Linux In Hollywood: Status Report

segment writes "TechNewsWorld is running an article about Linux in Hollywood. The article describes speed advantages, cost advantages, movies in which Linux played a role (including Shrek, Star Wars, and Titanic). Mentions of the embrace for Linux with history on Apple, Microsoft, and other vendors, and how they've adapted to the use.`As a rule, no major studio will rely on a tool without access to the source code. The risk is too great. It's not that the studios want to putter around modifying commercial programs, rather it's insurance -- insurance that they can do so if they must to meet a production deadline.` Very informative article." Robin Rowe (the author) is the project manager for Cinepaint (formerly "FilmGimp"), but writes about 3D applications, barriers to software entry in Hollywood, and more.

Comments

Just to keep a balance:

[tarquin_fim_bim]

Windows In Holywood: Status Report

Re:what exactly could they do?

[l810c]

I think they are referring to bugs. If you have a bug that is holding you up, you are much better off if you can fix it yourself rather than relying on a closed source software vendor to fix it for you.

Alas, poor SGI

[fm6]

Anybody working at SGI (Silicon Graphics before the big rebranding) will find this story extremely discouraging. It isn't just that it talks about Linux/commodity systems taking over a market that used to be dominated by Irix/SGI systems. It's the attitude expressed in the article, which has to have been picked up from the people the reporter interviewed: SGI products are legacy technology. They don't compete with Linux based systems -- they're just something people have to hold onto unti l the corresponding Linux technology matures enough for to replace it.

The one SGI product mentioned that is moving forward is the Linux version of Maya -- and the reporter seems unaware that Maya is an SGI product! A sad outcome for a company that once dominated computer animation.

Re:what exactly could they do?

[NanoGator]

"are they going to suddenly come up with a miracle optimization because they need to meet a deadline?"

Why not? Movie studios tend to push the limits of the tools they have available. This means that they run into problems that the software wasn't originally designed for. All they'd have to do is massage the code to their particular situation.

I can give you a hypothetical scenario. Lightwave's a kick ass 3d package. It can be used in a wide variety of things. But if you were using it to animate 1,000 monsters coming down a hill, you'd find yourself wishing you had terabytes of memory. Lightwave doesn't have an instancing feature. Thankfully, though, Lightwave has a neat little SDK. So somebody could write a plugin that says "first render this model in this pose here, then move the model over to where the second guy is supposed to be and render it over there, rinse and repeat...". I think it's called instancing. Instead of having 1,000 monsters in RAM, you just have one.

See what I mean? Granted, nobody has the source code to Lightwave but the company who made it, but imagine if they did. A few nights of coding would save a few weeks of render time.

Funny use of the word rule

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

As a rule, no major studio will rely on a tool without access to the source code.

This is so completely false it's unbelievable. Studios use software such as Renderman, Maya, Filmbox, Mental Ray, RealFlow, Photomodeler, 3D Equalizer, Softimage, Photoshop and Shake all without access to the source. And they rely on these packages. They also rely on OSes such as Irix (still!) and Windows for which they have no source. This statement isn't even a 'stretch' of the word 'rule'. It's just plain false.

Re:Funny use of the word rule

[wbattestilli]

Disclaimer I work for Alias and I do custom development for major film studios but I do not speak for them.

Just to clarify the above post. Alias does not give any customer access to the Maya source code. Many major studios do, however, pay us to develop certain features that they require.

This service is available to any customer. For those interested, feel free to contact me directly.

--
Whitney Battestilli
Software Engineer
Alias
wbattestilli at aw.sgi.com

Re:what exactly could they do?

[foandd]

Yes. In fact, DD did exactly this when they ran into a problem while rendering the water for Titanic.

Remember, just because you're not clever enough to imagine a situation where having the source code is useful doesn't mean such situations don't exist.

RTFA, Bunky

[foandd]

He plainly states in the article that the studios make special deals to have access to the source code for the commercial software they use, often at very high expense.