made films in traditional methodologies their whole life and they were introduced to this new methodology and every single one of them adopted these new technologies, he said. This is filmmaking of the future, people making art with technology as a support.
The other thing that I think is important to remember is that filmmaking is no longer, if it ever was, a linear process. It's dynamic. Set drawings, tests, and materials are being c
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
10/01/2026
This year, podcasts are making their Golden Globes debut with a new category honoring the medium's leading shows and creators. To mark the occasion, Spotify...
09/01/2026
RT Player has 157 million streams, up 10% year-on-year
An increase on 2024, RT...
09/01/2026
RT 2FM has today announced the highly anticipated list of 2FM Rising Artists for 2026, kicking off 2FM Rising week for the eighth year on The Tracy Clifford Sh...
09/01/2026
RT to Host the 2026 RTS Ireland Awards
Thursday, 16 April 2026 | Dublin Royal Convention Centre
The RTS Ireland Television Awards 2026 | Gradaim RTS 2026 | R...
08/01/2026
An evidence-based analysis on disinformation and information manipulation in Sudan's ongoing conflict is published today. (January 8th 2026).
Thomson Found...
08/01/2026
In 2025 we launched the Spotify Partner Program to give creators more ways to tu...
08/01/2026
On Wednesday in Los Angeles, Spotify welcomed creators and press to a brunch cel...
08/01/2026
TSA awards Rohde & Schwarz contract for advanced airport screening ahead of Socc...
08/01/2026
The review looks back at DPA's miniature microphone development over the years. It compares the evolving technologies from the original mics through CORE an...
08/01/2026
Comscore Launches Audio Targeting and Measurement Capabilities with The Trade De...
08/01/2026
Tonight, on RT Prime Time at 9:35pm on RT One and RT Player
Tonight, Prime T...
08/01/2026
The Late Late Show celebrates the very best of traditional Irish music with its first-ever full special dedicated entirely to the tradition
Lisa Canny | Kevin...
08/01/2026
It will be murder on the dancefloor when Dancing with the Stars returns this S...
07/01/2026
Spotify is launching a week-long celebration spotlighting creators at the center...
07/01/2026
We know people use Spotify not just to listen, but to share the songs, podcasts, and audiobooks they love with their friends and family. When we launched Messag...
07/01/2026
This week, all eyes are on the podcast industry as the Golden Globes recognizes ...
07/01/2026
Podcasts are stepping onto a new stage this week as the Golden Globes recognize the medium for the first time. To mark this milestone moment, we're hosting ...
06/01/2026
Spotify is launching a week-long celebration spotlighting creators at the center...
06/01/2026
Lorde. A$AP Rocky. JENNIE. Baby Keem. KATSEYE. That's just a taste of who...
06/01/2026
Channel 4 and UKTV are giving viewers even more reasons to stream, with UKTV's U service set to feature thousands of hours of free, unmissable and bingeable...
06/01/2026
Tuesday 6 January 2026
An update on our Sky Mobile prices
Devesh Raj, Chief Operating Officer, Sky
Today, we've announced some changes to the prices of ...
06/01/2026
Comscore Launches Daily Program-Level Reporting with Deduplicated Insights on Sh...
06/01/2026
Comscore Completes Recapitalization Transaction with Preferred Stockholders Foll...
05/01/2026
Bad Bunny's DeB TiRAR M S FOToS defined the sound of 2025 for listeners eve...
05/01/2026
As the clock struck midnight and 2026 was born, so was an exciting range of new ...
05/01/2026
These Sacred Vows starring Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Justine Mitchell and Jason O'...
05/01/2026
DANDANCING WITH THE STARS RETURNS TO SHAKE UP SUNDAY NIGHTS
Reigning Rose of Tr...
02/01/2026
Any Given Day: Cork University Hospital premieres Wednesday 7 January on RT One and RT Player at 9:35pm
RT will debut a powerful new six-part documentary se...
02/01/2026
Friday 2 January 2026
All episodes of Heated Rivalry will be landing on Sky and...
02/01/2026
Sequins, chat shows, live sporting action, ground-breaking docuseries and brand-new Irish drama to kick off 2026
New Year, New Content Coming Soon across RT
...
01/01/2026
The Quantum 852 is situated in the 6,500-seat Seoul-based place of worship, a church which is home to a 1,000-person choir and a 50-piece orchestra. There are f...
01/01/2026
Formed in 2002, OneRepublic have enjoyed huge international success, with over 18 billion streams on Spotify alone. Their current tour, Escape to Europe, contin...
01/01/2026
We had been using the club's previous console for the last ten years, so we researched manufacturer information very carefully, says venue audio manager Mr...
30/12/2025
Your live countdown to 2026 with Inhaler, David Gray, Lyra, Garron Noone, Sharon...
29/12/2025
From crisper Lossless audio and immersive music videos in beta to new Audiobooks+ plans, custom transitions between tracks, and in-app Messages, we keep levelin...
24/12/2025
RT has unveiled an exclusive first look at the new Dancing with the Stars promo...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
21/12/2025
John Shortt named Young Sportsperson of the Year Kerry are the Team of the Year
...
19/12/2025
With Playout Release 2025.4, ToolsOnAir continues to push professional playout w...
The Rings of Power producer Ron Ames discusses how cloud was a major part of the shows production process, enabling the production team to make art with technology as a support
