HP Enables DreamWorks Animation to Leap “Over the Hedge”

HP Enables DreamWorks Animation to Leap “Over the Hedge”

HP technology helped DreamWorks Animation SKG create the animated film, “Over the Hedge,” which was released today in U.S. theaters and is showing at the 59th Cannes International Film Festival. HP, which is DreamWorks Animation’s preferred technology provider, delivered servers, workstations and HP Halo collaboration studios to meet the demanding business and production needs required to create the new computer-generated (CG) film.

“Over the Hedge” is about RJ, a traveling raccoon who encourages a group of animals to venture over a large hedge in search of food. The adventure unfolds when the animals interact with humans living nearby. DreamWorks Animation’s digital artists created lighting and special effects for “Over the Hedge” using HP xw9300 Workstations and HP ProLiant DL145G2 servers powered by Dual-Core AMD Opteron™ processors.

These systems provided increased computing power over DreamWorks Animation’s previous generation of systems, helping artists work on multiple scenes simultaneously. In fact, the ProLiant servers provided “Over the Hedge” more than 15 million render hours – three times more than DreamWorks Animation’s original “Shrek” film – making it the most powerful render-farm in DreamWorks Animation’s history.

“Computer-generated filmmaking consumes an extraordinary amount of computational power and our creative ambition always seems to stay two steps ahead of what’s possible,” said Ed Leonard, chief technology officer, DreamWorks Animation SKG. “HP not only enables us to stay two steps ahead on the animation side, but on the business side, too. With HP and AMD’s help we are able to release two CG films a year – unprecedented in the industry.”

Read the complete Press Release