Working with visual effects isn’t just challenging but also very taxing. It requires large data storage and processor-intensive resources. Rendering the VFX data such as animation image requires access to resources such as superior server power to sustain the highly time-consuming and expensive processes involved.
The development of cloud computing though, has provided a leeway to the VFX industry. The Internet-based computing paradigm offers several advantages which the animation and visual effects sector have started to avail.
Here are some of them.
Rendering
One of the most integral jobs in visual effects development, rendering may take a few seconds to a few days for a single frame/image. But in most cases, it is the latter as it involves numerous servers to render the frames across.
In cloud-based rendering, a single cloud-infrastructure does everything.
It is possible for multiple work flow streams to benefit from the single cloud-infrastructure, whereas there are few cloud services which also provide integration with other softwares and optimization for animation workflow.
Also by lining renders to the cloud, the VFX studios will no longer have to slow down due to the server overload or even idle machines. Tasks which required several hours could now be finished much earlier, whereas some painstaking VFX jobs such as the ray tracing can be done with the rendering capability of the cloud.
Cost savings
Developing animations normally require data intensive softwares which need very high processing power to function. Also as the demands of the clients increase, the animators would have to bring in more precision and be visually appealing.
For that, the company may have to loosen their purse strings and shell out a hefty sum. But by availing cloud computing services, one can avoid this expenditure.
With pay-as-you-use feature, the animators can now estimate their budget in advance depending on the needs of the customers. This might save millions of dollars.
Better utilisation of server
Cloud computing has this amazing feature of availing the processing power of other servers in the cloud when one of your own gets fully occupied or goes down due to technical failures.
So by renting the processing power of other servers and cloud infrastructure, once can better utilise the server power to the cloud providers.
Scalability
Not only can the artists scale up from one machine to a hundred/thousand machines at the drop of a hat when the usage need increases, but can also finish a complicated and time-consuming task very quickly.
For instance, simulation involving water would be extremely demanding in terms of hardware rendering time that even minor changes would take several hours to implement. But thanks to the cloud, such tasks can now be completed within a matter of minutes.
The VFX industry is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the cloud, and the fact that more and more animation or visual effects studios are adopting it is a testament to that.