Remote capabilities and reliable results make render management software the “backbone of BFA program” at NYC’s Fashion Institute of Technology.
Los Angeles, CA --
Free is great until system crashes become more common than polished renders. New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology learned this lesson the hard way after entrusting its render queue to free render farm management solutions. These systems were unable to provide the reliability required to produce quality animations and images for its students’ thesis projects, leading the Computer Animation and Interactive Media department to a solution that would: PipelineFX’s Qube!.
With a remote server and a linked network of HP workstations, the department’s render farm is something of a modest workhorse. They power it up and render out student projects – which can be everything from 1-3 minute 3D/hand-drawn animations to interactive content – and that’s it. To achieve this simple, but weighty aim nowadays, the department filters all Softimage-created assets through Qube! as it provides the consistency and world-class tech support they couldn’t get with RenderQ or Softimage Batchserve.
“As we improved our hardware, we found ourselves needing a better software package to increase the reliability of our render farm,” said Eric Kaplan, technical associate at FIT. “With Qube!, our staff gets a product that is easier to use and our students get something they can count on during finals week. It was an upgrade that paid off right away.”
The added efficiency of a Qube!-managed system freed the department from more than just crashing systems during go-time, it also gave the IT staff back their nights. “Hands down, our favorite feature is the ability to remotely manage and track jobs,” added Kaplan. “We no longer need students or an administrator to stay overnight to watch the output. Qube! does it for us, and if one job fails, Qube! automatically switches it to another server. It’s the backbone of the BFA program!”
“Even for smaller organizations, Qube! can have a big impact,” said Richard Lewis, CEO of PipelineFX. “Schools, just like studios, want to trust that their software will do what it’s supposed to do. They can count on Qube!”
Source: PipelineFX
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
