Aardman Animations acquires third Sledgehammer HD!O System

Aardman Animations in Bristol, UK, has received its third Maximum Throughput Sledgehammer HD!O file server and real-time, multiformat video device.

Aardman Broadcast and Commercials, a division of Aardman Animations, will incorporate the new unit into its existing production workflow and use it exclusively for TV commercial production.

In the TV commercial production workflow, the facility will first use the Sledgehammer HD!O in the stop-frame animation production process to play out HD 4:2:2 still frames in the .DPX image sequence format. Those are used to create “on-the-box” SD proxies by applying Sledgehammer’s on-the-fly image format conversion and cropping/resizing tools. The proxies are offline edited with Final Cut Pro, and then Sledgehammer HD!O conforms the original HD .DPX files to the Final Cut edit decision list.

For more information, visit www.max-t.com.