NewsForge: The Stallion and the Penguin: DreamWorks uses Linux to Create New Animated Film

“In late May, DreamWorks’ new animated film ‘Spirit: Stallion of
the Cimarron’ will hit theaters and mark a major milestone for the
studio, as well as for the Open Source community at large. ‘Spirit’
was created entirely on Linux.

“While ‘Shrek’ and other movies including ‘Lord of the Rings’
have used Linux to power server farms, the creators of ‘Shrek’ also
used IRIX on SGI workstations. So ‘Spirit’ is DreamWorks’ first
animated feature using Linux both on the front and back ends.

“Pacific Data Images (PDI), the animation co-production arm of
DreamWorks SKG, is best known for its cutting-edge animated films
‘Shrek’ and ‘Antz,’ and it pioneered computer-assisted animation
and 3D rendering using high-powered SGI servers and workstations.
But as the hardware began to show signs of age, PDI/DreamWorks
looked for a better platform, according to Scott Chapin, with
DreamWorks animation technical support…”

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