FOR SALE:

Just a quick follow-up. A couple of people have asked me what the
system was
used for. I used to use it for video encoding and a bit of gaming
(with the X1950,
I ran it with Oblivion), but the system's original use is much more
interesting. It,
along with about 300 other Dell XEON systems of similar spec (half of
them XEON
workstations, the other half XEON render blades), were used to do the
CGI version
of Captain Scarlet (not sure if that was a proper released cinema film
or perhaps
a made-for-TV thing). The film company responsible was setup just for
the C.S.
project, so once it was finished all the equipment was sold off in
Spring 2006. Not
just the computer gear & servers/RAIDs, but also the office furniture,
printers, faxes,
phones, everything.

For the record, this was a TV series not a film. There were two 13
episodes series made in all. Both now available on DVD. I did some CG
lighting and rendering for their marketing department and got to go down
to the studio at Pinewood :-) The company was called The Indestructible
Company Limited. Not a bad series if you get the chance to watch it. ITV
messed things up by showing it during a really bad Saturday morning kids
programme, Minstry of Mayhem, so several episodes had to be edited to
fit the audience at that time. The DVDs have the full, unedited versions
and the end credits which were also cut for the TV run. The website for
the TV series is still up for those who are interested:

http://www.captainscarlet.com/

Cheers

Kevin

Kevin F Stubbs wrote:

Yes, you're right; I checked the emails from the guy who sold me the
system, he'd mentioned it was a series but I'd forgotten. Indeed, I
also
forgot he worked on the series! :D

Hmm, that might explain a comment the guy said to me in one of his
emails:

"The story behind it all, the wheelin' and dealin', the backstabbing
etc, etc...it could make a novel."

:
:

What is "CG lighting"?

Robert.

Robert Inder wrote:

Computer Generated.

les...

Ummm... yes, but...

But assuming you don't mean the glow from my monitor, what IS it?

CGI I understand: a computer generates an image (i.e. calculated pixel colour
and intensity) which is then (sometimes) merged in with photographic
images and viewed.

I'm not sure you realise exactly what a CG image is. The computer
generates an image by following the set of instructions given to it by
human artist who sets up everything within the scene first. This
includes building and surfacing the models, building the setting into
which the models are placed, setting up the lights and cameras and
determining the type of render required. It involves a lot more than
justy pressing a couple of buttons on a computer keyboard or with a
mouse click :-)

I don't think I've ever seen a movie with so many names in the
credits as "Ratatouille". I just sat and watched through the
whole list gobsmacked. Wondering what the hell the Gaffer and
Best Boy did was bad enough, this is in a whole new league.

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Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
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