The Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) and DreamWorks SKG have entered into a three-year, multi-million dollar technology strategic alliance aimed at revolutionizing animation production. The alliance designates HP as DreamWorks' sole "preferred technology provider" for core technology purchases meaning HP will provide a broad range of products, services and integration expertise to create a new DreamWorks production facility at the Glendale campus. The facility will include the addition of more than 200 high-end Linux-based workstations, a 500-processor Linux renderfarm, 15 terabytes of storage and a high-speed Ethernet-based infrastructure. HP will supply technical workstations, servers, printers, networking and Linux technologies as DreamWorks develops its newest animation pipeline. HP will also receive certain rights for product and brand placement. The two companies have also agreed to explore other technologies jointly that may translate into new products, process improvements or solutions. The two companies established the alliance after HP helped DreamWorks with the completion of SHREK. Four months before the film was released, HP delivered more than 40 HP Netserver lp1000 systems that enabled the studio to meet the production schedule. Subsequently, engineers from HP's graphics labs developed enhancements to Linux software to help power DreamWorks' proprietary animation software, ToonShooter, which was used in the production of their forthcoming animated film, SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON.
