PipelineFX

2008

Industry leaders align with PipelineFX for render farm management as Softimage signs a global distribution agreement to market Qube! through the Softimage direct and reseller channel. Autodesk Consulting signs with PipelineFX to provide Qube! to Fortune 500 clients and large animation studios. The reseller channel grows to over 100 worldwide. New customers across markets include:

General Motors
Research in Motion (RIM)
Tippett Studio
Laika Studios
Smoke & Mirrors
Le Fresnoy Studio National
Vision Critical
Pandemic Studios
Sungshin Women's University
Ministry of Communication & Information
Elliot Animation
Nitrogen Studios
Shilo TV
NHK
L3 (formerly Raytheon)
TVB (Television Broadcast Ltd.)
SCEE (Sony Computer Entertainment Europe)
NOAA
Garage Films
NBC Universal
University of Sydney
Ex’pressions College
Psyop
BBC Wales
Vision Globale
CBS Paramount (Insider)
Intl Academy of Design and Technology
Univision
Brickyard VFX
Passion Pictures
University of Western Australia
NTV
Shijingshan Culture & Recreation
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
California Academy of Sciences
Korea National University of the Arts
The University of Texas at Arlington
University of Malaya
Turner Broadcasting
Method Studios
Foo Mojo
Fashion Institute of Technology
New York University
Bradley University

Qube! 5.1 - 5.4 are released and demonstrated at NAB in Las Vegas and at Siggraph in Los Angeles (7th year exhibiting). First PipelineFX Advisory Council meeting held at Siggraph. PipelineFX hosts a customer appreciation event at the Standard Hotel rooftop lounge in downtown L.A. attended by over 100 digital media executives and technical leaders. PipelineFX co-hosts a customer and prospect reception with IBM at Siggraph. IBM and PIpelineFX integrate xCAT server admin tools with Qube!. PipelineFX staff grows with the addition of sales reps and software developers. Software license rentals become a standard part of many Qube! customers workflow. Over 70 Qube! Certified Administrators (QCA's) from all over the world are trained and certified to install, configure and troubleshoot a Qube!-based render farm.

2007

Market adoption of Qube! accelerates rapidly as the PipelineFX reseller channel grows to over 40 worldwide. New customers across markets include Imagemovers Digital, MTV, Vanguard Animation, Digital Domain, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Imagi, Rainmaker Animation, Lockheed Martin, Harvard University, Korea Broadcasting System, Bioware, Herman Miller, Level 5 Games, W!ldbrain, and Bejing Television Station. Qube! 5.0 is released and demonstrated at NAB in Las Vegas. Scot Brew becomes Director of Technology. PipelineFX staff grows with the addition of sales reps, support engineers and software developers. Software license rentals are made available online 24x7 through the company's website. For the 6th year in a row PipelineFX exhibits at SIGGRAPH.

2006

South Park, award-winning animated series airing on Comedy Central, becomes a PipelineFX customer, along with ImageEngine, Attitude Studio, Spin VFX, Mainichi Broadcasting System, Tokyo Broadcasting System and Speedshape. Maya Master Scot Brew, former technical art director at LucasArts and Square USA Studios, joins PipelineFX as senior pipeline consultant. Leading Los Angeles reseller RFX adds Qube! to its visual effects software portfolio. PipelineFX continues to expand international reseller channel in Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Australia. In partnership with PipelineFX, SGI launches new SGI Altix XE Servers to provide a "one-stop" render management solution.

2005

Troy Brooks becomes Chief Executive Officer of PipelineFX from Chief Technology Officer. PipelineFX adds to its technical and sales staff, bringing on former Square USA and International Pacific Research Center employee Shinya Yarimizo as Senior Software Engineer, Tracey Farrar, a veteran enterprise software sales professional, as Strategi Account Manager, Aaron Buttress as Digital Media Account Manager, and Jennifer Ross as Marketing Coordinator. PipelineFX partners with IBM and Qube! achieves IBM Server Proven status, a status only given to companies whose software is successfully integrated with IBM server hardware in a real customer setting. Qube! 4.0 is launched at SIGGRAPH 2005. In December 2005, the highly-anticipated Qube! 4.0 is shipped.

2004

PipelineFX undertakes a major studio design contract with Mainframe Entertainment. The technology infrastructure, incorporating Qube! software, will eventually become the 137th largest supercomputer facility in the world. PipelineFX acquires investment capital with PacifiCap as the lead venture investor, and develops multiple strategic partnerships with Alias, Softimage, Apple, D2 Software, Syflex, and Nvidia Film Group. New customers include Australia-based Frame, Set & Match, Montreal-based Switch VFX, and Vancouver-based Mainframe Entertainment, and Radical Entertainment.

2003

PipelineFX signs several initial customers, including Sprite Entertainment, Reel FX, LucasArts, and Electronic Arts. Qube! 3.5 is released in the fall. It features numerous enhancements, greater platform support, and performance optimizations.

2002

PipelineFX is created with the goal of shipping a commercial version of the Square USA render farm management system. PipelineFX announces an agreement with Square USA to acquire the intellectual property rights to SQB. Qube! is launched and is initially made available for Linux and Windows.

2001

When Square USA realizes it needs the power of over 1,500 cpus to render Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and Animatrix: The Final Flight of the Osiris, it develops SQB, the most powerful render farm management system ever built for CG production. The project costs more than $2.5 million and requires 12 person-years of effort.