AMD announced that the AMD Opteron processor played a significant role in the digital magic behind DreamWorks Animation SKG's recent movie, "Madagascar." "Madagascar" is the tale of four Central Park Zoo animals who, after spending their lives in blissful captivity, are unexpectedly shipped back to Africa and shipwrecked on the wild and exotic island of Madagascar. The movie, which premiered in the U.S. last week as part of the second largest Memorial Day box-office opening weekend ever, has piqued film-critics' interest with its stylized cartoon characters and lush environments. The AMD Opteron processor significantly improved rendering times for "Madagascar" and enabled digital artists to create never-before-seen images.


AMD64 technology made scenes possible within "Madagascar" that up until now would have been virtually unattainable due to processing limitations. For example, crowds of furry creatures, which have traditionally been considered one of "the holy grails" of animated films due to the complexity of fur animation, were an integral part of "Madagascar." The faster rendering times and increased memory bandwidth enabled by AMD64 technology allowed DreamWorks Animation to render scenes with up to 900 lemurs celebrating in a lush jungle - one of many amazing feats displayed in the movie "Madagascar." The AMD64 technology utilized by DreamWorks Animation to help create "Madagascar" is integral to all AMD products, from servers and workstations to desktop and notebook PCs. DreamWorks Animation will continue to expand its use of AMD products as the partnership between AMD and DreamWorks Animation matures.

HP plays a critical role in helping DreamWorks Animation achieve its computer graphics-oriented goals through delivery of powerful and manageable HP ProLiant servers using the AMD Opteron processor. By collaborating with AMD, HP helps studios like DreamWorks Animation make animators' wildest visions a reality.
"As the world's largest CG animation studio, DreamWorks Animation requires the industry's most powerful and robust technology. DreamWorks relied on the AMD Opteron processor-based HP ProLiant DL145 server for delivery of another amazing new film," said James Mouton, vice president, platforms, ProLiant servers, HP. "The winning combination of AMD and HP helps animators add effects in real-time and render images faster than ever before. Consumers have the ability to tap into the same technology used by DreamWorks' artists with HP's AMD Athlon 64 processor-based mobile and desktop PCs."

AMD just launched its most recent AMD64 product with the introduction of the AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor for desktops and performance notebooks. This new processor is poised to deliver an experience unmatched in the industry, targeting prosumer and digital media enthusiasts, as well as those who run many software applications simultaneously. These new processors, designed for desktop and desktop-replacement notebooks, shatter the hourglass icon by delivering performance improvements of up to 80 percent on select digital media and productivity applications compared to single-core AMD Athlon 64 processors.