Dell has announced video, film and design companies are turning to Dell Precision workstations to produce lifelike 3D animation and eye-popping v
isual effects for films like Academy-Award winning Gravity due to their blazing fast render times. Dell Precision is also powering the live-stream performances from FADER FORT, Adobe Digital Campground and South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Lounge. By delivering world-class performance and mission-critical reliability and certifications for top digital content creation applications including Adobe® Creative Cloud™, Dell Precision workstations are increasingly being selected over competing systems to bring films, TV shows, games and videos to life.
“Our goal is to deliver the highest performing and reliable technology, so our film and video professionals can focus on their creative workflows,” said Andy Rhodes, executive director, Dell Precision workstations. “It makes me so proud to see those creative outputs, from the Academy-Award winning film Gravity to Emmy®-award winning TV show The Daytripper, come to life and what’s possible with our Dell Precision workstations.”
Video Production Companies Switching to Dell Precision Cut Render Times
Today at DellVenue in Austin, Texas, Dell hosted a panel with several video production companies including Sparksight, Fit to Tweet and Hogaboom Road, about their decision to move from Apple hardware and software to Dell Precision workstations with Adobe Creative Cloud for smoother post-production workflows and performance optimization across professional applications.
- Chet Garner and the production crew of the travel television program The Daytripper found that the available processor options and application optimization with Dell Precision allowed them to increase their performance levels in ways that weren’t possible with Apple’s specifications and cut their render times from two hours to twenty minutes.
- Sparksight, a growing advertising agency focused on video production, event management and interactive design, recently made the switch to Precision workstations and has seen render times cut in half across the board, and in some cases up to three to four times faster. Drew Wolber, Director of Commercial Production, said, “The performance of the Precision machines is incredible. By cutting our workflow in half, we’ve not only been able to double our pipeline but also double our profits.”
- Fit to Tweet, a video production company that provides real-time social content for corporate events, needs powerful systems to turn video, photos and other social content around to its clients as fast as possible. Carlos Reina, co-founder of the company, says, “We’ve seen giant benefits from the switch, including significantly reduced render times that are critical for the way we do business. We are saving so much time. The first time I exported a video it was so fast that I assumed it was too good to be true. It wasn’t.”
“Adobe’s collaboration with Dell showcases the possibilities available to creatives today,” said Dave Helmly, senior manager of Solutions Consulting, Pro Video/Audio Americas at Adobe. “Video professionals working with Ultra HD and 4K+ resolutions, high frame rates and RAW footage need powerful, optimized hardware and software solutions to work efficiently and stay competitive. Dell and Adobe Creative Cloud deliver real-time performance for editing, play back, and rendering complex sequences with high-quality content.”
Dell Precision M3800 Performs Video Rendering Up to 43 Percent Faster than Apple MacBook Pro
Dell also showcased its newest M3800 mobile workstation which delivers an uncompromising system for digital content creators looking for portability, power and stylish design to match their image and environment. Called a “dream come true” by industry analyst Jon Peddie and as the “new heart and brain of my creative studio” by Cameron Evans of USCTO, the M3800 with Adobe Premiere Pro can perform video rendering tasks up to 43 percent faster than the 2013 Apple MacBook Pro and has up to 11 percent faster boot timeą. Additionally, the Dell Precision M3800 QHD+ (3200 x 1800) touchscreen display has higher resolution than the Apple MacBook Pro with Retina displayą and offers 33 percent more storage capacity at a significantly lower price point than a similarly configured system from Appleą. For producers seeking a larger screen for detailed work, the M3800 can be paired with the Dell UltraSharp 32 for viewing work in stunning Ultra HD clarity with high pixel density and exceptional color accuracy.
Award-Winning Visual Effects Powered by Dell Precision
Visual effects and digital service agencies also talked about the benefits of standardizing their workflows on Dell. Framestore, which is responsible for the award-winning Gravity, Iron Man 3, the McLaren F1 animated Tooned series and the title sequence for James Bond feature Skyfall, relies on high-performance Dell technology to create and manage extensive day-to-day digital work with minimal downtime. While digital service agency Visual Artuses Dell Precision workstations throughout the production pipeline to bring complex scenes to life, such as the cinematics for Electronic Arts global launch campaign of Battlefield 4, which included high-resolution characters and heavily sculpted environments with intricate geometry and textures.
Additionally, Dell works closely with partners such as fast-growing IT Services firm Future Tech to help deliver complete, end-to-end, turn-key technology solutions to top media companies including HBO and Viacom. Gary Pontore, executive vice president of operations for the company’s Modern Media Solutions (MMS) Division, talked about how they work with organizations to implement scalable media solutions for the digital age and their number offerings tailored for media professionals such as a video editing solution based on Dell Precision workstations, which they sell directly to their customers.
Dell Precision Showcases Film and Video Solutions During South by Southwest
From March 12 – 17, Dell is once again partnering with the FADER FORT presented by Converse to bring live performances from new and emerging artists to music fans across the world via live streaming. Dell Precision workstations with powerful Intel Xeon processors will be used for audio and video capture, encoding and building the editorial footage of the live stream. Starting on March 12, visitors to the FADER FORT in downtown Austin will have the opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at the live stream technology in Dell | Intel Live Stream Pod.
Also, Dell will be showcasing its latest film and video production solutions at the Dell and NVIDIA Green Room, the official SXSW Film Lounge, on March 7 – 11 and have product experts onsite to answer questions.
Finally, Dell is collaborating with Adobe to enable festival goers to create a personal Austin videogram, edited and produced on Dell Precision, and share via social media. For more information about Adobe at SXSW go to: www.adobe.com/go/sxsw–