IBC Digital Inc.
Advancing Digital Animation
When MTV2 was contracting work for its video game and music program “Video Mods,” Ben Porcari, founder and president of Buffalo-based animation firm IBC Digital Inc., knew he could answer the call.
IBC Digital, which doubled its staff as a result of the “Video Mods” contract, cites its partnership with UB’s Center for Computational Research (CCR) as key to landing the job.
“Without UB, we would have lacked a compelling reason for MTV2 to send the contract here,” Porcari says.
The project required IBC Digital to produce five music videos per month. While a typical video would take 3,000 hours to complete on a PC, IBC Digital used the computing facilities at CCR to render a video in a mere eight hours. The videos achieved more complicated visual effects and a higher production value than otherwise possible.
The rendering process is the final stage in which the correct lighting, textures and shading are added, transforming flat-looking, 3-D computer models into images with authentic, lifelike characteristics.
“Although we were working on a very tight deadline, we knew UB had the power to blast through it. And ultimately, the quality of our project was elevated because of CCR,” Porcari says.
CCR maintains a high-performance computing environment, high-end visualization laboratories and support staff with expertise in all areas of computing.
