Overview
WeFX is a Toronto-based visual effects company founded in 2020 with the goal of creating compelling stories for film and TV production. WeFX has played a pivotal role in renowned projects such as Marvel’s She Hulk, John Wick 4, What We Do In The Shadows on FX, See on Apple+ and The Expanse on Amazon Prime.
As a startup in the VFX industry, WeFX required large capital outlays to purchase networking equipment including render blades, switches, and storage to support the amount of compute power needed to run the visual effects house. WeFx also needed networked workstations to allow for their artist pool to work remotely and seamlessly collaborate with each other securely.
WeFX sought a turnkey solution from an IT partner who can quickly establish their rendering infrastructure and artist workstations within a tight 3-month timeframe, while minimizing the amount of upfront capital required for the initial launch of the company’s services.
Despite the challenges faced during the pandemic, WeFX grew from zero to a 100-person studio by leveraging Andorix OnePort’s infrastructure that allowed for a hybrid-cloud facility. As WeFX continues to grow, having a partner that understands the unique requirements of a VFX studio is the key to the business relationship.
Challenge
During the early stages of the new VFX studio, WeFX had considered the idea of building their own networking and computing data centre infrastructure from the ground up. However, this endeavor would generally require substantial capital outlays growing into the millions of dollars for the procurement, configuration, and commissioning of the equipment, a sizable investment for newly formed studios. There is also the paramount importance of security in the VFX industry, with the need to establish a facility that adheres to MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) security guidelines.
In addition to infrastructure needs, a VFX studio is made up of a collection of artists who work remotely and require specialized software to create cinematic experiences for designing and animating environments, objects, and characters to enhance films across the entertainment industry. To enable these VFX artists with the proper tools to complete projects, they require secure access to a unified network that allows them to connect, render, and store the content that is created. This includes maintaining the hardware and software specifications based on the type of project they’re working on.
After months of consideration around the design and setup of an internal data centre and the time to complete the installation, Eppie Tong, Head of IT at WeFX, suggested they find a partner who could accelerate the launch of their company instead of doing everything on their own. WeFX reached out to Andorix OnePort because of the team’s range of knowledge, expertise, and ability to offer a high-density data centre with scalable power requirements to accommodate their ever-growing infrastructure as well as provide all their artists with workstations that have access to a powerful render and storage infrastructure for secure and efficient collaboration.
Solution
Andorix OnePort provided WeFX with data centre space in downtown Toronto to set up their rendering and storage infrastructure and the artist virtual workstations. Andorix also leveraged its relationship with hardware vendors to finance the purchase of all the equipment, allowing WeFX to hit the ground running and allow artists to start working on projects within six months from when WeFX contacted the OnePort team.
In addition, recognizing the critical importance of security in the VFX industry, Andorix led efforts in swiftly establishing a secure facility adhering to MPAA guidelines. This enabled WeFX to access projects with stringent security and infrastructure requirements, such as strict access controls, locked server racks, biometric security measures, manned guards, surveillance cameras, and more. This partnership facilitated the rapid creation of a robust and secure infrastructure that set the stage for WeFX to pursue projects typically beyond reach for a startup.
OnePort initially provided WeFX with a 1GB direct connection from their own infrastructure to AWS, allowing WeFX to quickly spin-up new workstations to support their rapid growth and accelerated hiring of VFX artists. This was particularly crucial during the pandemic, as supply chain disruptions resulted in the unavailability of workstations and networking equipment. The 1GB direct connection provided by OnePort enabled WeFX to navigate these challenges and continue operating effectively as a studio. Additionally, the direct connection to AWS enabled WeFX to take advantage of the OnePort’s hybrid-cloud setup by bursting into the cloud to fulfill substantial compute requirements, such as the rapid rendering of 38,000 cores per week for last-minute VFX projects. This easy on-ramp to AWS proved highly beneficial during the transition and upgrade, particularly when supply chain issues were prevalent, as it allowed WeFX employees to temporarily access both rendering infrastructure and workstations to ensure project timelines were met.
Amidst these challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic added another layer of complexity to the transition and upgrade. Undertaking such endeavors during the pandemic was a huge challenge, and the support and experience of Andorix helped WeFX get their on-premise and cloud infrastructure off the ground in a challenging supply chain scenario. The seamless integration of OnePort’s services and Andorix’s support played a crucial role in navigating through the uncertainties of the supply chain, ensuring that WeFX could continue its operations and meet project deadlines successfully.
As WeFX grew, so did their infrastructure requirements, and the Andorix team was able to provision all the additional data centre enhancements requested, including additional power and cooling upgrades, to meet the ever growing needs of a VFX studio.
WeFX is here in large part due to our partnership with Andorix OnePort. They saw beyond the bullet points and worked together with us to ensure our success through the most challenging times. In our early days Andorix OnePort facilitated a quick startup of our MPAA compliant VFX infrastructure capable of scaling to meet the complex needs of a remote facility, and then helped us grow in a short timespan to over 100 employees by providing secure rack space, networking, cloud access, essential hardware and knowledgeable support. We see Andorix OnePort not as a vendor, but as a partner in growth, and we look forward to expanding our footprint further knowing that we aren’t limited by conventional server rooms, and taking more advantage of the connectivity options provided by OnePort.
Laurence Cymet
Head of Technology, WeFX Studio
Results
As of January 2023, WeFX had 119 artists operating in their VFX studio, connecting to virtual workstations from across Canada while having mostly on-remote workstations in Andorix racks via a secure connection to AWS and SirtNet, further optimizing workflow and enhancing flexibility for WeFX’s artists. As WeFX grows, Andorix OnePort grows with them, offering offering flexibility to expand their connectivity to the cloud as well as comprehensive support and services pertaining to storage, backup, and power essential for their business operations.
- Provide support throughout every phase, adjusting and accommodating for the expansion of storage capacity and the growing number of employees
- WeFX was able to leverage Andorix OnePort’s relationship with major hardware vendors to help finance and rapidly secure hardware equipment
- Provide WeFX with versatility as they adopt a hybrid model and incorporate use of virtual workstations
- Infrastructure with a hybrid of local and cloud-based machines that is MPAA-compliant and can handle high-compute demands when required
- Having a business partner that is committed to helping WeFX expand their IT infrastructure in the most efficient way possible