Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1495163
j a n u a r y • f e b r u a r y • m a r c h 2 0 2 3 c g w 2 7 I N D U S T R Y I N S I G H T S : W O R K S T A T I O N S a stunt as powerful as the machine itself. Working with ad agency Giant Spoon, they created a scenario that demonstrated the impact of rendering speed that goes from minutes to seconds – by dropping a Z8 Fury workstation out of a plane. To create the extreme spot, Z by HP, Giant Spoon, and production company Unit 9 enlisted the help of Tim Kafka, head of creative op- erations at The Mill LA, a creative and visual effects studio. Kafka and his team created a complex simulation of the landscape around the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in Southern California using SideFX Houdini soware, which can take advantage of the Z8 Fury's four GPUs. "A scene like this would normally take five minutes to render," Kafka says in the spot's voiceover. "Today we're giving the new Z8 Fury 30 seconds." Kafka monitors the in-process render safely from the ground as a stunt operator sits at the Z8 Fury, bolted to a desk, kicks off the render of the simulated scene just as it is launched out of a cargo plane, over the actual Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. To 'save itself,' the Z8 Fury must process the scene in the time it takes before the workstation hits the ground. Success triggers just-in-time deploy- ments of parachutes that float the Z8 Fury workstation safely to the ground. The spot brings home the difference a drastic improvement in render time can make, creating an authentic connection to the Z8 Fury's processing power along with a playful hook of suspense, sur- prise, and delight. The spot premiered February 7, 2023, at the HP Z8 Fury launch event held in the classic Manhattan Car Club. Kafka was on hand, along with Matt Cochran, director of information technology, Hendrick Motorsports and Ian Briggs, design director and co-found- er, Briggs Automotive Company, who showcased its Mono, the world's only single-seater, road-legal bespoke racing vehicle, to talk about their experiences with the Z by HP line of workstations. Kafka noted, "The project in the spot was a real test. I started to work on it before the HP Z8 Fury was fully ready, so I was on my older workstation. When I got my hands on the Z8 Fury, I was blown away by how much faster it was rendering. I was able to add even more detail and still be below the time limit." He added, "The spot is an extreme example of what a drastic ren- dering speed improvement means, but it is a revelation in your day- to-day work. When an artist is lighting a scene or running FX sim- ulations, their workstation's speed is going to determine how many iterations they can do in a day. And that means they can refine their work faster and move on to the next task sooner. When you look at all the time you could save on the hundreds or thousands of renders you need to complete a project—that's incredibly significant." It's not just visual effects and rendering that can be impacted. This extreme workstation performance enables new opportuni- ties for professionals working in any industry that demands high compute power—from deep learning and data analysis, to 3D product design and modeling, to AEC (architectural, engineering, and construction) simulation and manufacturing. The Z8 Fury delivers the processing power that unlocks the door to more fre- quent iteration, and ultimately the next level performance needed to stay ahead. ¢