Powering cutting-edge virtual production worldwide

Powering cutting-edge virtual production worldwide

AMD and Supermicro deliver best-in-class technologies to bring creative visions to life

Enhancing virtual production

NantStudios operates in one of the fastest-moving segments of the entertainment industry, where delivery timelines are short, workloads are massive, and production quality must be uncompromising. Their teams run multiple facilities across Los Angeles and Australia, supporting projects that range from feature films and episodic television to commercials, music videos, and interactive experiences. To deliver on these projects, NantStudios depends

heavily on real-time rendering applications such as Unreal Engine and Pixera, which require extreme compute throughput and flawless synchronization across clusters of machines. However, the stakes are high:

• Performance bottlenecks: Outdated computing systems often struggle with rendering ultra-high-resolution content, creating delays during on-set production and limiting creative flexibility.
• Distributed operations: With productions happening across multiple global locations, NantStudios needed consistent performance and reliability so teams could collaborate seamlessly regardless of site.
• Time sensitivity: On productions where every minute of downtime can disrupt multimillion-dollar schedules, reliability and system availability are critical (and setup must be quick and cost-efficient).
• Creative ambitions: As clients demand higher resolutions (20K+ camera arrays, large LED volumes) and more complex visual effects, NantStudios required infrastructure capable of scaling without compromise. Without a robust, future-ready solution, NantStudios risked slower delivery times, higher costs, and the inability to meet the ambitious creative visions of their clients.

Virtual production utilizes digital tools to recreate backgrounds and locations within a studio environment. In-camera visual effects (ICVFX) allow virtual backgrounds to be rendered in real-time, delivering immersive experiences for actors with correct projection and parallax. This technique helps to make filming specific scenarios simpler, safer, and more cost-effective. ICVFX is maturing rapidly, allowing teams to recreate increasingly complex real-world locations. However, rendering at production-quality frame rate (typically 24-60 frames per second) requires reliable computing capacity, breakneck GPU acceleration, flexibility, and the ability to scale.

Building a solution for real-time content creation

To overcome these obstacles, NantStudios turned to Supermicro workstations powered by AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO processors. This combination gave their production environments the speed, scalability, and reliability they needed to support demanding workflows. Supermicro AS -2115HV-TNRT workstations featuring AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7975WX processors deliver the massive compute and graphics horsepower NantStudios needs for virtual production. High core counts, advanced multi-threading, and exceptional clock speeds from AMD power complex simulations and scene compilation to eliminate performance bottlenecks. This robust solution enables NantStudios to render complex Unreal Engine and Pixera scenes instantly, maintaining high frame rates across clustered systems.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO is the ultimate processor for workstations and high-end desktops, designed to power creative workflows and innovation from day one. The latest 9000s series is helping artists and engineers increase their productivity and enhance time-sensitive projects. Enterprise-grade Supermicro workstations provide NantStudios with a standardized technology stack that can be deployed in Los Angeles, Melbourne, or anywhere new volumes are built. This ensures the same creative experience and predictable performance across all sites. Remote management tools are available to help minimize downtime and reduce the risk of outages. As clients push for higher resolutions, larger LED volumes, and more complex ICVFX environments, flexible workstation configurations from Supermicro and AMD allow NantStudios to expand compute resources to scale with creative ambitions. Teams can run massive video playback, manipulate 20K footage, and deliver crystal-clear imagery while maintaining real-time responsiveness.

Accelerating creative workflows at scale

When deadlines are non-negotiable, artists and engineers need systems that help them excel. Supermicro workstations built on AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO can empower teams to get more done in less time. With a combination of exceptional performance and customization with enterprise-class security and manageability, NantStudios has a reliable foundation to create next-level content.

The current solutions used by NantStudios from Supermicro and AMD offer significant advantages:

• Up to 30% speed increase compared to previous generation systems
• 20% higher frame rates compared to the previous solution
• 30% more complex geometry using high resolution textures compared to the previous solution

With Supermicro and AMD, NantStudios is able to render at higher quality/resolutions and at faster frame rates than with previous workstations. As a result, NantStudios now has a reliable, future-ready foundation to accelerate creative workflows, reduce project risk, and deliver on the ambitious demands of global productions. Through ongoing collaboration, NantStudios has access to the latest technology breakthroughs to move forward creating stunning content at scale, on budget, and on time when milliseconds count.

Transforming the industry

NantStudios has a reputation for selecting “only the latest and greatest” technologies to power their LED volumes. This includes their Dynamic Volume System, which is a 2025 finalist for the Global AV Award for Enabling Technology of the Year. With this reputation, their goal is to democratize the virtual production workflow and make it accessible for projects of any scale, using state-of-the-art technologies to streamline processes and fuel innovation. NantStudios proudly partners Supermicro and AMD to accelerate creative cycles and achieve better outcomes.