London post facility Rushes, has placed an order with Autodesk as part of its multi-million pound expansion; the project includes the replacement of the facility’s entire visual effects kit with the latest systems, as well as doubling its capacity for visual effects work.
Rushes is initially installing five new suites as well as upgrading its five existing ones. The project is due to be completed next month when the eight new Discreet Flame 2K visual effects systems and two new Smoke HD editing systems will be ready for action. Each Flame system is powered by 64-bit dual-core IBM workstations running the Linux operating system. The Smoke systems run on quad CPU SGI Tezros.
The new multi-purpose HD-capable suites allow Rushes to house in one room multiple artists working on the same project. The rooms will include a mix of visual effects and CG tools, including Flame, Smoke, Combustion, Maya and Shake.
This creates advantages for Rushes including greater communication and workflow, improved turnaround on large projects and increased efficiency. Tim Wharton, Technical Director at Rushes, said: “This is a fantastic investment for Rushes and a huge leap forward technically. The systems we’re now running are the best available and with 2006 being the year HD really makes a big impact on the UK, we’re completely ready for any demands our clients may have.
“The Linux version also allows us to more easily integrate the Flame environment with our CG department. All the VFX and CG artists can hot desk using the Linux systems and we can run all of the Flames and CG software under one unified infrastructure. This will speed up our workflow and allow greater collaboration on large projects.”
