Carrera Computers Plays Key Role in "Casper" Production.LAGUNA HILLS La·gu·na Hills A city of southern California southeast of Santa Ana. Population: 33,600. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 21, 1997--Carrera Computers, a leading supplier of rendering, animation and non-linear editing solutions for the Hollywood entertainment industry, played a key role in producing the graphic content of the video "Casper, A Spirited Beginning." Character animation Character animation is a specialized process of the animation process, concerning the animation of one or more characters featured in an animated work. It is usually as one aspect of a larger production, and often to complement voice acting. in "Casper" was created by the OCS/Freeze Frame/Pixel Magic studio, who relied heavily on Carrera's ability to design and service custom NT-based computing solutions so that the studio could meet demanding budgetary and throughput requirements. The video was produced by 20th Century Fox, Saban and Harvey Entertainment films. Ray McIntyre Jr., vice president of OCS/Freeze Frame/Pixel Magic, said: "The advent of NT, and the Alpha box that we received from Carrera and Lightwave, allowed us to complete the work for the video sequel in a much shorter time frame and more economically, while maintaining the same quality that the SGI (SGI, Sunnyvale, CA, www.sgi.com) A manufacturer of workstations and servers, founded in 1982 by Jim Clark. The company was founded as Silicon Graphics, Inc., but changed to its acronym in 1999. platform would provide. Only one vendor could provide us with the equipment needed to complete this job, and it was without a doubt Carrera." Carrera Computers Carrera Computers is an organization founded in 1990 by Rod Frye that designs, manufactures and services high-powered custom solutions based on the fastest microprocessors in the world. has distinguished itself, most notably among computer graphics artists, as a company that designs, delivers and services, with unparalleled 24x7 responsiveness, application-specific NT-based workstation solutions. Carrera provided OCS OCS - Object Compatibility Standard its rack-mounted rendering farm consisting of eight 500Mhz 21164 Alphas, each with 512MB RAM. Animators worked in shifts at 16 Alpha-based Carrera Cobra workstations, each running NT 4.0 and using a minimum of 256MB RAM, with some having as much as 512MB RAM. Carrera also installed four Intel-based compositing systems for the project. Carrera's solutions can be customized for a variety of demanding applications. Most systems, however, are designed around the 21164 Alpha microprocessor, the most powerful microprocessors in the world. Standard Cobra systems offer more than 1GB/sec memory bandwidth Memory bandwidth is the rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by a processor. Memory bandwidth is usually expressed in units of bytes/second, though this can vary for systems with natural data sizes that are not a multiple of the commonly used , 12-speed CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). , a 64-bit PCI (1) (Payment Card Industry) See PCI DSS. (2) (Peripheral Component Interconnect) The most widely used I/O bus (peripheral bus). accelerator with 2MB RAM, and 2GB disk capacity. Depending on configuration, prices start at $4,995. Founded as OCS by Ray McIntyre Sr., in 1985, OCS/Freeze Frame/Pixel Magic has steadily grown its digital division since 1992. OCS is one of the leading, single-source digital houses in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. offering digital compositing, main title design, 3D design and animation, digital film restoration and film input/output services. The facility's credits include "Casper, A Spirited Beginning," "Independence Day," "Jungle 2 Jungle," "Eraser," and "Wild America." In 1996 Raymond McIntyre Jr. and Dave Fiske received an Emmy nomination for their work on HBO's acclaimed "Tuskeegee Airmen." OCS/Freeze Frame/Pixel Magic is located at 10635 Riverside Dr., Toluca Lake, Calif. 91602, 818/760-0862. Founded in 1990, Carrea Computers designs, manufactures and services high-powered custom solutions which are installed worldwide for graphics, scientific, engineering and other applications demanding the utmost computer power and speed. Carrera has headquarters at 23181 Verdugo Dr., Bldg. 100, Laguna Hills, Calif. 92653; 800/575-RISC; www.carrera.com . CONTACT: The Scfraff Group Lana Perry, 714/833-3400 lperry@schraff.com or Carrera Computers Inc., Laguna Hills 800/575-RISC Fax: 714/707-5053 www.carrera.com E-mail: sales@carrera.com |
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