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 ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
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...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
14/04/2026
ToolsOnAir and Omnistream Bring Mobile SRT Contribution into Professional 24/7 P...
14/04/2026
Captures a trio of renowned polysynths
The latest software to join AIR Music Tech's extensive catalogue captures the sound of three sought-after polysyn...
14/04/2026
Free offering includes 10 powerful plug-ins
United Plugins have announced the launch of a new bundle that brings together 10 of their pro-audio plug-ins, an...
14/04/2026
Julian Coryell joins virtual session player line-up
Announced at NAMM 2026, Celemony's Tonalic kits DAW users out with real performances by world-class ...
14/04/2026
X-Rite Pantone Color Academy Grand Opening in Shanghai
On March 27, 2026, X-Rite Pantone, the global authority in color standards and color science, held the...
14/04/2026
14 Apr 2026
VEON and JazzWorld Receive Competition Commission of Pakistan Appro...
14/04/2026
Tuesday 14 April 2026
Nicola Coughlan and Aimee Lou Wood to host next two episo...
14/04/2026
Lead writer and executive producer Jack Lothian joins alongside lead director Je...
14/04/2026
Wuppertal April 14, 2026
Thomas Riedel Acquires Premium Manufacturer ARRIStrategic Alignment With the Riedel Group for Innovation and Growth
Thomas Riedel, f...
14/04/2026
New Service Simplifies Integration of AI Applications with Exceptional Reliabili...
14/04/2026
Luxembourg, April 14, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, today annou...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir Composition Builder 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: The Composition Builder 2026 application for macOS enables TV stations and Live Event broadcast...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAr just:live pro 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: just:live pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel Live Production Playout solution for video and static or real-ti...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAr just:play pro 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: just:play pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel automated 24/7 Master Control playout solution with SD, HD and U...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAr live:cut 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: live:cut is an option to just:in mac pro 2025 and enables multicamera production workflows for up to 16 cam...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite NDI 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite NDI application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specific...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specifically for...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir just:in mac pro 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: just:in mac pro is a macOS-based client-server multichannel capture solution to record SDI, HDMI, N...
13/04/2026
Intuitive EQ plug-in gets an upgrade
Following its official launch back in February 2026, Musik Hack's intuitive EQ plug-in has been treated to its firs...
13/04/2026
Flagship soft synth collection expanded
The latest version of UVI's flagship vintage-inspired soft synth collection has just arrived, expanding the suit...
13/04/2026
Free version of innovative string library arrives
Released in October 2025, Lux Orchestral Strings was said to be Sonuscore's most ambitious library to ...
13/04/2026
The Girls' Research Camp is part of the Technology - Future in Bavaria edu...
13/04/2026
Rohde & Schwarz transforms submarine communications for real time underwater dom...
13/04/2026
Rohde & Schwarz enables Pulsar signal simulation to support next-generation navi...
13/04/2026
Monday 13 April 2026
Global environmental action NGO WRAP brings recycling to l...
13/04/2026
J nger Audio has joined the EBU ADM Implementers Group (ADM-IG) as a founding me...
13/04/2026
FOX Latin America Announces The Launch Of The FOX Channel In Central America And...
13/04/2026
No amps, no safety net The biggest challenge was the music itself. Everything in the film is acoustic and unamplified. The theme itself is kind of hard to expl...
13/04/2026
RT Radio 1 has today launched a significant step in its ongoing strategic evolution. Following the launch of its brand-new schedule late last year, RT Radio 1...
13/04/2026
The Late Late Show Opening Act, the search for Ireland's newest country musi...
13/04/2026
RT has today announced the appointment of Annemarie Britz to the position of Chief Financial Officer, RT following a public competition.
Annemarie Britz is c...
12/04/2026
Headphone system designed for immersive monitoring
With the demand for immersive audio showing no signs of slowing down, lots of companies are turning their...
11/04/2026
Engineer collective welcome Freddy Knop
Infrasonic, an award-winning collective of audio engineers operating out of Nashville and Los Angeles with credits r...
10/04/2026
After launching the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico last year, we brought the fan-voted celebration to Paris this week for its first edition in France. Hosted ...
10/04/2026
Powered and unpowered live PA ranges upgraded
Yamaha have just refreshed four of their hugely popular PA speaker ranges, delivering significant improvements...
10/04/2026
Underlying plug-in & VI technology now available to others
UJAM's latest announcement sees the company open up' Gorilla Engine, the development pla...
10/04/2026
Luxembourg, April 10, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, announces that it has entrusted BNP Paribas with the implementation of a liquidity agreemen...
10/04/2026
What can I watch on UKTV and stream on U this week?
This week on UKTV and the free streaming service U, viewers can watch a range of new and returning programm...
10/04/2026
Five-part Sky Original drama airs nightly on Sky Mix and Sky Atlantic from 20 Ap...
09/04/2026
Staines-upon-Thames, UK, 09, April, 2026 - Yospace, the trusted leader in Dynam...
09/04/2026
just:play pro 2026 and just:live pro 2026 Sneak Preview News for NAB 2026
More Details:At NAB 2026, ToolsOnAir will showcase just:play pro 2026 and just:live p...
09/04/2026
just:in mac pro 2026 - The Next Level of Professional Recording on macOS at NAB ...
09/04/2026
Spotify has always been about putting listeners in the driver's seat. Today, people don't just want more ways to spend their time; they want that time t...
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
