Multiprocessing Architecture Key to Reducing Image Rendering Time; Cuts Final Production Time of an Image from Hours to Minutes
ORLANDO (July 21, 1998) -- Silicon Graphics, Inc. (NYSE: SGI) today announced that mental images' next generation rendering software, mental ray™ 2.0, was developed using Silicon Graphics®-Origin™ Servers. The Origin servers were selected because of their multiprocessing architecture which is critical to the efficient development of multi-threaded applications.
"With mental ray 2.0, customers can harness the power of multiprocessor systems to fully utilize every CPU cycle to deliver a better quality product in the shortest possible time,'' noted Rolf Herken, President and Director of Research and Development for mental images. "The parallelism, scalability and throughput of our 16 processor Silicon Graphics Origin2000 server provided us with an excellent testing and development platform in creating the software and achieving these kinds of performance improvements.''
Recently completed projects rendered using Silicon Graphics and mental images technologies include the hit game Riven and films such as Batman & Robin, Sphere, The Fifth Element , and the summer blockbuster Godzilla . The Silicon Graphics Origin server is the platform of choice for rendering in the entertainment industry -- supported by all the major industry leaders including Centropolis, Cinesite, Fox Animation Studios and Industrial Light + Magic.
"Our customers have found that the sheer CPU horsepower and 24x7 reliability of our systems, combined with a multi-threaded renderer such as mental ray, enables them to quickly prototype and simulate complex scenes,'' said Todd Johnson, senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing for Silicon Graphics. "This combination often results in a substantial increase in productivity and an improvement in the final quality of the scene -- the kind of quality that entertainment consumers have come to expect whether they are watching a feature film, playing a video game or visiting an arcade.''
Rendering with the Origin Server lets directors effortlessly combine computer-generated images with live action scenes for final production. The Silicon Graphics and mental images combination is an ideal rendering solution because it shaves precious time off those pressurized final production deadlines.
mental ray 2.0 was designed to take advantage of the firepower of multiple processors and parallelism inherent in Silicon Graphics systems -- like having eight cylinders rather than just four. This full-throttle power has been bred into the Origin server architecture and dramatically reduces the time it takes to render each image for the final effects of a scene.
The Origin server enables highly multi-threaded applications like mental ray to achieve upwards of 75 percent efficiency in processing power. This is a result of the software design which was created to leverage the multiprocessing architecture of the server, allowing the software to take advantage of all 16 CPUs in a single server configuration. This paradigm provides tremendous savings in the amount of memory utilized per frame of an animation, particularly when compared to single CPU system render farms (clusters of single CPU systems).
mental ray 2.0 will be licensed and/or distributed through Microsoft, Softimage and other third parties. For more information contact mental images at the mental images GmbH & Co. KG, Attn.: Silvia Hanko, Fasanenstrasse 81, D 10623 Berlin, Germany, +49 30 315 997-0.
mental images, founded in 1986, is a recognized leader in providing rendering technology to the entertainment, computer-aided design, scientific visualization, architecture and other industries that require sophisticated images. The privately held company is located in Berlin, Germany.
Silicon Graphics, Inc. is a leading supplier of visual computing and high-performance systems. The company offers the broadest range of products in the industry -- from low-end desktop workstations to servers and high-end supercomputers. Key industries include communications, energy, entertainment, government, manufacturing and sciences. Silicon Graphics and its subsidiaries have offices throughout the world and corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California.
Silicon Graphics and the Silicon Graphics Logo are registered trademarks, and Origin and Origin 2000 are trademarks, of Silicon Graphics, Inc. mental images and mental ray are trademarks or registered trademarks of mental images GmbH & Co. KG in the United States and other countries.
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