Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/33055
The Mill Chooses Multiple Options for its Storage The Mill (www.the-mill.com) in London uses different storage solutions for differ- ent needs, but when using Autodesk’s Smoke on the Mac, the studio opts for a 6TB LaCie 12big Rack Network. Smoke is used for commercial editing, finishing, and VFX at the facility. “We’ve had the LaCie for about 18 months,” says senior engineer Adam Coles. “With Smoke now on Mac, you’re no longer tied into the hardware turnkey solu- tion. You can buy whatever storage you like.” The 12big Rack was suggested to The Mill by the facility’s Smoke software vendor. Another deciding factor was the unit’s fault tolerance. “It has a hardware Modern VideoFilm uses Omneon MediaGrid hardware for its episodic television and feature projects. The facility found that the equipment scales to its growing needs. (left and right)—approximately six times the requirement for playback of HD versus the facility’s old colorization projects. “You have to have fast computer I/O so you’re not waiting for files,” Greene says. Cost was another important consider- ation in selecting a storage solution. And according to Greene, Aurora was the only reasonably priced system the studio found that could do the job. “There were some other solutions out there, but nothing we could afford to put on seven client review stations—and we plan to increase that number to 17 stations,” he says. Legend3D uses Isilon for primary and near- line storage. “Between 350 and 400 artists hit the storage; most work locally and then check back in at the end of the day when editors put completed files on the timeline in Aurora for review by stereographers and VFX super- visors,” Greene explains. The company invested in a pair of Galaxy Auroras when it began working on Alice in Wonderland. “What was remarkable was that the system was pretty much a plug-and-play solution,” says Greene. “Out of the box it was able to do 2k stereo in real time.” Galaxy Aurora has become the standard for review-station storage at Legend3D; four more systems are on order. The company is also working with Rorke and FalconStor to come up with a SAN solution to use the same time- line across multiple workstations, automating the process for a number of Auroras. n Christine Bunish is a freelance writer in the postproduc- tion industry. RAID-5 configuration and fault-reporting software, so we can continue to work in event of a failure,” Coles adds. Used in a workflow in which it is dedicated to the Smoke, the storage system “is not taxed too much,” admits Coles. “But it has to work day in, day out, and it has been performing fine. The 12big Rack has two 4GB Fibre links into Smoke, so there’s more than enough bandwidth.” The Mill creates a range of projects, including a three-minute Nike ad that ran during the World Cup. The studio uses LaCie and BlueArc systems, as well as others, for its storage. While the group is pleased with the 12big Rack, that is not the only system at The Mill. According to Coles, the facility is outfitted with a number of other storage solutions for different applications, including BlueArc’s Mercury storage for VFX-heavy jobs. “We’ve used BlueArc for some time, initially in the UK on projects like Nike’s ‘Write the Future,’ and now in our US offices,” says Steve Smallwood, engineer at The Mill in London. “While the performance and reliability that the BlueArc equip- ment provides are our primary drivers for using this equipment, the high level of technical and sales support we receive has always reassured us.” Two clustered BlueArc Mercury storage systems were used in creating the VFX for “Write the Future,” a three-minute Nike ad from Wieden+Kennedy/ Amsterdam and directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu that captured attention during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The Mill’s VFX team worked on 236 shots, including crafting a CG stadium, replicating the crowd, rotoscoping the players, and creating a fully-CG satellite and Earth matte painting. In addition to those solutions, The Mill also has Autodesk-branded storage, Apple’s Xsan, and DVS and Isilon systems. —Christine Bunish May 2011 21