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Redefining
Creature Features: Max-T's Sledgehammer HD!O
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MONTREAL, March 10, 2003 -- Maximum Throughput Inc. (www.max-t.com), a developer and provider of high-performance, enterprise-class networked storage solutions, announced today that London, UK-based Jim Henson's Creature Shop (www.creatureshop.com) has acquired a Sledgehammer HD!O system for its computer graphics department. The visual effects facility bearing the name of its founder has recently been busy revisiting denizens of perhaps the world's most familiar street as they finalise work on "Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic" (tentative name) for Universal Studios Japan™. The stereoscopic film is part of a new ride attraction at the theme park. Aurelio Campa, Technical Manager of computer graphics at Jim Henson's Creature Shop, comments on the purchase: "We deal with a huge variety of digital imaging projects including high-definition TV, digital film effects, stereoscopic theme park rides, and file sizes up to 54 MByte per frame at 30 frames per second. We needed a shared storage workhorse that provided the enormous bandwidth required to simultaneously feed multiple clients, and a render farm. Max-T has pushed NAS into a new realm, providing SAN level performance with reduced management issues and rock-solid reliability. The fact that they utilize commodity hardware and transferable licenses means our TCO is as low as possible and our investment as secure as can be." "Since Sledgehammer HD!O was put into production at Henson's it has remained in production. It has not been rebooted nor have any operational delays been experienced. We run a variety of other servers (SGI, SAN) and at various times have had to devote attention to them. We now have 3D operators singing the praises of an NFS server," added Steve MacPherson, systems architect at The Creature Shop. "Max-T's Sledgehammer in particular has proven to be an impressive workhorse and contributed significantly to 4K stereoscopic production at Jim Henson's Creature Shop." "It's gratifying news," said Simon Brett, managing director of Tyrell, one of the UK's premier solution providers and among the first dealerships to embrace Max-T technology. "We were familiar with both Henson's production requirements as well as the extreme throughput capabilities of Sledgehammer HD!O, and knew the two would be a good fit." Michael Hughes, vice-president of business development at Maximum Throughput, added: "Tyrell's reputation for product -- as well as production -- savvy is well-deserved. Their knowledge of both sides of the equation was instrumental in making this new relationship possible -- in a manner of speaking, they could indeed tell us how to get to Sesame Street." Sledgehammer HD!O is a combination of smart software and commodity hardware, optimised for moving digital content at unparalleled speeds onto or off of an IP-based network. Sledgehammer HD!O can consolidate all the storage needs of a post-production facility, including HD material, regardless of the data sets in use. Sledgehammer HD!O provides, via a web-based interface, real-time SD and HD resolution video I/O capabilities, including the capability of capturing EDL-defined material. And since Sledgehammer HD!O is a true NAS device (in fact the world's fastest NAS), all networked users can access the same data at the same time regardless of the client platforms in use (Windows, UNIX, Linux, Mac, etc.). Unique in the industry, Max-T has no license transfer fees associated with its products. So, as commodity hardware gets faster, so will Sledgehammer HD!O -- with no additional software-related costs. Customers need only purchase their own new hardware at prevailing commodity pricing. About Maximum Throughput Maximum Throughput Inc. (www.max-t.com) is a networked storage developer whose products deliver SAN level performance over TCP/IP. The company's unique solutions provide many times the storage bandwidth of other NAS and SAN products, using software that runs on industry standard hardware. Maximum Throughput's products offer unparalleled performance, capacity management, and capacity availability, and have the lowest total cost-of-ownership in their class. About Jim Henson's Creature Shop™ Jim Henson is famously known for creating series such as The Muppet Show. Academy Award-winning Jim Henson's Creature Shop is one of the pre-eminent character-building visual effects facilities serving the international film, television and advertising industries, with a reputation for creating memorable and moving film stars in such films as Cats & Dogs, Lost in Space, Babe, Brotherhood of the Wolf and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as well as Jim Henson Television's long-running drama series, Farscape (BBC). About Tyrell Tyrell is a leading provider of digital non-linear solutions. With fully operational premises in London, Bristol, Manchester and Dublin, Tyrell is able to supply and support customers across the UK and Ireland on a local basis. Tyrell's product portfolio includes Discreet, Avid, Softimage, Digidesign, Apple and other software and hardware products. For more information visit www.tyrell.co.uk.
For more information, or to book interviews, please contact: Giovanni Tagliamonti Maximum Throughput Inc. (C) Copyright 2001-2003 Maximum Throughput Inc. All rights reserved. Maximum Throughput and the Maximum Throughput logo are registered trademarks and Sledgehammer HD!O is a trademark of Maximum Throughput Inc. in the U.S., Canada, and other countries. All other brand names, products and/or trademarks are the property of their respective holders.
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