Most highly-requested new feature added to robust render farm solution

Frantic Films Software, a division of
award-winning visual effects studio Frantic Films, today announced the
launch of Deadline  3.0, the latest version of Frantic Films' render farm
solution software. Deadline  3.0 will be demonstrated at the Frantic Films
booth, #1720, throughout the SIGGRAPH Conference, to be held August 5-9,
2007 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, Calif.
Deadline 3.0 is Frantic Films' render farm management system that provides
a hassle-free method to both administer and render on Microsoft Windows,
Linux and Mac OSX-based render farms of all sizes. Signature features
include ultra-reliable rendering thanks to its unique "swarm" architecture;
an intuitive user interface; excellent support for popular rendering
packages; extensive job scheduling options and administrative and auditing
features; integrated remote administration tools and remote error
reporting; and cost-effective reliability for small, medium and large
render farms.

Said Sylvain Berger, Technical Director, Alpha Vision, "We've been using
Deadline for more than two years to run a render farm of over 160
computers, and we find the software to be not only extremely versatile and
customizable, but we're able to output thousands of images per month with
no worries. Last year alone, we churned out over 1.6 million images for
over 400 projects. With Deadline, I know everything will render smoothly
for weeks without having to closely monitor the server. Plus, the Deadline
development team is exemplary, and the support is fast and efficient."

Customers that have integrated Deadline into their render farm pipelines
include design visualization firm Alpha Vision, game developer Blizzard
Entertainment, and CafeFX. Additional customers include Melbourne,
Australia-based Digital Pictures Iloura and UK-based animation facility
Dinamo Productions.

"Deadline truly is the core of our pipeline here at Digital Pictures
Iloura, it is so much more to us than just a rendering manager – we run a
mixed 2D/3D toolset, and it is Deadline that has allowed us to transform
what would be chaos into an easily managed pipeline where things just
work," said Grant Adam, Lead TD, Digital Pictures Iloura. "The ability to
script plug-ins means that we use Deadline to automate just about anything
we can think of, and new tools can be integrated very easily."

Deadline is also continuously being put to task as the render farm solution
at all three Frantic Films VFX facilities in Los Angeles, Vancouver and
Winnipeg, on current projects including Journey to the Center of the Earth
and Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

"We've made consistent updates to Deadline since we launched the software
in 2004, but version 3.0 offers some of the most in-demand features, such
as Linux and Mac OS support, and the ability to offer Deadline as a
Service," said Chris Bond, president & creative director, Frantic Films.
"We've consistently received rave reviews about Deadline's reliability and
price point from our customers and anticipate an enthusiastic response to
the new levels of support offered in 3.0."

Key new features include:

  • Windows, Linux and OSX Support – Deadline Slave, Pulse, Launcher, and Command ported to Linux (Red Hat and Suse) and Mac OSX using Mono
  • Deadline as a Service – Ability to run Slave, Pulse, and Launcher as services on Windows
  • 64 bit support
  • Deadline upgraded to .NET 2.0
Pricing and Availability
Deadline will be available in the fall directly through the Frantic Films
Software Division, please visit http://software.franticfilms.com/ or
contact deadline-sales@franticfilms.com with sales inquiries. Deadline is
available now for a list price starting at $130 per render node for the
first 10 licenses, prices drop per unit with increased volume.