NEXSAN STORAGE PROVIDES DIGITAL MOVIE MAGIC

The InfiniSAN™ ATAboy2™ from Nexsan Technologies, the leader in innovative storage solutions, provides the backbone for storing vast amounts of data generated by the Moving Picture Company (MPC) for the digital effects used in a variety of film projects.

MPC is one of the world’s leading post-production facilities, creating high-end digital visual effects and computer animation for the advertising, music, television and feature film industries. The Soho, London-based company is responsible for the digital wizardry seen in Hollywood productions such as Alien Vs. Predator, Big Fish, Ella Enchanted, all three of the Harry Potter films including the latest release, Troy and Wimbledon. The increased use of computer-generated imagery and the capacity needed for each of these shots have placed huge demands on its data storage.

Nexsan’s ATAboy2 is a key component of MPC’s 100TB-capacity storage facility and thousand-processor render farm. With more than 20 artists working on different aspects of a single shot or sequence at any given time, MPC needed an extremely flexible network with a balanced architecture to supply enough storage capacity to enable these parallel, data-intensive operations. The ATAboy2 allows MPC to meet the demand for these data-intensive projects with enhanced performance and minimum downtime.

"Storage is pretty much a commodity to us," said Steve MacPherson, Head of Technical Operations in MPC’s film division. "But Nexsan has proved to be so reliable over the past four years, and at such an attractive combination of price and performance, that it’s become the bedrock of our storage system."

"CGI is becoming a standard process in today’s filmmaking environment – from the creation of fantasy worlds and creatures to cost-saving effects and untethered camera shots," said Brendan Kinkade, Nexsan Vice President of Marketing. "For those working in this digital realm, it is imperative that they adopt a storage solution that maximizes capacity, minimizes complexity and can scale with the demands of the business. Nexsan’s ATAboy series is a boon to those artists who push pixels for a living."

New WEGA Engine Televisions from Sony:
The Ultimate Armchair Viewing Experience

As home entertainment systems become more and more sophisticated, we have all come to expect ‘cinema quality’ home viewing. Now Sony has launched a breakthrough television technology to deliver our most realistic picture yet- WEGA Engine.

Specially developed for today’s Plasma and LCD TVs, WEGA Engine uses the latest digital technology to bring us pictures that are clearer and sharper than ever before. Wega Engine is also available on Integrated Digital TV (Freeview models) as well as traditional analogue.

There are three new Sony television ranges featuring WEGA Engine, which also boast fantastic sound, integrated AV applications and top-notch styling to match the incredible picture quality.

The state-of-the-art MRX series is the definition of “designer TV”, with its space-age, “floating” design and sleek, slim contours. The range is also supremely practical, as the Plasma or LCD screens are easily wall-mounted, and the separate media receiver in the MRX range is small and slim enough to fit in a separate cabinet or on a shelf.

With screens ranging in size from 32 to 61 inches, an MRX set is perfect if you want to make a big statement - but if space is more limited, the slim line SG and HG Series offer the same WEGA Engine quality in the 21-26 inch screen range and offer a 170° viewing angle ideal for the more unusual shaped room.

The third option is the stylish XS Series that combines top quality flat panel performance with “floating” ultra slim styling and a digital tuner enabling access to over 30 Freeview channels without the need for a separate TV tuner or decoder box, ideal when space is at a premium.

Sony will also be launching the KLV-L32M1 this month.