Hitachi Data Systems Helps Manage Visual Effects For Arc Productions and Tippett Studio

HDS and Its Media and Entertainment Technology Partners to Showcase Hitachi NAS Platform at NAB 2013 Conference

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Hitachi Data Systems Corporation (HDS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), today announced that computer-generated (CG) animation and visual effects company, Arc Productions, and visual effects and animation powerhouse, Tippett Studio, use Hitachi NAS Platform (HNAS) to store and manage their most complex visual effects. The high-performance HNAS products eliminate performance bottlenecks, allowing media and entertainment companies to focus on what they do best: creative development, production, post-production, transcoding and distribution. HNAS solutions offer a cost-effective answer to today’s most challenging storage problems in media and entertainment, and build the foundation for a scalable and flexible infrastructure that protects future investments.

Hitachi Data Systems will showcase Hitachi NAS Platform and will feature demonstrations by 17 of its technology partners at the NAB 2013 Conference being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas Nevada, in Booth #SL5816. Partners include Annex Pro, Aspera, ATTO, Autodesk, Avnet, Crossroads, Dalet, Hitachi Consulting, Hitachi Kokosai Electric, Hitachi Solutions, Hyosung Information Systems, iGate, PipelineFX, QStar, Quantum, Signiant, Sony and Spectra Logic.

“We have been a customer of Hitachi Data Systems for a number of years, and have delivered many projects using the Hitachi NAS Platform infrastructure,” said Terry Dale, vice president, Infrastructure and Training, Arc Productions. “’9,’ ‘Gnomeo & Juliet,’ ‘Dolphin Tale,’ ‘Camelot,’ and ‘Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn,’ are a just a few of the projects that were delivered beautifully, on time and on budget thanks in part to the HDS platform.”

Arc Productions is a Canadian CG animation and visual effects facility with a well-earned global reputation for quality, efficiency and reliability. With more than 250 artists and technical directors and the most up-to-date resources available, Arc brings the vision of major Hollywood studios and independent producers to life in a wide array of formats: theatrical features, television, Web, non-theatrical shorts, and game cinematics.

“Tippett Studio relies on Hitachi Data Systems to help create the best character and creature animation for movies and television,” said Jules Roman, president and chief executive officer, Tippett Studio. “Our work for the Oscars broadcast, animating the Ted character presenting an award, was the highlight of the awards show and our work on the upcoming ‘After Earth’ is among some of our proudest achievements as a company.”

Tippett Studio, founded in 1984 by animation pioneer Phil Tippett, is an Academy Award-winning visual effects company specializing in a wide range of CG animation and digital effects for feature films, television and commercials. The company has created VFX for 70 films including “Ted,” “The Twilight Saga,” “Cloverfield,” “Hellboy,” “Starship Troopers,” “Jurassic Park” and “Robocop.” Tippett Studio has won 2 Emmy awards and 4 Clio awards. Tippett Studio is in production on M. Night Shyamalan’s “After Earth.”

“With a rise of challenges caused by big data in media workflows, the ability to speed up file delivery on budget, around the globe and on time becomes a significant issue for IT managers in broadcast and post production studios,” said Ravi Chalaka, vice president, Solutions Marketing, Hitachi Data Systems. “Whether the problem is how to broadcast in real time, or how to archive and manage media repositories onsite or in the cloud, our goal is to provide customers with the tools and software needed to solve these challenges. Together with our partners, we are pleased to offer innovative information solutions to some of the world’s greatest media and entertainment companies.”

About Hitachi NAS Platform:
Hitachi NAS Platform is an advanced and integrated NAS solution. It is a powerful tool for file sharing as well as file server consolidation, data protection and business critical NAS workloads. Hitachi NAS Platform is well suited to data center environments as well as the workloads of medium organizations and remote data centers.

About Hitachi Data Systems Communications, Media and Entertainment Solutions

Hitachi Data Systems provides products and services specifically designed for CME environments. These solutions deliver dynamic capabilities that help customers deal with critical challenges in capacity, performance and reliability. The company’s CME portfolio spans from the Hitachi NAS Platform to the highly scalable and reliable distributed object store,Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) and the intelligent, easy-to-manageHitachi Unified Storage(HUS) family.


About Hitachi Data Systems

Hitachi Data Systems provides information technologies, services and solutions that help companies improve IT costs and agility, and innovate with information to make a difference in the world. Our customers gain compelling return on investment (ROI), unmatched return on assets (ROA), and demonstrable business impact. With approximately 5,900 employees worldwide, Hitachi Data Systems does business in more than 100 countries and regions. Our products, services and solutions are trusted by the world’s leading enterprises, including more than 70% of the Fortune 100 and more than 80% of the Fortune Global 100. Visit us at www.HDS.com.

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 320,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2011 (ended March 31, 2012) consolidated revenues totaled 9,665 billion yen ($117.8 billion). Hitachi is focusing more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes information and telecommunication systems, power systems, industrial, transportation and urban development systems, as well as the sophisticated materials and key devices that support them. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s website at http://www.hitachi.com.

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