RedHat and the SuperBowl

Well the only reason I ever watch the super bowl is to see the fantastic commercials, and this year those ads have a bonus. The RedHat Linux based Alpha Render Farm that Digital Domain built up for rendering scenes in Titanic will apparently be use to render 10 commercials for Super Sunday. Hope they post mpegs or something so I can see them. Follow the link below to read the official RedHat press release.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGH VALUE RED HAT LINUX BAILS OUT THE TITANIC AND IS POISED TO TACKLE
THE SUPERBOWL


Research Triangle Park, NC--January 14, 1998--On the heels of the
revelation  that Red Hat Software's Red Hat Linux operating system was
used by Digital Domain as a component in the rendering of  visual
effects for the blockbuster movie, Titanic, Red Hat Software now
announces that Digital Domain will again use their operating system in
a "rendering farm" for the visual effects to at least ten commercials
to be shown during the Superbowl.


As to how and why Red Hat Linux has come to find a home in Hollywood,
Digital Domain's Daryll Strauss tells of rendering the visuals for
Titanic.  "We had several Alpha systems running on other operating
systems, but they kept crashing down,"  said Strauss.  "So we
partitioned the hard drive and put Red Hat Linux on the Alphas, and our
Linux boxes were more productive and we got  more out of them."


In fact, Digital Domain will continue to get more out of their Linux
boxes.  Ten commercials in prime Superbowl slots will be rendered using
the Red Hat Linux "render farm,"  indicating that Red Hat Linux may
have found a home in Hollywood.  The exceptional value, versatility and
interoperability of Linux make it extremely attractive to production
studios and graphic artists all around the world.   And Hollywood's
widespread use of free software is proof positive that people are
indeed getting the most out of their Red Hat Linux operating systems.

Look for Red Hat to sponsor a contest to see who can guess which
Superbowl commercials are rendered with Red Hat Linux.  Details about
this event will be forthcoming.  Which commercials will it be?

?About Digital Domain


Digital Domain is a full-service production studio located in Venice,
California.  They generate visual effects for feature films and
commercials, as well as new media applications. Digital Domain's
feature film credits include Interview with a Vampire, True Lies,
Apollo 13, Dante's Peak and The Fifth Element.  For more information
about Digital Domain, please visit the web site at http://www.d2.com.


About Linux


Linux is the cooperatively developed POSIX-oriented, multi-user,
multi-tasking operating system used world wide.  Linux is a high value,
fully functional  UNIX workstation for Internet servers and other
applications.  Red Hat Linux is maintained as "freely distributable"
software available from many sites on the Internet.


 About Red Hat Software, Inc.


Founded in 1994, Red Hat Software is based in Research Triangle Park,
NC, where it builds and maintains the Red Hat Linux distribution of the
Linux operating system for Intel, DEC Alpha, and Sun SPARC platforms.
Red Hat Software also publishes and maintains commercial applications
for Linux including OSF Motif, CDE, and the Applixware Office Suite.


CONTACT:                                        Melissa Trenkle

                                                Red Hat Software, Inc.

                                                [phone], x226

                                                [e-mail]