Press Release from Frantic Films Software
Las Vegas, NV-NAB 2009, Booth #SL4430 (April 20, 2009) -- Frantic Films Software, the R&D division of award-winning visual effects company Frantic Films VFX and a division of Prime Focus Group, today announced the launch of Deadline 3.1, the company's hassle-free administration and rendering toolkit for Windows, Linux and Mac OSX-based render farms. The latest version provides support for MetaRender, the render package from IRIDAS that automates complex transcoding tasks in production pipelines and post facilities. MetaRender works across platforms and greatly simplifies the task of managing file conversions, including burning-in grading or LUTs and adding file information for viewing with digital dailies.
"Deadline has a reputation and history for being an ultra-reliable render farm management system," said Patrick J. Palmer, COO, IRIDAS. "It's great to have a front-end product like Deadline, which is so user-friendly, to act as the interface for MetaRender, and we are extremely pleased that Deadline 3.1 now provides integration with MetaRender's automated transcoding capabilities."
Prior to its release, Deadline 3.1 underwent thorough beta testing by several longtime Deadline customers, including lead technical artist Mike Owen at the UK's Burrows nVisage. Owen has been a Deadline customer since 2007.
"The design visualization and VFX industry moves at a breakneck speed, and it's refreshing to find a software developer that's always one step ahead," said Owen. "Deadline's installation design makes it very easy to deploy silently. New versions only have to be updated on the server, which then automatically updates your entire farm! The system can then be configured through one common interface, allowing as much customization as you want."
"Deadline is highly stable, expandable, manageable, dependable, and every other -able you can think of," Owen continued. "For over two years now, Deadline has never failed, not even once. Now that's a statistic I wish I could say about some of the other software we've used. Deadline was born from a production studio's needs and as a result, caters to artists and studios like mine perfectly. Deadline brings our mixture of software and bespoke tools all together into one manageable pipeline."
Deadline 3.1's new features include:
-- Mac OSX support: The Monitor, Job Monitor, Slave, Pulse, Launcher and command line applications have all been ported to Mac OSX.-- Improved Linux support: The Monitor and Job Monitor have been ported to Linux with improved functionality and performance.-- Statistics Gathering has been re-implemented.-- New render packages supported: fryrender, MetaRender, Vue 7 and REDAlert.
For a complete list of Deadline 3.1 features, visit: http://www.franticfilms.com/software/products/deadline/feature_set/.
Deadline 3.1 Pricing and AvailabilityDeadline 3.1 is available now 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 for a list price starting at US$140 per render node for the first 25 licenses; prices drop per unit with increased volume.
