The Data Storage Tech behind The Hobbit

Last night was an eye-opening one as I was being invited to an event sponsored by NetApp for a movie screening of The Hobbit.

Have you ever wondered how much data is required for this latest blockbuster hit? Well, it’s a whooping 6 terabytes of data just for the visual effects files only!

The movie has over 2000 visual effects shot using 48 cameras and what makes it further awesome is that each camera was recording at 5120 x 2700 pixel resolution! So where do all these hi-res files go to?

Weta Digital, the production team in charged of the visual effects for The Hobbit worked with NetApp to store all the stunning and highly valued data on NetApp proprietary storage arrays, which are readily available for the producers to access, archive and retrieve.

When you get down to watching The Hobbit, be more amazed at how modern world technology can capture and create the life-like views at 48 frames per second!