DNEG enhances VFX production with flexible architecture

As the studio continued to expand globally, massive workloads challenged its software-delivery and asset-tracking systems―and the team was interested in a cost-effective solution to better serve its clients.

DNEG wanted to transform the architecture of the technology used by its artists. The team favored a containerized solution with Kubernetes. Due to the highly confidential nature of its work, DNEG couldn’t use a cloud solution. “We have a lot of security requirements,” said Umesh Athigari, Technical Lead at DNEG. “All our studio assets have to be on premise, in private datacenters. We saw that Red Hat® OpenShift® matched those needs.”

With Red Hat OpenShift as its container platform, DNEG can standardize application development, management, and delivery across its global operations. Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus―a set of self-managed Red Hat products for building and running applications on premise, in the cloud, and at the edge―helped DNEG host and process large amounts of data, breaking down its previous structure into a series of microservices.

Red Hat OpenShift is now the foundation of an internal application, Pipe Query, which manages the storage of video assets and queries a database every time an artist uses an asset for video rendering. It’s a vital application programming interface (API)-based tool for developers. “Moving the backbone of our digital asset management system to [Red Hat] OpenShift has enabled us to base the pipeline on a new industry standard, Universal Scene Description (USD) technology,” said Athigari. “The APIs that we had would have posed serious limitations without [Red Hat] OpenShift.”

Furthermore, Red Hat Training assisted DNEG in making Pipe Query an effective tool, backed up by extensive support from Red Hat Consulting. “We got a lot more than architecture from the Red Hat consultants,” said Athigari. “They provided coaching, advice about the team, what kind of people we would need to manage it, and the skills required.” 

With Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus, DNEG’s development environment is significantly more flexible and scalable. It enhances the developer experience, automates key processes, and helps the studio adapt to rising demands more quickly and easily. “Our pipelines are important to the way we work,” said Ian Abbott, Software Architect at DNEG. “[Red Hat] OpenShift has enabled us to enhance and iterate on our pipelines so we can improve how we deal with larger jobs and processes.”

Now, visual effects (VFX) artists have more control over their resources, substantially reduced wait times, and more visibility into consumption costs, helping the team identify trends and make cost-effective decisions.

Next, DNEG plans to deploy Red Hat 3scale API Management for even greater control over its environment and more precise resource allocation. “We've only just scraped the surface of what's possible. We can see everything becoming more automated, more efficient, and easier to monitor,” said Abbott. “I'm excited to see how Red Hat can help us improve the developer experience at DNEG.”