Rendering on the Cloud:
A Cybera Industry Pilot
Project with EDM Studio
Cameron Kiddle
Grid Research Centre
University of Calgary

Outline
EDM Studio
Project Goals
Cyberinfrastructure Technology Employed
Demonstration
Cybera Summit Disruptive Technologies Session - 2
September 30, 2008

EDM Studio (http://www.edmstudio.com)
A leading-edge design firm based in Calgary
Specialize in
Interactive displays for museums
Digital visualization
Have created exhibits for places such as
National Museum of Australia
Royal Tyrrell Museum
Frank Slide Interpretive Centre (in progress)
Cybera Summit Disruptive Technologies Session - 3
September 30, 2008

Computer Animation
Requires significant computational power to
produce final movie
Rendering of an individual frame can take
hours
High level of concurrency – frames can be
rendered separately
Cybera Summit Disruptive Technologies Session - 4
September 30, 2008

Case Study: Shrek (DreamWorks)
Shrek (2001) – 5 million CPU render hours
Shrek 2 (2004) – 10 million CPU render hours
Shrek 3 (2007) – 20 million CPU render hours
(Source: R. Rowe. DreamWorks Animation \"Shrek the Third\": Linux Feeds an Ogre.
Linux Journal. June 5, 2007. (http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9653))
Time to Render
1 CPU 100 CPUs 10000 CPUs
Shrek 571 years 5.7 years 21 days
Shrek 2 1142 years 11.4 years 42 days
Shrek 3 2283 years 22.8 years 83 days
Cybera Summit Disruptive Technologies Session - 5
September 30, 2008

EDM Studio Pilot Project Goals
To create an on-demand cloud-based
rendering service
Project is divided into two phases
Phase 1 – a static environment (complete)
Phase 2 – a dynamic environment with enriched
user portal
Cybera Summit Disruptive Technologies Session - 6
September 30, 2008

Phase I – Report
Created a virtual 32 CPU rendering farm (static) on the HP Labs
Data Centre at the University of Calgary
Condor batch scheduling system used to manage rendering jobs
Setup SideFX Houdini rendering software and licenses
Setup 1 TB of storage for use by EDM Studio
EDM Studios has used the
render farm to create a
preliminary animation of the
Frank Slide
What normally would have
taken two months to complete
was completed in two weeks
Low-resolution sample rendered on the HP Labs Data Centre by EDM Studio. (Supplied)
Cybera Summit Disruptive Technologies Session - 7
September 30, 2008

Phase II – Objectives
Enable dynamic adaptivity of rendering farm
based on user demand
Employ data management tools to more
efficiently move and manage data
Construct a portal to allow EDM Studio to
access data management tools and to submit
and monitor rendering jobs
Cybera Summit Disruptive Technologies Session - 8
September 30, 2008

Cyberinfrastructure Technology
Employed
Data management tools
Virtual machine technology
Dynamic cloud-based infrastructure
Social networking technology
Cybera Summit Disruptive Technologies Session - 9
September 30, 2008

Data Management Tools
Significant amounts of data need to be moved
and managed
Exploring the use of iRODS (https://www.irods.org)
Abstracts users, data and resources
Flexible, adaptive, and customizable
Handles data transfers and replications
Cybera Summit Disruptive Technologies Session - 10
September 30, 2008

Virtual Machine Technology
Employing Xen virtual machine technology
Create custom Virtual Appliances (VA) for
each application/service needed
VAs can be easily cloned to create new
instances and scale the environment
Can support heterogeneous services on the
same physical infrastructure
Cybera Summit Disruptive Technologies Session - 11
September 30, 2008

Dynamic Cloud-based Infrastructure
ASPEN: Automated Service Provisioning Environment
Cybera Summit Disruptive Technologies Session - 12
September 30, 2008

Social Networking Technology
Allow users to easily generate and share content
Allow users to interact and collaborate
Exploring the use of social networking technology
for use by academia and industry
Cybera Summit Disruptive Technologies Session - 13
September 30, 2008

Rendering Service Portal
Using Ning - a white label
social networking tool
(http://www.ning.com)
The portal is aimed at:
Providing access to data
management tools
Allowing user to submit,
monitor and manage
rendering jobs
Providing access to
interactive applications
Enabling interaction and
collaboration
Cybera Summit Disruptive Technologies Session - 14
September 30, 2008

Demonstration
Cybera Summit Disruptive Technologies Session - 15
September 30, 2008

Contact Information
Cameron Kiddle
kiddlec@cpsc.ucalgary.ca
http://grid.ucalgary.ca/
Cybera Summit Disruptive Technologies Session - 16
September 30, 2008