HP technology helps bring “Shrek forever after” characters to life in 3D

Rosie Khdir reveals how HP technology has helped the creators of “Shrek forever after” bring 3D characters to life in the final instalment of the movie franchise.

Most of you will be very familiar with Shrek, Donkey and the famous Gingerbread Man by now, but what you may not know is that these characters were created with HP technology.

DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. has joined forces with Hewlett-Packard to create the final Shrek movie “Shrek Forever After” in 3-D.

Ed Leonard, chief technology officer, DreamWorks Animation, said:

“At DreamWorks Animation we create two to three 3-D films a year, and our intention is to ensure that audiences enjoy a higher-quality premium experience with each new film.”

The technologies used in the production of the film included HP Z800 Workstations, HP ProLiant blade servers, HP Halo Telepresence Solutions, HP StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array, HP StorageWorks X9000 Network Storage Systems and HP DreamColor displays.

Artists at Dream Works used HP Z800 Workstations to design everything in the film from characters to lighting and they said that these systems were much faster than their predecessors, up to 50 percent faster in fact!

The latest advancements in technology have enabled Dream Works’ artists to have more technological freedom. During the production of the first films technology was more limiting and so Princess Fiona’s hair was “designed in one long braid with no significant movement”.

Now thanks to the latest advancements in technology, Fiona now has “fiery locks that flow in the wind”.

Ed Leonard added:

“HP helps us to accomplish this goal by giving our filmmakers the best tools and products so they can be empowered by technology … not limited by it.”

“Shrek forever after” is out in UK cinemas now!

Image credit: Juanedc