Pixar Animation Studios today released its next generation distributed processing solution, Tractor 1.0.
Press Release from Pixar
EMERYVILLE, CA - (April 30th, 2010) Pixar Animation Studios today released its next generation distributed processing solution, Tractor 1.0. Derived from Pixar's unparalleled experience in managing the computational demands of the world's largest render farms through its RenderMan and Alfred products, Tractor 1.0 is a completely new and robust solution specifically engineered to address the extreme scalability and performance requirements of multi-core networks of tens of thousands of processors and beyond.
Tractor consists of three primary components: the Engine, the Blade, and the Dashboard. The Tractor Engine maintains the central job queue and dispatches tasks, the Tractor Blade consists of a Python-based execution server running on each remote node, and the Tractor Dashboard is a customizable web browser user interface providing centralized control. Tractor's streamlined design ensures quick deployment, and delivers high performance with a queuing engine capable of dispatching over 500 commands per second. Tractor 1.0 uses proven, open web standards and is highly customizable, for example allowing systems administrators to easily add Python extension modules to Tractor Blades and customize the specifics of how tasks are launched.
Tractor 1.0 will replace Pixar's Alfred and Alfserver. To aid in the transition for Alfred users, Tractor is designed to be fully compatible with previous Alfred scripts, and is available to customers of those products on current maintenance, as a free upgrade, on a one-to-one basis. Tractor is also available as a cost-effective standalone solution that can be deployed on any network to control a wide variety of alternative non-render applications.
AvailabilityDesigned for both small and large multi-core networks, Tractor 1.0 has a simple to understand license model in which each Tractor license is able to execute one task on a remote client for only $99. Until December 31, 2012, existing Alfred, Alfserver, RenderMan Pro Server, and RenderMan Studio customers on active maintenance are entitled to replace their Alfred and Alfserver licenses with an equivalent number of Tractor licenses on a one to one basis at any time. The Tractor 1.0 Engine is compatible with Mac OS X and Linux 32-bit and 64-bit. The Tractor Blade and Tractor Dashboard is compatible with Mac OS X, Linux 32-bit and 64-bit, Windows 7, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit, and Windows Vista 64-bit HPC Server. For more information please contact rendermansales@pixar.com. Additional details on pricing and availability plus an FAQ can also be found at https://renderman.pixar.com/products/tools/tractor.html
About Pixar Animation Studios Pixar Animation Studios, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is an Academy Award-winning film studio with world-renowned technical, creative, and production capabilities in the art of computer animation. Creator of some of the most successful and beloved animated films of all time, including Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E and most recently Up, the Northern California studio has won 24 Academy Awards and its ten films have grossed more than $5 billion at the worldwide box office to date. The next film release from Disney-Pixar is Toy Story 3 (June 18, 2010).
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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