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LIST: $1,199 (per workstation)
$999 per render node
WHY I LOVE IT : We recently put Turtle to the test
on the new theatrical openings for Lionsgate Films. This project
presented us with the opportunity to create a piece that would
potentially be seen on every Lionsgate release for the next 20 to 30
years, so we wanted to push the envelope on the level of quality and
detail to make sure it would stand the test of time.
The most obvious challenge on this project was to create
hyper-realistic-looking, high-polished metals with anisotropic
qualities and glossy reflections— in other words, a ray tracing
nightmare. Support from Illuminate Labs was fantastic. They worked with
us every step of the way, troubleshooting, adding new features and
constantly improving render times.
We also decided to stick our foot into the 32-bit waters for this
project. Working in 32-bit is slowly becoming standard practice at
high-end facilities, but for smaller shops it’s certainly not been as
viable. Knowing that Turtle had already implemented 32-bit rendering to
both Tiff32 and ILM’s OpenEXR format gave us more confidence to explore
this workflow. The speed and quality at which Turtle produced these
32-bit images was second to none. Even then they continued to help us
reduce render times and increase quality throughout the project.
Switching to new and unproven software is always a risk. I can
certainly say I had to fight my share of doubters and critics when I
first made the decision to go with Turtle. There were a lot of raised
eyebrows. But the software made believers out of our clients and
artists in record time, all while saving us money as licensing prices
are by machine NOT by CPU. I continue to feel like I found a diamond in
the rough with Turtle."
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