BOXX Technologies launched APEXX 4, a top-of-the-line personal workstation specifically engineered to maximize the productivity of the VFX professional.
With four dual-core AMD Opteron processor architecture, APEXX 4 gives the freedom to smoothly work in realtime on very complex effects and detailed CG objects. As a true 64-bit personal workstation with as much as 64GB of memory, APEXX 4 boosts the efficiency of digital artists working on the large CG scenes and realistic digital characters that constitute much of the attraction of todays most popular motion pictures, animated features, broadcast television shows and online content.
BOXXs APEXX 4 inaugurates the era of the so-called super-workstation designed for cutting-edge digital content creation and based on the innovative integration of non-proprietary PC technologies. As such, it delivers a high-end computing experience that was the exclusive domain of proprietary UNIX workstations, for a fraction of the price.
For the successful vfx studio, APEXX 4 represents the critical investment that can enable radically different digital creation models: a shorter pipeline, more flexibility to make changes later in the design cycle, more streamlined workflow, and ultimately, more satisfied clients.
The BOXX design team has paid special attention to ensure that, with its tremendous processing power, the APEXX 4 workstation remained quiet enough to be comfortably positioned right next to the artist. APEXX 4 exemplifies BOXXs commitment to the VFX community: it is an innovative product based on intelligently integrated, cutting-edge technology that makes sense for digital artists that trust BOXX to help them meet their challenges, said François Wolf, director of marketing, BOXX Technologies.
BOXXs APPEX 4 workstation is a perfect example of a breakthrough design which leverages the power of the leading-edge AMD Optero processor technology to satisfy the exacting requirements of a community of professional users, added Pat Patla, director of server/workstation marketing, AMD. With up to four dual-core AMD Opteron 800 series processors with Direct Connect architecture and industry-leading performance per watt, APEXX 4 will help to broaden the creative possibilities of digital artists.
BOXX has been engaged with the main ISVs (Independent Software Vendor) to ensure that APEXX 4 is compatible with a broad range of applications. Equally important, APEXX 4s impressive performance benchmarks are the result of an extensive certification and optimization program implemented in conjunction with BOXXs software partners.
mental images has run APEXX 4 through its paces with its mental ray rendering software: The BOXX APEXX 4 workstation achieves a speedup factor of 7.2 compared to a one processor machine for our standard rendering benchmark. Artists can very efficiently light and tune a scene with mental ray on this workstation. Instead of waiting seven minutes for the rendering of a complex scene it will now take less than a minute," said Runa Loeber, director Platforms & Security, mental images.
BOXX Technologies (www.boxxtech.com), headquartered in Austin, Texas, is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance workstations and render nodes specifically designed to meet the high performance and reliability requirements of digital content creators working in the 3D animation, vfx, digital film, game development and broadcast verticals.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
