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StudioGPU MachStudio Pro Streamlines Creation of First Playmobil Entertainment DVD for Sony

StudioGPU announced today that the CGI experts at Hollywood-based Extra Large Technology (XLT) turned to StudioGPU MachStudio™ Pro to accelerate the production of Playmobil: The Secret of Pirate Island DVD for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. To create the first feature-length interactive animated adventure based on the popular Playmobil Pirates playsets, XLT relied on MachStudio Pro real-time 3D workflow and rendering technology to keep the innovative project on schedule and within budget.

Playmobil: The Secret of Pirate Island is based on the popular line of Playmobil Pirates playsets, which spring to life for the first time in this swashbuckling onscreen adventure. To deliver the 90-minute action adventure in less than 18 months, XLT artists broke free of conventional lighting and rendering processes for MachStudio Pro, a modern, streamlined program featuring a non-linear approach to 3D workflow. MachStudio Pro delivers GPU-accelerated real-time performance, allowing artists to quickly manipulate lights, cameras, and materials on the fly for greater control and flexibility within the animation pipeline.

“The Secret of Pirate Island licensed entertainment project is a first of its kind for Playmobil, and the company was very involved in every aspect of the look and feel of the entire project,” explains Charles Cohen, founder and CEO, XLT. “The real-time performance of MachStudio Pro allowed us to have greater flexibility and control over the lighting and rendering. The ability to make changes quickly and easily in film quality on the desktop with MachStudio Pro was critical in delivering the project on time and on budget.”

“Thanks to MachStudio Pro, we could see when there was too much bloom in one shot or not enough blur in another. We didn’t have to wait 40 minutes to see the glow on a treasure chest full of coins,” said Quinn Tetterton, executive vice president at XLT and creative producer overseeing the project. “It’s a great asset, because you can actually experiment during crunch time and get away with it. We could not have done The Secret of Pirate Island in the limited amount of time we had without MachStudio Pro.”

“MachStudio Pro basically skips the entire software rendering process,” says Zeth Dubois, CG supervisor at XLT. “Normally, lighting and rendering is a torturously long process. In a typical workflow, artists approximate lighting with their desktop software, make low-quality or regional test renders, then cross their fingers and send their files to a render farm, waiting hours or longer to see results.” Dubois continues, “But with MachStudio Pro, artists quickly get the feedback they need to make meaningful creative choices without getting bogged down in trying to figure out the technical issues.”

Children and their parents can experience the Pirates journey firsthand at http://www.sonywonder.com. Playmobil: The Secret of Pirate Island is now available at http://www.sonywonder.com, Amazon.com and other authorized Sony retailers.

XLT continues to expand its services to create animation for broadcast, features, on-line virtual worlds, advertising, mobile media and graphic novels. For more information about XLT, please visit http://www.extralargetech.com.

About StudioGPU

StudioGPU develops software and technology that frees digital artists from the creative shackles of time, money and resources. MachStudio Pro empowers artists and designers working in film, broadcast, game development, computer-assisted design (CAD), and pre- and post-production to create and manipulate fully rendered film-quality 3D design and animation in real-time. For more information, visit http://www.studiogpu.com.

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