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22
flip a switch, and thousands of people and buildings
instantly appear. Flip it off, and they go away. On. Off. On. Off.
Sounds like a cartoon, doesn’t it?
For Threshold Digital Research Lab, a digital production
company that’s really in the business of intellectual property man-
agement, it is a cartoon…or a full-length film, a television show, or
a Web site. It’s whatever high-end graphic, animation and special
effects power they need right at that moment. On. Off.
They have all the IT muscle they need to challenge far larger
competitors without breaking the bank, because this groundbreak-
ing studio pays only for the computing capacity as it’s needed—an
especially attractive pricing model for an entertainment company,
which faces surges in demand (“opening next week, everywhere”)
and periods of lower-intensity use (“coming next fall to a theater
near you”). Think of it as supercomputing on demand: IBM hosts
the computing in New York, and Threshold animators and artists in
California apply their super-creative talents to make the most of it.
Threshold’s upcoming full-length animated feature, Foodfight!,
will include 138 speaking characters, more than 6,000 “extras”
and 174 sets with nearly 5,000 buildings—all digital, and all ready
for an early call at the flip of a switch, anytime they’re needed. So
despite the complexity of the project, Threshold has been able to
use IBM’s Deep Computing Capacity On Demand Center to
shorten its production cycle to 18 months—less than a third of
the time it takes to produce most animated films.
some customers tap into ibm’s deep computing capacity
on demand center, while others have capacity on demand
sitting in their ibm machines, waiting to be turned on.
in fact, more than $500 million of that capacity
on demand was turned on in 2003, with another $10 billion
still in the marketplace.
01.
THE VIRTUAL STUDIO
Major film studios used to need up to 500 acres
of sets, props, costumes and characters. Today,
Threshold’s “virtual backlot” is making a feature
with more of all of these than the largest epics of
the past—in a studio of less than 10,000 square
feet. And when filming “wraps,” Threshold doesn’t
have to destroy the sets and send its character
actors packing. They remain intact and accessible
for modification and future use by other
Threshold artists.
02.
ON TIME AND ON BUDGET
Even popular films often lose money simply
because they cost too much to make. Threshold’s
on demand e-studio avoids the large permanent
overhead some of its competitors must support.
And it uses human capital just as efficiently.
Threshold’s core group of animators can tap
the talents of remotely based colleagues
using industry-standard IBM workstations.
Chairman and CEO Larry Kasanoff believes
his on demand business model can cut costs
as much as 40 percent.