GEA teams with AMD to spotlight creative excellence

Global Entertainment Awards teams with AMD to spotlight creative excellence

Global Entertainment Awards gains hours of on-location production time and boosts creative flexibility with all in one AMD solution featuring AMD EPYC™ CPUs, Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO CPUs, and Radeon™ PRO GPUs

The Global Entertainment Awards (GEA) recognize the creative minds behind the trailers, artwork, and marketing campaigns that generate excitement and anticipation for upcoming entertainment releases in cinema, gaming, streaming, and broadcast. GEA and its media partner Deadline put the spotlight on these talented professionals, acknowledging their impact through a year-long process that culminates in a prestigious ceremony.

Since the start, AMD has supported GEA's mission with computing solutions that help GEA's team oversee the intricate and fast-paced creative processes involved in producing a top-notch show within tight deadlines. For the latest iteration, held in Algarve, Portugal, AMD provided some of its most advanced technologies including the AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO 7995WX CPU for robust workstations equipped with AMD Radeon™ PRO W7900 and W7800 GPUs, along with an AMD EPYC 9354 processor-based server powered by an AMD Radeon™ PRO W6800 GPU for centralized data management and remote rendering capabilities. 

"AMD goes beyond just providing the technology,” said Tim Cole, CEO of GEA. “AMD has been with us every step of the way, suggesting innovations and working closely to deliver a complete solution. From AMD Threadripper™ workstations to EPYC™ servers and Radeon™ PRO GPUs, having one vendor who can provide everything we need is very powerful. AMD’s support allows us to push creative boundaries without worrying about performance."

No time for production disruption

Producing the Global Entertainment Awards requires the rapid ingestion, editing, and rendering of large volumes of 8k raw files in a workflow capable of meeting tight production deadlines.

"We have about 18 hours to turn the entire edit around," explained Alex Martin-Verdinos, GEA's Production Director. This schedule demands an environment that can handle the workload without bottlenecks or interruptions. The team's reliance on raw codecs compounds the challenge. "We shoot these events outside, so we have little control over light," Alex added. "As a result, we shoot raw so that we have lots of flexibility in the grading, but that creates some pretty massive files."

Codec compatibility was another challenge in GEA's workflow, especially when using different hardware and software. "Apple accelerates some codecs like ProRes on its own platforms," Alex explained. "But ProRes RAW doesn't work in DaVinci. Most of what I shoot is RED R3D, and AMD hardware handles that perfectly, offering the best of both worlds." He added, "We also don't generate proxies. We work straight with the raw files as the color grade is such a big part of the process."

In years past, data had to be manually transferred to machines independently due to the lack of a centralized storage solution. This fragmentation made it difficult for the post-production team to collaborate in real-time, forcing them to work in a very linear fashion.

Removing barriers to creativity

AMD provided GEA with a suite of high-performance computing solutions, literally transforming a hotel room into a production suite. This setup included AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO 7995WX CPU-powered workstations, which boasts 96 cores and 192 threads, along with AMD Radeon™ PRO W7900 and W7800 GPUs. These powerful workstations delivered the performance needed for complex creative tasks, enabling GEA’s editors and designers to jump between resource-intensive applications like DaVinci Resolve and Adobe After Effects without any performance issues.

The most significant workflow breakthrough came by customizing the AMD EPYC™ 9354 CPU-based server. Initially designed for storage, it was upgraded with an AMD Radeon™ PRO W6800 GPU, meaning the server could now serve as a robust storage solution and a powerful Davinci Resolve remote rendering engine. This upgrade allowed the server to take on complex rendering tasks from individual workstations, freeing up their resources for other creative activities. Combined with the server's high-speed NVMe storage, the system could process multiple high-resolution streams without delays.

Transforming time savings into opportunities

“This year, with everything centralized on the server, we cut down on transfer times and gained speed with the storage,” Alex explained. “Even lower-spec machines could tap into the server’s power—social media edits, for example, could be sent to the server to render, freeing up those machines for the next edit.” The change proved immensely reliable and efficient, allowing multiple computers to simultaneously upload data to the server for immediate use. With DaVinci Resolve queuing tasks on the server, workstations could focus on other creative tasks while the server handled rendering, maintaining a smooth, uninterrupted workflow despite demanding workloads.

This integration between the workstations and the GPU-enabled server transformed GEA's production process. Real-time collaboration became possible as multiple team members could access the same content simultaneously. Editors could continue refining edits on their workstation and the Colorist could work on that same content on another workstation, all while DaVinci Resolve on the server rendered finalized segments in the background. According to Alex, being able to queue renders using DaVinci Resolve on the AMD server meant they no longer had to wait around for an export to complete, enabling them to keep working efficiently and effectively.

"Thanks to AMD innovation, we gained six or seven hours in production time, probably more, because we achieved so much more in a smaller amount of time," Alex noted. These time savings allowed the team to focus more on the creative aspects of their work and less on technical limitations. He added, “We had more social media content going out. And this year, we had a longer show.”

Alex also highlighted the importance of reliability in tight deadlines: "Having such reliable equipment from AMD is key. You can have the fastest technology available, but if it keeps malfunctioning, you won't get anything done. You need to trust that when you hit render, a two-hour show will be ready in 15 minutes without hiccups."

As GEA looks to the future, the collaboration with AMD will continue to be a factor in their success. "We're just scratching the surface of what's possible with AMD technology," Alex added. "We're excited to see how we can continue to innovate and deliver even more dynamic and engaging experiences for our audience."