“While the X-Men wrestled with super-villains like Magneto
onscreen, the film’s post-production special effects designers
wrestled with computer-generated villainy of another type–but they
expect Linux-based assistance soon from SGI, according to Bill
Spitzak, lead software designer at special effects shop Digital
Domain.”
“Unfortunately, Digital’s work on the film didn’t go as smoothly
as the movie’s effects might indicate. “Unfortunately, Linux wasn’t
really used for X-Men,” Spitzak said. “The renderfarm was switched
to [Windows] NT in order to run the LightWave renderer, and since
we then ported our in-house stuff to NT as well, they seem
reluctant to switch it back.”
“…Spitzak sees the Linux cavalry riding in from another
direction. “On a brighter note, we are increasingly going to Maya,
and that is going to officially support Linux. We are also
investigating Linux desktop workstations, though I think we should
get the renderfarm to be Linux first.”