Linux in Hollywood: A Star is Born

A lthough Linux has yet to achieve wide popularity in the computer game world (" Will Linux Be Computer Games' Dark Horse OS? " Computer, Dec. 2001, pp. 161-162), it is making rapid progress toward becoming the dominant operating system in the other major entertainment arena: motion pictures. Name a motion picture from the past year or two that featured stunning animation or dazzling special effects, and chances are the film's producers used Linux-based computers to splash those graphics on the big screen. For most of the past 30 years, Hollywood has led the development of computer graphics by constantly pushing the state of the art to wow audiences with ever more spectacular visuals. Many of these achievements can be seen annually at Siggraph conferences and exhibitions, where leading researchers and practitioners in the computer graphics field demonstrate work that companies such as Industrial Light and Magic or Pixar have done for the latest blockbuster films. Showcases like Siggraph underscore the competitive pressures that force studios to take risks and innovate to top their rivals' latest special-effects extravaganzas. The use of Linux on PCs is becoming pervasive in the movie business, supplanting traditional platforms such as Sun and SGI in much of the film production process. The Linux operating system initially found a niche for use in computer-generated image rendering for film. The 3D rendering process takes computer-generated models and, placing them in a scene, provides them with hidden surface removal, shading, and illumination. Rendering computer-generated imagery can create amazing effects, such as the beautiful sunrise seen in Shrek, the May 2001 animated film from DreamWorks SKG. As Figure 1 shows, CGI rendering transformed Shrek's 3D wireframe models into living characters breathtakingly illuminated by morning sunlight. Although animated films such as Shrek, Toy Story, and Monsters, Inc. have been popular and successful, Hollywood has long derived most of its revenues from mainstream block-busters. With recent advances in technology , rendering systems can now be applied to these moneymakers, producing results so realistic they can be blended seamlessly into live-action footage. CGI, when composited with live actors and constructed backdrops, can create scenes previously impossible to portray convincingly—such as those seen in the The Fellowship of the Ring, part one of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Late in the film, the fellowship confronts a cave troll deep in the mines of Moria. Thanks to digital sleight of hand, …