Interview with Shajy Thomas, Head of Technology, Crest Animation Studios 21 May 2009 08:55 PM
BY ANIMATIONXPRESS.COM TEAM
While planning a project, how is the technical requirement forecasted and implemented at Crest? Before the start of the project the Process, production and IT team analyzes the project requirements. The STG (systems technical group) on the basis of project type, format and length does the calculation for Storage (capacity and throughput), Backup, Disaster recovery, Renderfarm power, network, post requirements, review systems ,security etc. Based on this we decide which all of these can be used or shared with the available resources and what has to be additionally procured. We then evaluate on the load on the network and storage and accordingly plan and distribute it.
There is always a continuous interaction between the creative and the technical team. Wherein the knowledge sharing and inputs are shared visa versa, the creative team comes up with their requirements or problem and then we analyze and provide the necessary solutions. This could be choosing the workstation configs, software, pluggins , storage, backup etc.
Importance of R & D dept in a studio and how does it work at Crest? Crest has a full fledge dedicated R&D team who are involved in lot of research. Before the project starts they study the requirements and find out the critical, complex elements involved in it, then accordingly try to tweak it by finding an effective way. Some of the major R&D done are for Fur, crowd, shaders, looks etc. Few of the examples are “tree generation animation”, wherein tools are created for custom animation matching the project specifications. Other works did include crowd generation and management tools. As such no budgets are dedicated specifically for the R&D as the same team is involved in other development activities.
Can you name some of the best technology practices adopted at Crest? We have always made sure that what ever technology is implemented in Crest is aligned with the business need. Continuous efforts are made towards research, design, implementation and optimization. Creating a quality CGI product requires complex IT resources like high throughput storage, high performing renderfarms and a strong network backplane to support the high data transfers. We have designed a consolidated central storage which serves data to the windows CG workstation, Linux render farms, mac compositing machine, and all getting authenticated through a single ldap server. The advantage is single path access, no data duplication, high availability, better analysis and reporting. This solution is designed with HP EVA8000 and polyserve filesystem cluster gateway. Some of the key features are Clustered file Service with Dynamic Load Balancing and parallel data path, Single Virtual Name Space [Global Name Space] and Performance Scalability Linearly.
To serve the huge rendering requirements we had setup an HPC based renderfarm. The network design of crest enables the clients (workstations, render nodes etc) to reach the storage or the ldap server or any of the database application in a single path. It is a complete non-blocking architecture, capable of handling the network traffic on the full operation load. Based on the load the interconnects are 10G/1G.
All the CG workstations are Hi-end dual cpu workstations with Nvidia graphic adapters, these workstations are of different configuration based on the department/project requirement. This is to perform smooth operations with lower investments. To monitor all the servers, render node we had implemented a opensource tool which reports about the availability, utilization, over utilization of the resource, and also alerts about the failures for further action to be taken.
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How much of open source resources are used at your studio? All the 450 render servers are on open source Linux. This enables us to save on lot of license cost and invest it for other needs. Apart from these the Asset Management System, Web serve and most of the inhouse developed applications are on opensource platform. This allows us to have more control on the applications and enable and compile it based on business requirements.
Crest has a huge manpower set up, so how do you handle Digital Asset Management (DAM) in a seamless manner? Crest with its years of experience in this field has utilized the knowledge and developed an Asset Management System(AMS) to streamline it CGI creation process. DAM is one of its modules which maintain the complete asset library with its history, description and specifications. Some of the other key features of AMS are file management, workflow management, productivity check, library systems, referencing, file generation and creation; System based naming convention, same across all the project. File versioning, application versioning, file checks, playback versions, project tracking and monitoring
With so much of quality CGI production being done at Crest, how is the rendering infrastructure at Crest like? Crest has configured an HPC render farm comprised of 450 servers (2000 cores). The configuration includes dual CPUs dual- and quad-core computers with 4 to 8 GB of Ram; high-throughput storage and a nonblocking, high-bandwidth network, opensource linux is the operating system.
These servers on the backend are clubbed together to form clusters based on the project requirement. The master node controls these clusters and a front end scheduler is used to fire, manage, prioritize, and render jobs with various parameters. Moreover we also utilize the workstation compute resource during their idle time. Housing this big IT infrastructure also calls for a proper Data Centre design with high power efficiency. For our focus towards Green IT we had designed the data centre with an adaptive Infrastructure design, Power and Cooling Resource Management, Eco friendly hardware’s, Proper cabling, Automated Tools, Management Software‘s, Virtualization, Future planning and scalability. The rendering application also enables the Power on Demand features which make sure that only the active nodes are consuming power.
Some of the key features of the rendering solutions are
Consolidated design: All the compute nodes accessing the same central storage and authentication from single LDAP, This prevents multiple data duplication, and single point authentication and reporting.
Smart scheduler: the Scheduling engine takes control of the job submission, prioritization, and management etc
Server Pooling: All the compute nodes are in a single cluster. The nodes are allocated project wise. Based on the availability the idle nodes can be dynamically assigned to the active pool if required.
Self healing: Some of the common errors like memory segmentation, NFS errors and IO errors are solved automatically by the scripts
Detailed Reporting: Project / Department wise reporting, this helps for better analysis and planning.
Any kind of technology practices that you have observed internationally, which according to you needs to be adapted in India? Each company based on their requirements plans and implements technology practices. Capex plays a major role in selecting the solutions. All the solution options available internationally are also available here. Infact we do lot of activities to optimize and utilize the available resource before planning for a new purchase or upgrades.
What are the day to day challenges and bottlenecks faced by the IT dept at Crest? Apart for the normal day to day maintenance activity below listed are some of the activities we have to carry
Understanding data and applicable applications interoperability and performance transparency issues.
Facing bottlenecks due to seasonal workload surges and addressing it.
Since our pipeline demands for huge resource requirement, need to continuously identify the usage and accordingly allocate.
Software License utilization
Apart from these all the engineers at any point of time are being assigned with some special task individually.
With your experience could you share a few insights on-
o Storage
Data is one of the most important and critical asset. For us it is one of the most expensive parts. It needs to be used and maintained well. Some of the Dos and Donts for the storage are …
Designed well for the capacity and throughput requirement
Data availability has to be planned, keeping in mind all the failure factors
Optimized utilization. Creating policies for moving less accessed files to less expensive disk.
Data duplexing and unwanted data to be controlled
Frequent analysis of the data storage.
o Networking
Network is one of the simplest thing to be controlled if designed and maintained effectively, otherwise it can be real pain. Some of the Dos and Don’ts for the networking are
Network design to be made based on the workflow requirement, also make it flexible for the future scalability.
To avoid any performance bottlenecks it should be non-blocking and HA
Proper documentation should be maintained for the design, topology, integration, cable management
Planning to be done and documented for any possible failures
All the unwanted protocols and vulnerability to be blocked.
Switch OS and config backups to be regularly taken.
TurtleinMotion Studio,a group company
of the RDB Organisation which has been engaged in production and distribution
of movies and television series for over 40 years ,is in search of talented
artists in the field of 2D/3D animation for our Kolkata based office in various
department
Script Writers
Character Designers
2D B/G Artist
Storyboard Artists
Layout Artists
2D Animators
Flash Animators
3D Artists
Marketing Executives (based in Mumbai)
Freshers may apply as interns.
Interested candidates may send an e-mail with
updated resume at careers@turtleinmotion.com
along with the link to your showreel or call at 033-6616-9718.
UK-based Snipple Animation is building
up a new animation studio in Pune that is pulsating with creative energy. A
place where art, technology and sharp business acumen co-exist and complement
each other. Snipple provides 3D as well as 2D animation services for films,
TV series, advertising and related areas.
At Snipple we hire only the best of the best,
and we take pride in our relentless pursuit of excellence in everything we do.
If you think you have what it takes to be a part of this world-class team, we
would like to hear from you.
We are currently recruiting for the following
positions: 1) Senior Modeler
2) Senior Surfacing Artist
3) Senior Rigging Artist
4) Senior 3D Animator
5) Senior 2D Animator
6) Production Manager
Reliance MediaWorks Limited is India`s
fastest growing film and entertainment Services Company and a member of the
Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.
The Company has a dominant and comprehensive
presence in the Film & Media Services: Motion Picture Processing and DI; Visual
Effects; Film Restoration and image enhancement; Digital Mastering: Studios
and Equipment rentals with facilities located at US and India.
Reliance MediaWorks invites you to be a part
of India`s fastest and largest growing entertainment conglomerate. We are launching
VFX Films Division in Mumbai & Pune shortly. We are in search of talent
from the industry that meets our requirements. We are currently looking out
for:
Also send hard copies along with showreel
to:
Reliance MediaWorks Ltd. Plot No A - 62 and 63, Kodak Cinelabs Building, Behind
Tunga International Hotel, Post office Lane, MIDC, Andheri (E), Mumbai-93
Cornershop Animation Studio, A Zee Network
Company (Essel Group Enterprise) which focuses on 3D and 2D animation content
development and broadcast media has opportunities in various departments.
For our 2D Operations in Pune, we are
looking for following artists.
1. Visualiser
2. Flash Animators with 2D background
3. Storyboard Artist
4. 2D Compositor
5. 2D Classical Animators
6. Layout Artist
For our 3D Operations in Mumbai, we are
looking for following artists. 1. Art Director
2. Broadcast design and Motion Graphic Artist
3. 3D Animator
4. Lighting Artist
5. Compositing
6. Production Coordinator
Tasaa Infosolutions Pvt. Ltd (Formerly
Tasaa Netcom Pvt. Ltd) is a rapidly growing IT
corporate with focused interests in:
Packaged solutions from World renowned organizations
like: Autodesk Media and Entertainment Software, Adobe (Gold Partners), Apple,
Wacom, Corel, Microsoft (Gold Certified Partner), PTC, Sage Accpac. We are also
Authorized Training Partner for Autodesk, adobe and Corel.
We are a one step solution for all software needs
of Animation, Gaming, Visualization, Post Production and Manufacturing Industries.
Besides being a professional training and technical
resource for our clients, Tasaa is committed to providing high level support
to our customers and ensuring their success by improving competitiveness, streamlining
operations and helping them to be current on technology.
Requirement for Mumbai Programmer:
Candidate needs to know Programming: MEL and Python.
He should have relevant work experience in a
studio and must have worked on Developing Tools/
application for Autodesk products.
Please send your CV at resumes@tasaa.com
or call at +91-22-42121717.
BIG AIMS, a premier animation training institute
of BIG Animation (I) Pvt. Ltd. a part of Reliance Big Entertainment - the largest
entertainment group in India is hiring for following position for various franchisee
locations in India:
1) Centre Head: Candidate with experience
of over 7 years in heading an animation or educational institute. The candidate
should have skills in marketing and
managing day to day operations of an institute.
2) Counselor: Candidate with of over 3
years of experience in counseling students and should have good communication
and interpersonal skills.
3) Faculty: Candidate should have working
experience of minimum 3 years in a production studio and over 2 years as faculty
with a well established training institutes.
After Effects, Nuke,
Fusion ,Combustion, Boujou, Shake
Post-production (editing) faculty
Editing & sound
Premier, FCP & Editing
Interested candidates can e-mail their resumes
with the position applied in the subject line to: hr@biganimation.com or can
send a hard copy of the resume along with demo-reel to "The Human Resources
Department", BIG Animation (I) Pvt. Ltd, 3rd Floor Muttha Towers, Don Bosco
School Road, Yerawada, Pune 411006.
Sheen Animation Studio Pvt. Ltd. A Delhi
based Production Studio is looking for talents in 2D and 3D for their ongoing
and new international as well as national projects. If you have the experience
an expertise of 2-5 years in the relevant domain handling any of the following
functions, apply in confidence.
Pre-Production
1) BG Design Artists
2) Character Design Artists
3) Matte Painting Artists
4) Concept Artist
2D Animation
1) Flash Animators
2) 2D FX Artists
3) IB And Clean-up Artist
Hiring for all VFX Positions Digital Media Imaging Ltd (a Reliance Media Works Limited company) is involved
in Digital restoration of films, content processing, and 3D Stereo conversion
of filmed entertainment. We are in the process of ramping up to become the biggest
2D to 3D conversion facility in the world. As part of the phase II of our growth
plan we are hiring Compositors and 2D to 3D Stereo conversion Artists.
The required Software skills are:
1+ years experience in any of the following
software platforms
Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, Combustion
Digital Fusion, Nuke, Shake
Smoke, Flame, Inferno
Silhouette Paint & compositing
3Ds Max, Maya or any other 3D software.
Traditional artists with Painting skills in
Photoshop also can apply
Besides a Quality work environment and Sophisticated
Infrastructure,
We offer you…
Specialized VFX and 3D Stereo conversion training
by an International team from Hollywood.
Opportunity to work on popular international
blockbusters.
Opportunity for tremendous internal growth
for talented Artists.
Long term association will be rewarded based
on performance
We are an employee centric organization, who
believes in touching and changing lives.
We are in a growth phase with ambitious plans
where our primary aim is to build a culture in the organization which focuses
on building careers meaningfully for each employee with a very caring & warm
working culture where everyone is approachable and believes is being proactive
to building a great organization together with a fantastic employee experience
and great results from each employee.
Be part of an exciting journey! Technicolor India (previously Paprikaas) is a premiere animation studio,
based out of a state-of-the-art centre of excellence in Bangalore, working on
international projects for marquee clients in animation, gaming and Film visual
effects.
Technicolor India is currently seeking
highly talented artists to work on international projects in animation and film
visual effects.
If you are game for tough challenges, cut out to work in high pressure situations,
and are armed with excellent credentials in any of the following disciplines: Concept Art
Matte Painting
Modeling
Texturing
Effects
Character Animation
Lighting & Compositing
Film Visual Effects (Rotoscopy, MatchMove, Paint & Prep) or Production Management
ANTS is seeking talented artists and teaching
faculties to be a part of the expansion team and work on various national and
international projects. Areas of key vacancies are: Lighting, Animation and Rigging,
Dynamics, Game Design, Texturing, Creative Art, Designer, Web Developer and Content Creator. Interested candidates can send their resumes and works to hr@antsindia.com.
URL: www.antsindia.com,
Phone Numbers: 080 - 40627000 (ext) 224
Redchillies.vfx is all ready to start
their next project - Ra.One, post the success of "My Name Is Khan".
Loads of challenging 3D and Compositing visual effects work is to be done for
the live action sci-fi superhero film starring Shah Rukh Khan as a superhero.
We are currently looking out for extremely talented
& experienced candidates to work on employment/contract basis. Key vacancies
are Lead Lighting Artist (3DS Max), Animators (3DS Max),
Lead VFX Artist(Maya), Lead Rigging Artist(Maya), Animator(Maya), Lead Match
Moving Artist, to name a few. For details on many more vacancies Click
here.
Apply on hr.vfx@redchillies.com
with your show reel OR send in your showreel at the following address: Ground
Floor, Crescent Towers,Off New Link Road, Oshiwara, Near Morya Estate, Andheri-W,
Mumbai-58.
India`s No.1 Multimedia & Animation Academy
with one of the best state of the Art infrastructure requires trainers in the
field of:
3D Animation: Experience in a 3D Production
Environment. Must have good working knowledge of Max or Maya with simulation
systems-particle, cloth, fluid, fur.
Editing & Vfx: Experienced Candidates
in Premiere, After Effect, Final Cut Pro and Nuke. Knowledge of other compositing
software will be added advantage (Apple Shake & Fusion).
Flash Animators: Experience in Flash with
advanced scripting, Toon Boom Harmony. Should have knowledge in sketching /
traditional animation skills.
Pre Production Artists: People from fine
arts background with pre production experience of animation industry.
Graphics: Candidates with Print Media
and Advertising background with sound knowledge of Photoshop, Illustrator, Corel
Draw & Indesign.
Candidates with Adobe & Autodesk certification
would be preferred.
India`s largest Animation & Multimedia Training
Facility reputed for its path-breaking academic initiatives and profound
achievements requires the following talent to meet surging demand for its revolutionary
training programs and to complement its expansion plans:
CLOTH HAIR & FUR ARTIST
DYNAMICS FX ARTIST
MAYA INSTRUCTOR
3D STUDIO MAX INSTRUCTOR
Dilsukhnagar Arena is a people-friendly organization
offering enriching and rewarding careers with the emphasis on personal as well
as professional growth. You will be working with some of the most talented people
in an empowering, challenging and inspirational work-environment with ample
"Learning and Career Progression" opportunities.
Cornershop Animation Studio, A Zee Network
Company (Essel Group Enterprise) which focuses on 3D and 2D animation content
development and broadcast media has opportunities in various departments.
BIG AIMS, a premier animation training institute
of BIG Animation (I) Pvt. Ltd. a part of Reliance Big Entertainment - the largest
entertainment group in India is hiring for following position for various franchisee
locations in India:
Sheen Animation Studio Pvt. Ltd. A Delhi
based Production Studio is looking for talents in 2D and 3D for their ongoing
and new international as well as national projects. If you have the experience
an expertise of 2-5 years in the relevant domain handling any of the following
functions, apply in confidence.
Hiring for all VFX Positions
ANTS is seeking talented artists and teaching
faculties to be a part of the expansion team and work on various national and
international projects. Areas of key vacancies are: Lighting, Animation and Rigging,
Dynamics, Game Design, Texturing, Creative Art, Designer, Web Developer and Content Creator. Interested candidates can send their resumes and works to 
India`s No.1 Multimedia & Animation Academy
with one of the best state of the Art infrastructure requires trainers in the
field of:
