Studio Chooses Intel for Chip Pact In a Blow to AMD, DreamWorks Animation Shifts in Move to 3-D
By DON CLARK Wall Street Journal July 8, 2008 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121548418107834867.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. has chosen Intel Corp. to supply chips and other technology for its big computer-animation operations, a shift that will cost Advanced Micro Devices Inc. one of its most prestigious customers. The pact is expected to replace the studio's computing hardware -- which now includes 1,500 Hewlett-Packard Co. server systems and 1,000 workstations that use AMD microprocessors -- with new H-P systems that use Intel chips. DreamWorks Animation said the resulting increase in computing power would substantially shorten the time needed for many computing chores and aid the studio's planned shift next year to 3-D animation. "For our artists, the impact is going to be really nothing less than monumental," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks Animation's chief executive. Financial terms aren't being disclosed. Mr. Katzenberg stressed that the move was based on capabilities of two forthcoming generations of Intel chips. "They are radical game-changers for the entire field of computing," he said. Intel's next major chip family, code-named Nehalem, is expected to offer as many as eight processors and hit the market in the second half of 2008. Intel about a year later is expected to deliver a chip dubbed Larrabee that can be used to manage graphics in computers and other chores that could help customers such as the animation studio. Besides helping speed up the studio's hardware, Intel will send a team of programmers to help DreamWorks Animation adapt its software to exploit Intel's new chips and aid in the shift to creating 3-D effects, said Paul Otellini, Intel's CEO. DreamWorks, in turn, will help Intel develop technologies that could find their way into chips used in personal computers and portable devices. DreamWorks Animation's decision to use Intel-powered systems is a blow to AMD, which has heavily courted tech-savvy animation houses as customers. AMD announced a three-year pact with the studio in April 2005, and Mr. Katzenberg has spoken at major AMD events. At an event in May 2007 at the DreamWorks Animation headquarters in Glendale, Calif., the studio's executives extolled how important AMD Opteron chips with dual processors were in creating "Shrek the Third." They also said the company would likely upgrade its servers to use a four-processor version of Opteron, code-named Barcelona, that was announced in September 2007. But the initial version of that chip had technical flaws that caused delays in increasing production of the product. The issues contributed to financial problems at AMD, including a $358 million loss in the first quarter. John Taylor, an AMD spokesman, noted that the company still counts major studios as customers, including Walt Disney Co.'s Pixar unit, and is persuading some to exploit both its graphics chips and its microprocessors. He added that technology commitments from companies such as DreamWorks Animation tend to be cyclical. "We would very much hope to be working with them in the future," he said. The animation company, which was spun off from live-action studio DreamWorks SKG in 2004, is expected to make its shift to a new generation of 3-D images with "Monsters vs. Aliens," a film scheduled for release in March 2009. Mr. Katzenberg says the new format, which requires users to wear a new style of glasses, will have a marked effect on the visual appearance of animated movies. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu ******************************* * POST TO [EMAIL PROTECTED] * ******************************* Medianews mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
