Universal Images Digitally Re-Creates Ancient History in Record Time with Custom-Built Lightbeam Reel Six Pipeline
EMERYVILLE, CA – March 17, 2009 – Lightbeam Systems, the leading manufacturer of custom-designed computer systems for the visual effects industry, was chosen by Universal Images to design and create the digital effects pipeline and workflow for the History Channel's smash-hit “Battles BC” mini-series, which premiered last week with the highest ratings ever on a Monday night for any of A&E 's 11 networks.
“The people at Lightbeam are perfectionists about getting it right,” said Christopher Wirth, Universal Images Vice President and Chief Creative Officer. "We worked with them in designing workstations that are cutting-edge, cost-efficient and friendly to our artists. Our production time was slashed significantly by their expertise and passion to help us do what we wanted. Lightbeam Systems was extremely thorough and energetic about our project."
Lightbeam Systems custom-designed and built the rendering, 3D modeling and compositing systems for Universal Images. As part of its standard custom development process, Lightbeam thoroughly researched the software requirements to develop a powerful solution that not only was ideal for the Universal Images pipeline, but was also competitively priced. Lightbeam then intelligently integrated the hardware to fully leverage the software used by Universal Images, expediting from storyboarding to final output in a fraction of the time required with previous pipelines, significantly reducing production costs.
The digital effects for “Battles BC” were created with Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk Toxik, and Adobe After Effects. Lightbeam Systems is thoroughly seasoned in working with production software and has worked closely with Autodesk to design and build the first Autodesk Toxik workstations capable of real-time 32-bit 2K 4-channel streams. Lightbeam Systems’ ongoing research and development has consistently redefined the performance threshold for high-end visual effects and make it possible to produce sophisticated and complex projects on the desktop, eliminating the need for expensive turn-key systems.
About Lightbeam Systems
Lightbeam Systems develops state-of-the-art, specialized hardware solutions for professionals in the media and entertainment, engineering, financial, academic and scientific communities. The company is renowned for offering customized workstations that provide remarkable levels of performance and optimization in areas such as fluid dynamics, modeling, color management, editing, compositing, stereoscopic film and game production. Numerous award-winning feature films, television shows and top-selling video games are produced with Lightbeam products. In addition, Fortune 1000 companies rely on Lightbeam's expertise in innovative solutions to help them visualize, simulate and analyze complex tasks in record time. For more information, contact Lightbeam Systems at www.lightbeamsystems.com, 510-868-8059.
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Reel Six is a trademark of Lightbeam Systems Inc. All trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
