Don’t Go From Bad to Worse

Our company rents computers and servers and often our clients are smaller facilities that have to scale up for a big job. These customers usually don't have an IT person on hand to deal with the inevitable hiccups that occur when you have a lot of equipment around.

Even though we provide support, we've learned that we have to emphasize to our renters that if there's a problem, call us first! All too often in the heat of the moment, someone on their team decides he or she will try a few things. Not good!

I thought it would be helpful to share some thoughts with you as to how to avoid turning a simple problem into a disaster. 

The first rule, don't do anything while the machine is running a process. Wait as long as you can and add 15 minutes to that. Rebooting can solve a lot of problems but not if you kill the power while the machine is computing. Never kill the power, period! Restart the device using a command, doing a force quit, or pressing the power button. Don't pull the plug.

Along the same lines let's talk about removable hard drives. Do nothing while they're reading or writing data. Typically, this is indicated by a rapidly flashing light on the front of the drives. One of the worst expressions associated with RAID arrays is 'hot-swappable.' If you think one of the drives in your RAID is faulty, follow a safe procedure or call us at VFX Technologies for support. Ejecting a drive or a flash card without following proper procedures can lead to a catastrophic disaster, possibly the loss of all data on the device.

Keep your original media assets safe and close by while you're working. Save and back up, use a RAID if you can and if you can have a near-line server or backup to drives, even better. There are very simple methods of backing up the critical folders of a job quickly and easily. Depending on the specifics, I can share this information with you, just drop me a line.

A good practice, if you can, is to keep your project on a network not connected to the Internet. If your team can be on workstations and storage servers independent of the primary network, you avoid a lot of potential problems such as intrusion, malware infection, misuse of assets, and loss of productivity. There are several approaches to this solution that depend on your circumstances. Again, if you want to know more, get in touch with me.

There is a basic list of reasons why computers and storage fails. At the top of the list is human error. Be patient with your gear and if you don't know why it's not working, don't try to guess. Support is out there for you. Here's a quick list of what else you can do to keep things running smoothly:

• Have a Battery Backup Device (UPS) or a surge protector at least.
• Keep your software up to date.
• Have virus protection.
• Keep your equipment in a cool and clean environment.
• Don't ignore warning signs, error messages, or system crashes.

It's easier to solve a small problem than a big one. It's better to make sure your systems are in good condition before you start a project. It's smarter to ask for help when a problem arises.

-Jim Reisman

GPU Rendering is Here. Take a Break!

Rendering using graphics cards is not new, but it is not widespread because it requires a change in established workflows. Autodesk Maya, for example, is widely used by visual effects artists and the rendering software for Maya is Mental Ray. Recently Mental Ray was updated, and it can now work with GPUs. NVIDIA purchased Mental Ray, and their latest version has GPU acceleration for GI-Next that can slash a one-hour render to a 5-minute coffee break. 

This speed requires the combination of a high-end graphics card such as the NVIDIA M6000 and a Dual CPU, multi-core processors such as the HP Z workstations or Boxx Apexx line. CG artists using Autodesk Maya can tap NVIDIA’s GPU-accelerated renderer, Mental Ray, directly within Maya for free. You'll only need a Mental Ray license for production rendering.

Autodesk used to provide Mental Ray support to end-users, but NVIDIA has taken over that task. NVIDIA is supplying the latest Mental Ray and workflow enhancements to multiple Maya versions, starting with Maya 2016 and 2017 on Windows, Linux, and MacOS.

NVIDIA will “be serving end users directly” with their Mental Ray for Maya plug-in. The new plug-in will show results directly in the viewport, starting at low quality and increasing until the view changes.

By announcing GI-Next, NVIDIA says this will speed up global illumination in Mental Ray, and it will also reduce the number of options required to tune the results to just a single quality slider, making it easier for artists to pick up. One of their benchmarks shows a 26-fold increase in performance, most of that attributable to GPU acceleration.

Artists can use Mental Ray within Maya to craft scenes and render individual frames at any resolution, using any supported processor within a machine. NVIDIA Mental Ray is backward compatible for scenes from earlier Maya versions. It’s able to output .mi files to feed production pipelines. Autodesk 3D Max is also making use of Mental Ray, and it's GPU rendering capability.

To the delight of professional artists, GPUs are becoming more viable after years of CPU dominance. Recent trends suggest that this will only increase in the future. GPUs are increasing in speed, memory, and power efficiency. Having graphics cards handle with image processing while the CPUs manage the workstations resources results in a faster and smoother workflow. With a computer properly configured to handle your project, you may be able to get home in time to relax and watch a few TV shows featuring some cool visual effects. 

My company, VFX Technologies, can provide these GPU enabled workstations to you for rent, to keep your expenses down. We can also build, configure, and sell your company the optimal system to increase efficiency and lower operating costs.

- Jim Reisman
 

Use our Software, it's Free. No, Use Ours, No Ours

The news coming out of NAB is that three of the leading software developers of editing and finishing applications will offer their programs for free or dramatically lower prices. Free software allows companies to get new users to try and become familiar with the capabilities of their products. The more new artists who know a program, the more it makes sense for editorial and visual effects facilities to use those products to increase output.

Last Saturday, Avid announced Media Composer® | First, a free version of their widely used video editing system. It provides "aspiring creative professionals, students, and those just starting their professional careers with free access to the same creative tools used by the most successful and acclaimed filmmakers and television program creators in the world." 

Media Composer | First gives users a comprehensive editing toolset with many of the same features and functionality the full version of Media Composer. ME First offers four video tracks, eight audio tracks, and a host of built-in visual effects, transitions, color correction presets and titling templates, users can quickly cut together layers of video, dialog, music and sound effects to produce professional-quality video content. Media Composer | First allows easy sharing, with easy publishing to popular social media channels including YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook.

You can download Media Composer | First starting in June.

A growing number of facilities are looking for trained Baselight colorists and assistants. Filmlight just released Baselight STUDENT, a free licensed and software-only MacOS application. It’s a perfect learning tool, either for training to become a professional colorist or for experienced practitioners moving up to Baselight from other applications. It provides you a professional grading experience

Baselight STUDENT is a complete version of FilmLight’s Baselight color grading software—with GPU rendering—that runs on any supported Mac platform. It supports using an optional control surface and SDI monitoring for a full grading suite experience.

The principle limitation is that the application is restricted to render out only h.264* movies or JPEG images. It has no watermarking meaning that Baselight STUDENT can be used to create academic-year projects within the limitation of the delivery formats. Along with conform capability, color space handling, format editing, and the ability to render both image sequences and movie files, this also makes the application the ideal tool to learn how to start your career as a professional colorist assistant. It is available now.

Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve has been coming on strong in recent years, and at NAB that introduced a new version Studio 14 and not only is it vastly more feature-laden, but it is also only $299 to purchase and FREE to try.

The new DaVinci Resolve 14, now has Fairlight audio tools specifically designed for film and television post-production. Adding this to the features from the previous version,  it’s like getting three high-end applications in one! All it takes is a single click to switch between editing, color correcting, audio mastering and delivery! 

Resolve 14 has a new playback engine that increases responsiveness. BMD claims up to 10X better performance. If you're collaborating with a team, you can all work on the same project at the same time!  It is available now.

VFX Technologies can provide you the hardware you need to run these applications, and we can rent it to you for a week, a month, or as long as you need. We sell what we rent, and for those of you looking to purchase Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Studio 14, we have a special price only for our subscribers, call Jim at (800) 516-4302 or email me by clicking here. - Jim Reisman