VFX Voice

The award-winning definitive authority on all things visual effects in the world of film, TV, gaming, virtual reality, commercials, theme parks, and other new media.

Winner of three prestigious Folio Awards for excellence in publishing.

Subscribe to the VFX Voice Print Edition

Subscriptions & Single Issues


October 23
2018

ISSUE

Web Exclusive

Storage: Savage VFX’s Multi-Locale Solution

By IAN FAILES

The topic of storage for visual effects studios can be a dry one. But storage is, of course, a crucial part of the day to day operations of a VFX vendor, large or small.

One smaller studio that has embraced a robust storage solution is Savage VFX, founded in 2007 by James Pastorius and Brice Liesveld. It found itself expanding relatively rapidly and needing to operate in two locations, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh.

Savage VFX producer Brice Liesveld on set.

“We turned to OpenDrives while we were in the process of upgrading the L.A. office to work on The Social Network. The infrastructure we were using at the time wouldn’t have been able to keep the whole show online during the course of post-production, and would have struggled to serve down that data to workstations.”

—Brice Liesveld, Co-founder and Visual Effects Producer,  Savage VFX

To deal with the expansion and multiple locations, Savage adopted the OpenDrives Summit storage product. It’s through this storage tech that the studio has worked on several feature films, such as The Social Network, Gone Girl and Lucy, as well as a number of television shows, including Mindhunter and House of Cards, and even Apple iWatch commercials. The work done at Savage ranges from 2D compositing to environment effects, matte painting and CG work.

“We turned to OpenDrives while we were in the process of upgrading the L.A. office to work on The Social Network,” says Liesveld. “The infrastructure we were using at the time wouldn’t have been able to keep the whole show online during the course of post-production, and would have struggled to serve down that data to workstations.”

Inside Savage VFX’s current office space in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From here, Savage concentrates on east coast-based projects, but is wholly connected to its other location in Los Angeles.

Although Savage tends to work on projects of the ‘invisible effects’ variety, “Quite a bit of our work falls into the ‘you’d never know it’s there’ category,” suggests Liesveld. The studio still has major storage requirements. “Outside of raw data storage, which is hundreds of terabytes, the main requirements we have are stability and speed. We need data to be available to serve the artists with minimal downtime and at speeds that don’t get in the way of the creative process.”

Prior to OpenDrives, which is tailored for post-production workflows via network attached shared storage, Savage had simply stored data on a few Apple Xservs, external drives and LTO tapes. Things changed when more complex shots at higher resolution meant a higher amount of data generated.

Another view of Savage VFX’s current Pittsburgh office. The OpenDrives storage solution works between the studio’s two locations in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles.

“Ten years ago,” says Liesveld, “working with 4K footage would have been cutting edge for a facility. Today it’s an entry level requirement. At this point, you need to be able to handle 8K, higher frame rates, stereo projects, and the amount of rendered digital asset creation that comes along with that.”


Share this post with

Most Popular Stories

MILK VFX GIVES NEW WINGS TO GOOD OMENS TO CAPTURE THE EMOTIONS
06 September 2023
Exclusives
MILK VFX GIVES NEW WINGS TO GOOD OMENS TO CAPTURE THE EMOTIONS
Good Omens follows the antics and adventures of angel Aziraphale and demon Crowley.
CRAFTY APES VFX REACHES NEW HEIGHTS WITH I’M A VIRGO
12 September 2023
Exclusives
CRAFTY APES VFX REACHES NEW HEIGHTS WITH I’M A VIRGO
When it comes to tall orders, I’m a Virgo Visual Effects Supervisor Todd Perry asked Crafty Apes VFX to produce a 13-foot high teenage protagonist named Cootie, who gets to experience the world beyond his sheltered existence for the first time in the satirical Prime Video series created by director/writer Boots Riley.
TURNING BACK TIME FOR INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY
08 August 2023
Exclusives
TURNING BACK TIME FOR INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY
Receiving the franchise baton from Steven Spielberg (Jaws), James Mangold (Ford v Ferrari) embarks on the fifth and final adventure with a character who made archeology, fedoras and bullwhips cool, and provided Harrison Ford with his third iconic cinematic persona.
FIN DESIGN + EFFECTS REFLECTS ON THE GLASS-AWNING FIGHT SCENE FOR EXTRACTION 2
29 August 2023
Exclusives
FIN DESIGN + EFFECTS REFLECTS ON THE GLASS-AWNING FIGHT SCENE FOR EXTRACTION 2
Thought to be dead mercenary, Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) returns in the Netflix sequel Extraction 2 where the action shifts from Bangladesh to Austria under the direction of Sam Hargrave.
GROUNDING ONE PIECE FOR LIVE-ACTION WHILE STILL HONORING THE MANGA
19 September 2023
Exclusives
GROUNDING ONE PIECE FOR LIVE-ACTION WHILE STILL HONORING THE MANGA
While Monkey D. Luffy aims to become the king of the pirates, the manga infused with his contagious optimism and enthusiasm reigns supreme as the all-time best seller with 516.6 million copies sold since Eiichiro Oda created One Piece in 1997.