SAS Drive and Animation: The Digital Backbone of Motion Art

Published on: February 24, 2025 | 5 minute read | by Krisa Cortez

Animation is the magical process of breathing life into the inanimate. It allows for stories to be crafted frame by frame. It's a field where technology meets artistry, and nowhere is this more evident than in the operations of animation studios around the globe. These studios rely heavily on digital infrastructures to manage their complex projects efficiently. Let's explore how these technologies, especially the contribution of a SAS drive, support the creative processes in these dynamic environments.

SAS Drives for Large Animation Projects

SAS storage devices have always been known for greater reliability and higher overall data transfer rates compared to SATA drives. This makes them well-suited for the data-intensive needs of animation studios. On average, animation studios require massive amounts of storage. For context, a cartoon feature film can create 350-450 TB of data. A SAS storage drive is perfect for this since they are designed to operate reliably, not only to store something so massive, but to run for extended periods, measured in millions of hours. This means SAS drives ideal for businesses requiring constant uptime and data availability

Let’s Talk Asset Management Systems

Aside from SAS drives, animation studios also use asset management systems to organize and store 3D assets as part of their workflow. Reliable shared media storages, such as those offered by SNS EVO and Harmony Server, are used for this exact purpose and are able to centralize all assets in a common repository so animators and staff can access what they need from one place.

Western Studios and Tech: A Long-Time Partnership

Pixar's Data Management:
For the movie Cars, Pixar employed a 3000-CPU renderfarm and utilized Ibrix’s Fusion parallel file system to manage the immense data required for rendering. The studio found that using the Ibrix system reduced the time spent waiting for I/O, significantly improving CPU utilization.
DNA Productions' Infrastructure Upgrade:
When DNA Productions transitioned from creating the TV show The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron to the film The Ant Bully, they upgraded to a Linux-based system with a 1400-processor renderfarm and a 42-node Isilon Systems clustered storage system. This allowed them to manage the large data requirements of the film.
Toon Boom Animation's Harmony Server:
a team-based infrastructure designed for animation production offering features that increase productivity and encourage creativity. It is scalable and provides a robust asset management system, allowing users to quickly locate assets and share tasks on complex scenes. It is scalable and provides a powerful asset management system, allowing users to quickly locate assets and share tasks on complex scenes.
DreamWorks Animation's Digital Storage:
Digital animation for a cartoon feature film can generate 350-450 TB of storage, created by 10,000 computer cores and 80 million CPU hours. DreamWorks Animation maintains a global library of models and 3D assets as a single source of truth in cloud-based storage, automating access and authorizations.

Prominent Asian Animation Studios

Toei Animation (Japan):
if you've seen Dragon Ball Z or One Piece, then you have more likely encountered the brand. It is one of the oldest animation studios in Japan founded in 1948. It is also the most influential, becoming known for producing many successful anime titles internationally.
Studio Ghibli (Japan):
beautiful visual design elements and powerful storytelling. These are the trademarks of this amazing studio co-founded by legendary director Hayao Miyazaki. Their titles such as Princess Mononoke and My Neighbor Totoro are beloved internationally. Their movie Spirited Away even won awards.
MAPPA Studio (Japan):
quickly rose to prominence with popular anime series like Yuri!!! On Ice and Banana Fish as well as Jujutsu Kaisen. It was founded in 2011 by Masao Maruyama. MAPPA has then also taken over the final season of Attack on Titan to show the studio’s capability to handle high-profile projects with compelling visual effects.
Sunrise (Japan):
this animation studio contributed to the mecha-anime genre. They have produced iconic series such as the Gundam franchise. The studio has also worked on other well-regarded series like Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star. The studio has shown versatility since its establishment in 1972.

The Technology Used in Asian Animation Studios

Toon Boom Harmony:
utilized as a team-based infrastructure for animation production by many animation studios. This scalable system provides an asset management setup that allows users to quickly locate assets and share tasks on complex scenes and visual elements.
Animasia Studio (Malaysia):
a top 2D animation studio in Malaysia. Animasia leverages digital tools and asset management to deliver high-quality animation services. Efficient data management and reliable server solutions are critical for maintaining their competitive edge.
Studio Mir (South Korea):
recognizable in the Korean animation industry for their work on The Legend of Korra and Voltron: Legendary Defender. They have since showcased their global reach and impeccable collaboration within other such industry giants in Asian animation.
Asians in Animation (AIA)
2020 saw the founding of this studio. It is presently headquartered in Los Angeles CA and is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Asian storytelling in animation. With a network of 5,000 members worldwide, AIA promotes Asian representation on the animated screen.
Chinese Animation Companies:
several animation production companies in China such as Henan York Animation Film Co., Ltd. have been offering extensive services including 2D animation and 3D graphic design production, character design, and post-production. It is said that animation is slowly growing in capacity in China.

As it is in the West, many Asian animation studios use team-based infrastructures to boost productivity and creativity. For these systems to work, technologies are often combined, with SAS drives enhancing the performance, reliability, and efficiency of asset management systems. This creates storage solutions capable of handling large data volumes and demanding workloads, particularly that required of animation projects.

Final Thoughts

Worldwide, from East to West, animation studios depend on powerful technological infrastructures that likely include high-performance storage solutions like a SAS drive to manage complex projects and vast amounts of digital assets. Efficient asset management systems are only strengthened by reliable servers.

These are critical for ensuring data integrity, enhancing performance, and streamlining content management across global animation production companies, big or small. These technological components enable studios worldwide to meet increasing demands for high-quality animated content.

We find this fascinating. As with all technologies, we see not only the rapid advancement of the infrastructures and systems that have become the backbone of an industry, but the growth of the very art form of animation itself, with technology such as SAS drives enabling the expression of imaginative creations in this most cherished of media for entertainment.