<a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet-the world’s leading connectivity and data management business that exclusively services the media & entertainment industry-created sophisticated, custom applications that streamlined the <a href="http://www.visualeffectssociety.com.“>Visual Effects Society Awards and the SIGGRAPH [Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques] Computer Animation Festival entry and judging processes.
For both global competitions, <a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet-which maintains the largest secure high bandwidth network in the global entertainment industry and develops custom workflow services-created an easy-to-use online submission process that included the collection and management of hundreds of forms and clearances, as well as the upload of Terabytes of high definition-quality submission materials. Each submission and judging process has been running efficiently with the aid of the <a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet automated systems, which significantly reduces the amount of work and expense for entrants, as well as volunteer members and organization staff.
“We were honored to provide our services to the VES Awards and SIGGRPAH Computer Animation Festival, two industry leading events that attract some of the world’s finest work, created by some of the most respected filmmakers,” said Dave Scammell, CEO of <a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet. “Our work for VES and SIGGRAPH demonstrates <a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet‘s flexible and customizable range of network services. In today’s fast-paced business environment, all <a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet services promise 24/7 support and service, the highest level of security, global reach and a team that understands the unique needs of the media entertainment industry.”
<a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet systems for VES and SIGGRAPH includes secure high-speed networking, hosting, data management, automated quality control tools, and the ability to access and view the HD materials from anywhere in the world-which was critical to VES as multiple preliminary judging sessions occurred on the same day in various international cities.
“<a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet is an enormous step up in efficiency and significantly reduced the cost of entering,” said Eric Roth, executive director of VES. “The VES Awards is a global competition that receives hundreds of submissions each year. In short, <a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet allowed the online submission process to work and tied together all of our nomination judging sites. Previously, all materials including media had to be shipped to the VES office by entrants. <a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet allowed for better organization, and saved time and money.”
“In the area of quality control, an automatic conformance test made sure the uploaded materials met the technical specification for entries, which was critical because it cut down the workflow,” explained Ben Roeder, Chief Knowledge Officer at <a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet. “Volunteer members of VES and SIGGRAPH were only vetting creative criteria, rather than focusing time and attention on technical aspects such as encoding, resolutions and frame rates. Every entry was automatically tested when it was uploaded into the system. If it didn’t meet the technical specification, the system kicked it back to the submitter and reported what was incorrect, so that the entrant could address the problem and upload a new submission. This also insured that clearance signatures were secured, saving all parties a tremendous amount of time and avoiding any issues down the road.”
Said SIGGRAPH 2010 Computer Animation Festival Technical Director Joshua S. Grow: “<a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet drastically helped streamline the Computer Animation Festival on the front and back end of the pipeline. This was extremely important, as we extended our submission deadline this year, to allow more candidates the opportunity to submit their final works. Each year, the Computer Animation Festival receives hundreds of submissions from around the world.”
The SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival will be featured at SIGGRAPH 2010, July 25-29 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The 8th Annual VES Awards will took place on Feb. 28 at the Hyatt-Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
About <a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet
<a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet is the leading expert in connectivity and data management, working exclusively for the media and entertainment industry. <a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet offers clients worldwide an extensive range of services backed up by unrivalled support and expertise.
<a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet provides services including secure high-speed networking, Internet connectivity, hosting, data management, quality control, and digital negative management for file-based productions (Vessel). With a core team who have worked within production and post-production at all levels – from technicians to consultancy and senior management – <a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet has a thorough understanding of the workflows, requirements and challenges of the industry which is unmatched by standard telecommunications providers. <a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet specializes in solutions that are flexible and dynamic, tailored specifically to each client’s individual needs.
Recent work including Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland and Gulliver’s Travels for Fox.
<a href="http://www.sohonet.co.uk.“>Sohonet is an independently owned company with offices in London, Los Angeles and Sydney. For further information, please visit www.sohonet.co.uk.
About the VES
The VES, a professional, honorary society, is dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences, and applications of visual effects and to improving the welfare of its members by providing professional enrichment and education, fostering community, and promoting industry recognition. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the VES is a global organization and has Sections in Australia, London, San Francisco and Vancouver. For further information, please visit www.visualeffectssociety.com.
About SIGGRAPH 2010
SIGGRAPH 2010 will bring approximately 25,000 computer graphics and interactive technology professionals from six continents to Los Angeles, California, USA for the industry’s most respected technical and creative programs focusing on research, science, art, animation, music, gaming, interactivity, education, and the web from Sunday, 25 July through Thursday, 29 July 2010 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. SIGGRAPH 2010 includes a three-day exhibition of products and services from the computer graphics and interactive marketplace from 27-29 July 2010. More than 200 international exhibiting companies are expected. For further information, please visit www.siggraph.org/s2010.
