Network Appliance Chosen for The Two Towers; Deployment of NetApp Systems in Digital Post-Production Environment Rated ``A Tremendous Success''.Business Editors/Entertainment & High-Tech Writers SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 2002 Network Appliance (1) A specialized device for use on a network. For example, Web servers, cache servers and file servers can be implemented as general-purpose computers with the appropriate software or as network appliances, which are computers dedicated to a single function and cannot do anything , Inc. (Nasdaq:NTAP NTAP Network Appliance, Inc. (stock symbol) NTAP Never Take Another Puff NTAP National Track Analysis Program NTAP Notices to Airmen Publication NTAP Windows NT Application Processors NTAP Naval Training Acquisition Process ) has provided Wellington, New Zealand-based Weta Digital ''' Weta Digital is a digital visual effects company based in Wellington, New Zealand, an offshoot of the Weta Workshop physical effects company. Directors Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, Tania Rodgers and Jamie Selkirk, founded Weta Digital in 1993 to produce the digital special Effects powerful NetApp(R) storage solutions used in the making of New Line Cinema's The Two Towers, the sequel to the Academy Award(R) winning film The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The three-film production is based on J.R.R Tolkien's popular trilogy. Directed by Peter Jackson, the trilogy represents an unprecedented undertaking--three films made simultaneously over a year and a half of production. The first film in the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, was released December 19, 2001 to widespread critical acclaim and was the recipient of four Academy Awards. The entire trilogy has been shot completely in New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. and Weta Limited's Weta Digital Effects and Weta Workshop divisions have been responsible for the special effects special effects, in motion pictures, cinematographic techniques that create illusions in the audience's minds as well as the illusions created using these techniques. . To support this vital undertaking, Weta Digital Effects has deployed NetApp storage systems. "This three-year project called for state-of-the-art storage capability and, especially, scalability and speed of data delivery that we found only NetApp could provide," said Jon Labrie, Weta's chief technology officer. "We have scanned millions of images for the films and these are being worked on by our 143 graphic artists. The images have to be scanned and stored for manipulation and with a single frame representing anything up to 12 megabytes, we are talking about a lot of storage." Labrie further stated, "Everything we use the NetApp solution for is absolutely mission-critical and the NetApp deployment in our server-centric 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. (R) and Mac(R) environment has been a tremendous success." Michael Burnie, managing director for Network Appliance Australia and New Zealand, noted, "We were delighted to be chosen to supply the storage solution for this fascinating and very high-profile production. Coincidentally, NetApp is also where the data is stored for www.lordoftherings.net, which Weta tells us continues to be among the most visited Web sites of all time." Burnie praised Infinity Solutions, his company's New Zealand distributor, for its strong support in the winning of the business and the installation of the NetApp storage systems. He stated, "They are great to work with and I look forward to our two organizations continuing to cooperate in this way." Weta was founded in 1993. Weta Workshop produced creature designs, miniatures, armor, prosthetics, and interactive animatronics an·i·ma·tron·ics n. (used with a sing. verb) The technology employing electronics to animate motorized puppets. [anima(tion) + (elec)tronics. for the shoot while Weta Digital Effects is providing innovative digital effects Synthetic sounds and animations created in the digital domain. Reverberation, morphing and transitions between video frames are examples. See digital video effects. for compositing with live action footage. Together, the two divisions have produced fantastical characters, creatures, and environments for Tolkien's fabled Middle Earth. Cinemagoers will have seen Weta's work in the disturbing makeup effects for Once Were Warriors while television viewers will know the company from the Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess The concept of warrior princesses is relatively new in fiction but it became increasingly popular with the feminist movement's successes in female empowerment, gradually pushing the stereotype of a "damsel in distress" to the background. series. About Network Appliance Network Appliance is a world leader in unified network storage solutions for today's data-intensive enterprise. Since its inception in 1992, Network Appliance has delivered technology, product, and partner solutions that continue to drive the evolution of storage. Information about Network Appliance(TM) solutions and services is available at www.netapp.com. NetApp is a registered trademark and Network Appliance and The evolution of storage are trademarks of Network Appliance Inc. in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and other countries. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. |
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