BOXX Magazine

High Performance Workstations & Rendering Systems

TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents4 MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT5 Network Rendering workflow6 Timeless Designer (Cosmic Motors)8 GPU Rendering (Blur Studio)10 First In Line (Windsong Productions)12 ARCHITECTURE,ENGINEERING, & CONSTRUCTION 13 Powering The Cube (Blue Marble Design) 14 VIZlab (PBK Architects) 16 Life of Pie (Pi Architects) 17 On Site & On Target (SB Ballard Construction Co.)18 MANUFACTURING & PRODUCT DESIGN 19 Professional Grade Overclocking Delivers Measurable ROI 20 Detroit BOXX City (Autodesk) 22 A Need For Speed (MotoCzysz) 24 BOXX Technologies Inc. (Review by Dassault Systèmes) 26 Product details 

BOXX PROFESSIONALSBOXX Professionals PRODUCT: APEXX 5 – The Most Advanced Multi-GPU Workstation on the Market FEATURED ARTICLE: Timeless Designer, Pg. 6 Daniel Simon is a German-born world-renowned concept designer, author, and producer, with professional roots as a senior designer at Bugatti and Volkswagen. After working in Spain, England, Brazil, and Japan, Simon settled in Los Angeles, where he focuses his acclaimed style on creating iconic fantasy vehicles for Hollywood blockbuster films such as Tron: Legacy, Captain America: The First Avenger, Prometheus, and Oblivion. PRODUCT: GPU Edition Workstation FEATURED ARTICLE: GPU Rendering, Pg. 8 Kevin Margo is a talented VFX/CG supervisor at Blur Studio. He’s also working on some very impressive new technology with Chaos Group, maker of the popular V-Ray® rendering engine. Kevin’s short film, CONSTRUCT, is being rendered entirely on the GPU. Kevin relies on BOXX GPU edition workstations for all aspects of this project. We caught up with Kevin and asked him a few questions regarding this groundbreaking production. PRODUCT: Overclocked eight-core Apexx 2 FEATURED ARTICLE: Powering The Cube, Pg. 13 George Matos innovative approaches to advanced architectural visualization have been developed during more than 15 years in his profession. With Blue Marble 3D's commitment to state-of-the-art technology, Matos' recogni- tion throughout the industry continues to enhance the firm's programming to assure its broad range of clients the very latest in leading-edge imagery. PRODUCT: Render Farm on Wheels FEATURED ARTICLE: VIZLab, Pg. 14 Jose Galindo is the Director of the PBK Visualization Lab (or VIZLab as he likes to refer to it), a San Antonio-based illustration and animation group within PBK Architects, a national architecture and engineering solutions leader focused on providing clients with dynamic, real-time, life-like project visualizations prior to the start of construction. PRODUCT: renderPRO FEATURED ARTICLE: Detroit BOXX City, Pg. 20 James Cronin has been an Alias subject matter expert with Autodesk® since July 2012. As a subject matter expert, James’ duties include helping customers by understanding their business issues and finding solutions that solve their challenges. With over 14 years of experience working for Nissan Design America and Alias Wavefront in the Automotive Design Industry, he trusts BOXX products to get the job done. PRODUCT: Overclocked 8-core APEXX 2 FEATURED ARTICLE: Need For Speed, Pg. 22 Nick Schoeps is the Lead Engineer at MotoCzysz. Nick’s engineering background and systems-thinking approach streamlines the design process of MotoCzysz products. Recent accomplishments include consecutive wins at the Isle of Man TT-Zero races, a product redesign of Segway’s i2 personal transporter, and development of the MotoCzysz Digital Drive product line. Find out how BOXX overclocked workstations are incorporated into his workflow. 

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENTMEDIA &ENTERTAINMENTF rom our inception, BOXX has earned a reputation for building BOXX CUSTOMERS state-of-the-art solutions for media & entertainment industry appli- cations like Autodesk® 3ds Max®, and Maya®, as well as V-Ray®, Octane Render, and many more. For over 19 years, we have earned a reputation as the leading innovator of reliable, high performance solutions that enhance creativity and increase productivity, resulting in increased profits and efficient workflows for our customers. The workstation marketplace consists mostly of hardware manufacturers that rely on a “one size fits all” approach. BOXX is just the opposite. We specialize in the professional visualization and CAD markets, providing cool, quiet, record-setting solutions tailored to meet your specific workflow needs. We’re the workstation equivalent of a custom shop, building hot rods that will take your applications and workflow faster and farther than ever before. How fast do you want to go?

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT Network Rendering WorkflowCustomer and/or Creative Teamdevelop visual concept Project design criteria are established & 3D design work commences  Review/Approval: High-quality 3D test renders are generated for review & approval Look Development /& Test Renders:  3D Artists use the render farm to quickly create 3D Design Final Production Delivered multiple high-quality test renders to refine the (Modelers, Animators, ect.) Final quality product delivered lighting and desired aesthetic treatment Software Used:Maya®, 3Ds Max®, Lightwave, Cinema 4D, Softimage, etc. to customer on time Render Farm Devices Ethernet Network Software Used: Mental Ray, VRay, etc. Graphics /&   Video Editing  Shared Disc / Centralized Storage:Software Used: Used for product files and assetsAdobe, Final Cut Pro, Avid, etc. Final Renders  Finished final renders ready for GFX & editing Is your 3D Production Pipeline Bottlenecked?Technological improvements in 3D software toolsets and computer hardware continue to enhance and PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH STUDIO EFFICIENCY A dedicated in-houseadvance the abilities of digital artists to create stunning images. Unfortunately, final rendering remains atime-consuming and daunting task which many studios are ill-equipped to adequately address. rendering system increases the volume of finished work that can be delivered to customers. Dedicated render farms freeCONDITION: Your team of artists is unable to deliver the required quality and/or quantity of finished your artists from unproductive hours or required overtime. When creative pipelines run smoothly and efficiently, deadlines becomerendering images within a specific time frame. Though digital artists do the best work possible with the easier to meet, stress levels decrease, and your creative staffresources at hand, even the most seasoned team or individual can struggle to keep up with project time can enjoy normal working hours in a more relaxed atmosphere.lines and deliverables. When timelines become unmanageable, a substitution of quality for quantityis often one of the unfortunate workarounds—and adding more artists isn’t always the best solution. IMPROVED QUALITY By employing a dedicated renderBOXX renderSYMPTOMS: Missed deadlines, lost bids, frustrated artists, dissatisfied customers, and more. Inevitably, farm, your studio workstations will no longer be “tied up” with rendering. Instead, they can be put back into service for thegrowing animation and design visualization studios begin to demonstrate signs of distress as the workload creation of projects. Allowing your artists more freedom to create,promised to customers approaches or exceeds in-house capacity. experiment, and refine their designs will result in more creativeCAUSE: Your 3D rendering pipeline is likely bottlenecked. There are many possible causes for bottlenecks flexibility and higher quality work. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION Whenin the pipeline, yet none of these affect the productivity of your studio as much as inadequate capacity your creative team can deliver more options, produce betterfor rendering test shots and final images. quality imagery, and provide faster turn-around times, the result is increased customer satisfaction, which leads to repeat businessREALIZATION: Your studio needs to consider a dedicated render farm.SOLUTION: renderBOXX. and increased industry recognition. INCREASED PROFITABILITYDESIGN & FEATURES: Adding rendering capacity increases the ability of your company to keep pace with growing demand as your artists produce more- Purpose-built to address demanding 2D & 3D distributed rendering workloads work within a shorter period of time. Paying your artists to design,- High density design: A single renderBOXX module is comprised of two computers (nodes) which instead of paying them to wait, maximizes the productivity ofmeans two dual Quad-Core processor systems (16 cores) in a compact 3.5” w x 7” h x 32” d case. your existing human resources. As your business grows, you’ll be- Five renderBOXX modules (10 nodes) (80 cores) fit into 4 RU (rack unit) (7” x 19”) space able to bid on more projects and larger projects.-IPMI 2.0 technology APEXX 2 |  GoBOXX SLM |  serverBOXX |  renderBOXX/ROW node |  renderPRO |  GoBOXX MXL |  APEXX 4 

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENTTIMELESS DESIGNER Whether traveling Daniel Simon loves machines. He is intrigued by how they work and backward, forward, or consumed by how they look. To him, a vehicle is not merely something parallel, acclaimed concept you drive, sail, or fly from point A to point B. It’s also more than just a work designer & author Daniel of art. For Simon, these machines are part of a universal story, an integral part, and the only thing he enjoys as much as creating fantastic looking Simon is running on machines is crafting the back story that accompanies them. all cylinders. Born in Germany, Simon began his professional career as a designer atLearn more about the BOXX products Daniel Simon relies on Volkswagen and Bugatti. After stints in Spain, England, Brazil, and Japan,and read the full story at www.boxxtech.com/danielsimon the concept designer, producer, and author now calls Los Angeles home. It is here where he creates iconic fantasy vehicles for Hollywood blockbust- ers like Tron: Legacy, Captain America: The First Avenger, Prometheus, and Oblivion. His client list ranges from Warner Bros. and Universal, to Disney, Formula1, Lotus, and Hamilton. He also continues to offer automotive design services and lectures, all while creating his own vehicle fantasy worlds, first in the book, Cosmic Motors, followed by his latest work, The Timeless Racer: Machines of a Time Traveling Speed Junkie: Episode 1. THE TIMELESS RACER Where Cosmic Motors presented (from concept to completion) photo-re- alistic spaceships, race cars, trains, warships, and balloons from planets within a faraway galaxy called Galaxion, Timeless Racer delves much fur- ther, presenting Simon as both artist and storyteller. “One day, I want it to be the Star Wars of motorsports,” he confides unabashedly. He initially set out to create a parallel world, a definitive picture book of high-resolution renders focused on a vast universe of racing machines that would all be connected—from 1920’s motorcycles and 50’s era airplanes to futuristic cars, sea vessels, and spaceships. He just needed a way to tie it all together. The solution came in the form of a fictional character named Vic Cooper, a time-traveling race car driver. “He’s the hero of the story,” explains Simon, “and each episode introduces us to one of his time travels to a specific race, the first being an endurance race in 2027.”

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENTLIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION the norm. “It really depends upon the director,” he says, “but (directors) Joe KosinskiIn 2005, as Simon left Volkswagen, L.A.-based publishing house Design Studio (TRON: Legacy, Oblivion), Ridley Scott (Prometheus), or Joe Johnston (CaptainPress, having visited his website, approached him about creating a book of his America) were extremely precise about what they wanted.” Many design clientsworks. “They didn’t realize that what they saw on the site—that was it,” Simon favor 3D, so now Simon will do a mix of sketches and very rough 3D models in Alias.confesses. “800 pixel, low resolution images. But with a prospect of having my “I would maybe draw a very precise mapping where I have shut lines and details,”artwork printed in books to be sold worldwide, locked into physical paper for he says, “even shadows, sometimes things that are not in a 3D model, but I’ll mapyears to come, I needed to supercharge my visualization skills— way before that as a 3D model and let them see something in a day or two.”the arrival of plug-and-play render tools. With the help of online tutorials andtrial-and-error, I learned to build shader networks and scenes in Autodesk® Maya® A REAL PIECE OF MACHINERYand Mental Ray®.” The result was Cosmic Motors and Simon viewed it as an op- In recent years, Simon has been known to strongly endorse BOXX workstations withportunity to do his very best work and then file that one particular chapter of his a devotion borne out of the possibilities of GPU rendering. “I work with softwarelife away. He had pushed science fiction vehicles to the limit and the Autodesk® companies like Autodesk® and Bunkspeed,” says Simon, “and it was throughAlias® software as well. “Cosmic Motors was my test bed for Alias,” he recalls, “my Bunkspeed that I got in touch with NVIDIA® and learned that you can do moretest challenge to learn 3D, to learn Photoshop, Paint, atmospheres, and learn with four cards instead of one. I wanted to have four slots for GPUs to render inabout photography.” Iray via Bunkspeed at the fastest speed, solid state drives for quick booting, and powerhouse processors for Alias, Photoshop, and Premiere.” He chose the 24 coreSoon afterward, Hollywood called and Simon discovered that creating vehicles (in hyperthread mode) workstation, which at the time of purchase, was the fastestfor motion pictures is an experience profoundly different from his books. “It’s a workstation available. “I feel a ruggedness to it like it’s a workhorse,” says Simon.different field,” he admits. “My mind has to switch completely. Movie design is “It’s industrial, like a real piece of machinery— elegant, heavy-duty machinery. I’mdesign service. Everything that the film is about is the story. The director is by far again rendering hard-core on the GPU for sometimes 48 hours in a row and thatthe most important person and whatever he wants, you put that into your de- thing is just running high-voltage, high wattage. Their consumer service is big,sign. Where you come in as a creative and what differentiates you from another too, no doubt about that. The tech support hotline feels more personal and is verydesigner is your interpretation of it.” Although Simon once worked with a director responsive. With BOXX, it feels real. I know they’re in Texas and the machine feelswho did request a thousand sketches based upon the premise that he would like it is made by people who do what I do.”perhaps like one of them, the designer reassures that such practices are far from APEXX 5 FEATURES: - Largest array of expansion slots of any workstation on the market - Configurable with up to 36 cores (dual Intel® Xeon™) - Up to five professional GPUs - 240GB SSD - Ideal for Bunkspeed, V-Ray®, CATIA®, Ocatne Render, and moreAll images courtesy of Daniel Simon. 

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT GPU GPU RENDERINGBOXX Accelerating the rendering process is an advantage, BOXX Many people are interested in the potential render accel- but as you know, faster render times often lead to eration of GPU rendering compared to traditional CPU more creative iterations of your work. Can you talk rendering. You mentioned your HD frames are rendering about how the GPU has helped in this regard? in 5-10 minutes. Can you provide any insight into how long your frames would take on the CPU?K. Margo When I think of iterations, the idea of “discreet K. Margo steps” come to mind: 1. make an adjustment. 2. I just did some benchmarks. Keep in mind the GPUs areBOXX render/wait a while. 3. review 4. go back to step 1. APEXX 4 Features: stacked, so the results are impressive. Image attached However it didn’t really feel like that when working - Up to 36 cores (Dual Intel® Xeon™) demonstrating the render time difference (See right). I on the GPU. Anytime I was doing shader or lighting - Up to four professional GPUs BOXX capped paths per pixel to 39 since the CPU was going to work, I had V-Ray® RT running on the side. It was - Ideal for V-Ray® RT, Octane, iRay & more take FOREVER to render.K. Margo so dynamic and responsive and most often it had progressively rendered something good enough to maker/director is in attendance to sign off on realis- So by my calculations that’s almost a 70x performance review and proceed within a single breath. It kept tic lighting decisions at this early stage in production K. Margo boost with the GPUs. That’s kinda crazy now that I’ve pace with my creative flow. Coffee breaks became is HUGE. It could alleviate a compositing pipeline done the numbers. Another way to look at this, with RT about caffeine withdrawal and not about waiting burdened to support infinite flexibility, unnecessary GPU I was rendering between 800 and 1024 paths per for renders. if the directors/DPs are on site during performance pixel, which in most cases were acceptable final produc- capture establishing desired lighting. tion quality, arriving at 4-14 minute frame times. Now Perhaps the most impressive piece in all of this is look at what 16 minutes on CPU took and how much what you have done with V-Ray® RT for Motion As a result this simplifies the final rendering/mas- noise there is. Builder. How do you see that changing things? tering pipeline tremendously. Clients could see a product much nearer the final product potentially In your GTC talk, you discussed several methods you em- Thanks! Yes, V-Ray® RT for Motion Builder was/is weeks/months earlier than previously possible. ployed that enable you to stay within the constraints of an amazing collaborative experience with the folks Camera operators now can compose to color and the GPUs memory. Can you talk about those techniques? at Chaos Group. They were extremely supportive light, expanding the breadth of creative consider- Did you even approach the memory limits? when I approached them with the idea. Pairing the ations available. I watch live action camera operators development of CONSTRUCT with the development always re-framing as a response to the shapes of col- Memory is the primary limitation with GPUs at the of V-Ray® for Motion Builder proved very fruitful, or that enter/exit frame. THAT is hugely beneficial. moment. However, with each generation of cards that with a series of concrete production demands Often a lighting team is forced to re-engineer com- becomes less of an issue. The K6000′s and K40′s with quickly highlighting issues/needs. positions to locked cameras/performance to achieve 12 GB memory entered the realm of what high quality good compositions. That feels stale and forced. Now production demands. Even still, frequently I encounter I’m so excited about what this workflow could there can be that amazing tension that exists when scene files using 36+ GB of CPU RAM, so I realized that mean for the industry. The scalability of path all elements are in play simultaneously. Everything adopting a ‘rationing’ mentality to make CONSTRUCT a tracing at interactive frame rates, lighting and influencing everything else. Happy accidents and viable GPU rendered project was necessary. Reducing composing performances in that context, and the spontaneity ensues. the unique geometry footprint by using instancing as ability of progressive path tracing resolving to a much as possible helped. The house under construction final quality production frame is HUGE. So much is essentially thousands of instanced boxes in the form of creativity is now unleashed in the motion capture repeating wood planks. Unique grass patches and trees volume. Lighting TD’s relighting the set (using CG were kept to a minimum, again instancing those as much representations of live action lighting kits) while as possible. Relying on shader-based color variations cinematographers establish focal distance, f-stop were extremely useful in creating visual complexity values and shutter speeds, all while the decision with minimal assets. The robots again were all the same instanced geometry with shader color variations. 

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENTKevin Margo is a talented VFX/CG supervisor at Blur Studio. He’s alsoworking on some very impressive new technology with Chaos Group,maker of the popular V-Ray® rendering engine. Kevin’s short film,CONSTRUCT, is being rendered entirely on the GPU. Known for itsspeed advantages over traditional CPU rendering, the GPU is gainingmomentum as the renderer of choice for final frame production. Kevinrelies on BOXX GPU edition workstations for all aspects of this project.We caught up with Kevin and asked him a few questions regardingthis groundbreaking production.K. Margo So with those geometry efficient approaches, next Lastly, I had various resolutions for every bitmap BOXX You’ve been using your BOXX workstations in a came texture maps. This, by far, proved the largest in the scene, from 256 ^2 up to 4k. For each production environment for some time now. Can you memory consumer. Very quickly, a scene full of a few shot I started with a low end resolution like K. Margo talk about how your experience has been so far? dozen 2k or 4k texture maps would demand 6-10 256 or 512, did some test renders with DOF gigs of memory. This was where the most focused and motion blur enabled, and evaluated what Given the cutting edge hardware we’re putting optimizations needed to occur. Our character model- scene elements needed higher resolutions and through heavy production, I’m extremely impressed ers implemented pixel-saving strategies like storing increased those accordingly. In the end, most at its stability, which is very important when trying to multiple data channels (reflect,gloss,bump) inside scenes hovered between 4 and 6 GB of memory, render a one minute teaser in five consecutive nights. the 3 RGB color channels to be accessed individually with the most complex scenes touching 7 or 8 Whatever cooling rig is inside does an impressive job in the shader for their respective data usage. We GB, which was actually was quite comfortable given how intense these cards are. avoiding color info storage in diffuse maps, instead since there’s always a little more overhead grayscale maps used to mix various colors together. on the main card handling windows/app The role of V-Ray® RT for GPUs in the rendering pro- Collapsing complex shader trees to single bitmaps operations. My K6000 had this responsibility, so cess has evolved from a fast preview renderer, into per component also was needed at times. These are it was always about 1 GB higher than the two a full-fledged final frame production tool. As Kevin all tricks game engines have used for years. compute only K40s. demonstrates, the GPU’s role will also play a bigger role in the VFX pipeline. BOXX GPU edition worksta- tions are perfect solutions for GPU-centric work. Based on Kevin’s results, a single Tesla K40 or single GTX Titan would be approximately 20X faster than the single i7 CPU in the scenario described here.All images courtesy of Kevin Margo. V-Ray® RT 3.0 CPU - i7 4960K/4.5ghz/6 cores, 12 threads (overclocked) 39 paths per pixel RenderTime: 16min 4 seconds V-Ray® RT 3.0 GPU - 1x K6000. 2x K40’s 39 paths per pixel RenderTime: 13.9 seconds To learn more about the BOXX products Kevin Margo relies on and read the full story visit, www.boxxtech.com/construct 

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT Windsong Productions takes their business to the APEXXWhen BOXX announced the introduction of the APEXX 5, the most advanced workstation in the world,Windsong Productions, an up-and-coming Central Valley, California, production studio, was first in line—thanks to the legwork of lead colorist and motion graphics artist Jeremiah Belt. An avid BOXXer, Belt hadrelied on BOXX systems long before joining Windsong and throughout his career, continued to keeptrack of the Austin, Texas-based company and its innovative, high performance computer workstations.On behalf of Windsong Productions, Belt kindly agreed to the following interview.Tell me about Windsong Productions. Windsong Productions is a Prior to your APEXX 5, what type of workstations were you using? Prior to the APEXX 5,California-based, full-service creative production company. Since 2011, Windsong was entirely a Mac house. As professionals, we need the most expandability andwe’ve been producing commercials and web videos, as well as provid- flexibility we can squeeze out of our workstations, software, and tools so we chose to purchaseing post-production services for TV shows. Recently, we’ve expanded an APEXX 5 for our newest work.into full TV show and documentary production. By investing heavily in Which BOXX performance specialist did you consult with? I worked with Dustin Leifheit. Icreative services, in addition to equipment and technical know-how, met Dustin years back attending the NAB convention in Las Vegas. Having worked on BOXXwe’re able to manage every single aspect of production, from concept workstations in the past, I had a soft spot for the machines and company. As I said, I keptto filming to graphics to color correction. We love every part of the tabs on them and always checked out BOXX at the Intel® booth or in other booths they wereprocess. showing at NAB. I ran into Dustin several times over the years and picked his brain about my home studio system options. When it came time to spec out a machine for Windsong, I wentTake me through your creative process. Depending on the project, to BOXX first. After a few moments on the website, a chat window popped up with Dustin’swe may be asked to concept and develop our own ideas, or we may name and we began discussing the new machine.just be executing a specific vision that a client already has. In any case,there’s a lot of collaboration amongst the team, brainstorming and All images courtesy of Jeremiah Belt.trying to figure out the absolute best solution for whatever specific taskwe’re working on.In a related question, describe your production workflow, thesoftware applications you rely on, and the challenges your workflowpresents. The early development stages include writing, storyboarding,and animatics. For production, we offer the full package of tools andcreative, directing, cinematography, wardrobe, lighting, and shootingon our RED Epic Dragon camera in 6K. During post-production, we relyheavily on our Fibre SNS EVO SAN shared storage system of over 192TB. Software-wise, we’re primarily an Adobe house for post purposes,using the entire spectrum of apps in the Adobe CC suite.For 3D modeling, animation, and rendering, we use Maxon Cinema4D. For feature color grading, in compressed to fully uncompressed 6Kformats, in realtime, we use DaVinci Resolve. We also use Mocha Pro,Pro Tools, Video Copilot plugins, Red Giant plugins, Greyscalegorilla,RED Tools, and Blackmagic I/O cards. The challenges in our workflowmostly stem from sharing assets and communication between theseven or eight workstations in the studio. The SAN goes a long way inallowing collaboration. 

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT“ BEFORE THE APEXX 5, I BUILT MY OWN DUAL INTEL® XEON™ WORKSTATION, BECAUSE AT THE TIME THERE WASN’T A MACHINE THAT COULD FULLY SUIT MY NEEDS.\" - Jeremiah Belt | Lead Colorist & Motion Graphics ArtistDescribe the experience of working on your APEXX 5. How does it differ What has the APEXX 5 meant in terms of time saved, money saved, or making criticalfrom your previous systems? The APEXX 5 is different in many ways from deadlines? We were one of the first to purchase the APEXX 5 back in December of 2014. Asprevious systems. For one, it’s a turnkey solution, yet completely custom- I mentioned previously, I discussed our needs with BOXX and not really finding a solution, itizable. Before the APEXX 5, I built my own dual Intel® Xeon™ workstation was suggested that this new system in the works would be the answer.because at the time there wasn’t a machine that could fully suit my needs.That took months of troubleshooting. Before that, it was Mac-based work- That kind of problem-solving and configuring was a huge sell. In the short time we’ve had itstations, which were great due to their robust Unix-based OS, but not very in the studio, the APEXX 5 has already proven itself by smashing render times and complexflexible in setup, options, and upgrades. Plus, they always lacked the most workflows in a fraction of the time it took other systems. Surprisingly, it sometimes has toopowerful options in the market. The APEXX 5 also has the most PCIe slots, much power for software that isn’t optimized for so many cores and we’ve had to wranglecores, and memory of any system we’ve worked with. that back.What type of workflow problems has it solved? The main two purposes of A nice problem to have? Yes--it’s an impressive beast of a computing machine and willour new APEXX 5 at Windsong are feature-level color grading and 2D/3D save us hours of render time. Several large 3D projects are approaching in the comingmotion graphics. Finding a system that can handle these two very different months and having this much render power will be a huge asset and may even hold backworlds in the same box was a challenge. For color grading at 4K to 6K the need of a render farm for awhile.resolutions in RAW and uncompressed workflows, it requires a lot of GPUhorsepower to handle the color processing in real time. We needed at least Well, if the need arises, we can always offer you a renderPRO, renderBOXX, or betterthree GPUs with the option of expanding those or changing them out in yet, a ROW: RenderFarm on Wheels. Speaking of, discuss the future of your work andthe future. how you see your APEXX 5 system, or BOXX in general, as being part of that future. This system will be the cornerstone of the motion graphics and color grading department atFor motion graphics and 3D work, we needed a lot of CPU power and Windsong Productions for years to come. It can grow and adapt with us as we continue tocores. A single-processor system wouldn’t do. The more cores we have grow and expand our operations. This sort of technical and creative freedom will surely spillavailable and the more memory to feed them, the faster our 3D renders over into other departments in the future and I foresee BOXX being a large part of that.would be. Hard drive speeds and transfer rates were also a big concernwith the sheer file size, speed, and layering we would be doing.The APEXX 5 was the only option for this. We are running dual Xeon™E5-2687W v3 processors for a total of forty high-clock cores. Three dou-ble-wide NVIDIA® GeForce®GTX Titan Black GPUs with 6 GB of RAM each.A 4-port 8 GB Fibre card was installed attached to a dedicated RAID 50portion of the SAN achieving over 1,600 MB read rates. A Blackmagic 4KExtreme card and 128 GB of RAM. It’s all whisper-quiet for the amount ofhorsepower under the hood. We have it rack mounted with the SAN andrun all the lines to the artists office. To learn more about the BOXX products Windsong relies on and read the full story visit, www.boxxtech.com/windsong. 

MANUFACTURING & PRODUCT DESIGN A NEED FOR SPEED MOTOCZYSZ RULES THE RACETRACK WITH BOXX The Isle of Man (IOM) TT, located on the famed island in the Irish Sea, is home to the most difficult and dangerous motorcycle racetrack in the world. It is also where, for two weeks each year, the motorsport’s major players—both manufacturers and riders alike—come to prove that they belong among the motorcycling elite. Their machines snake through 37.7 miles of narrow, winding, roads punctuated with dizzying curves and lined with trees, hedgerows, homes, and fans, in a death-defying quest to exceed average speeds over 100 miles per hour. “Death-defying” is not hyperbole. In fact, throughout its history, over 230 IOM TT riders and spectators have lost their lives during the annual race. And it is here on this track, (as well as others) that MotoCzysz has chalked up numerous victories, earn- ing the attention of the motorcycling world. APEXX 2 An award-winning Portland, Oregon, design firm, MotoCzysz was founded in 2003 by engineer/designer Michael Czysz, a man dubbed “a latter day Leonardo DaVinci” by Cycle News Online, and “the most creative motorcycle designer working today,” by Motorcyclist magazine. From inspired engineering to bold design, Czysz reveals a passion for speed and fierce commitment to innovation that infuses all aspects of his com- pany. For example, in 2006, MotoCzysz made the surprising transition from petrol-powered motorcycles to the new frontier of electric motorcycle racing—a move that appeared to be paying off in 2009 when the IOM played host to the first ever all-electric motorcycle road race. MotoCzysz arrived with their state-of-the art E1pc bike which was out in front when an unexpected electronic snafu sidelined the vehicle, preventing it from completing a full lap. Undaunted, the team returned with rider Mark Miller in 2010, winning the race now known as the TT Zero (“zero” meaning “zero toxic/noxious emissions”).FEATURING AN OVERCLOCKED, EIGHT- The following year, the third-generation 2011 E1pc, ridden by Michael Rutter, clocked an average speed of CORE CPU. GET THE BEST OF BOTH 99.604 mph, winning yet again. The biggest triumph yet however, arrived in 2012 when MotoCzysz’ latest edition E1pc, with Rutter on board, took first place and became the first electric motorcycle to lap the Moun- WORLDS FOR 3D DESIGN MODELING tain Circuit at over 100 mph. MotoCzysz, the winning American motorcycle manufacturer at the IOM, con- AND RENDERING WORKFLOWS. quers the track not only through high performance and technology, but also with inspired design and indus- try-leading innovation. MotoCzysz innovation has also helped to forge significant technological partnerships with companies like Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS®, Bunkspeed, NVIDIA®, and BOXX Technologies.

ON SITE & ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING, & CONSTRUCTIONON TARGET GoBOXX MXL Features: With BIM on the rebound, Phil Simon of SB Ballard - Perfect for CAD and VFX applications that swears by his GoBOXX mobile workstation. are frequency boundPhilip K. Simon is the virtual construction manager for SB Ballard, the Virginia-based - Your choice of NVIDIA® Quardo® K3100M, construction company that provides per-construction services, general contracting, K5100M, or GeForce®980M graphics construction management, design build and concrete contracting services to an impressive list of clients throughout the mid-Atlantic and southeastern United States. - Ultra-fast M.2 PCI-E SSD delivering up to From healthcare, government, and education industries to arts, entertainment and 50% more performance than traditional sports, SB Ballard has grown to become one of the largest general contractors in Virginia. SATA SSDs THE APPLICATIONS Simon is unabashed in his love of Autodesk® Revit®, using it for all of his architectural modeling. “There are lots of things we can do with Revit®,” he says. - Drive up to two external 4K “We do many of them, but like every contractor, we have these tools, but don’t always displays in addition to the GoBOXX have the time or man power to use them in every way they can be used.” Simon also MXL's primary 1080p panel relies on Autodesk® 3Ds Max® for visualization animation. “When we do the marketing models, we usually create animations to show some of the viewpoints,” he says. “We’ll These days 3D applications rely on rendering. Simon notes that heavy rendering present the owner with walk-throughs so they can see things from different points of with 3Ds Max® is offloaded to a renderPRO, the BOXX personal, deskside rendering view, how things flow. We’ll demonstrate what they can do to improve lighting or day module. “We only do that with 3Ds Max®, so I work in it ten percent of the time. lighting for LEED certification. 3Ds Max® is really useful for daylight studies and a lot of These are typically animations where I’m rendering thousands of images—six im- interior lighting studies as well.” In addition to Revit® and 3Ds Max®, Simon relies on ages a second in a four to five minute animation. That gets to be a large rendering the entire Autodesk® and Adobe CS suites. project. If I have something I need to do quick and dirty and don’t have time to THE PROCESS “I start in Revit®,” says Simon. “It’s the tool I know.” SB Ballard’s most get it into 3Ds Max®, clean it up, get the lighting right, and all that, I can still do common delivery method is “CM at risk” where they work very early with the architects renderings out of Revit® on the GoBOXX and clean them up in Adobe Photoshop and engineers who are still under contract with the owner and not with SB Ballard. pretty quickly.” He adds that SB Ballard does very little rendering in Revit®, but Usually, SB Ballard gets involved at the schematic stage so the program requirements insists that his GoBOXX is significantly faster (twice as fast, in fact) as any other are already designed into the building. However, there are a lot of specifics that aren’t machine he’s ever used. completed like structural work and other specifications, so the construction company As for calculating rendering times on the GoBOXX, Simon acknowledges that begins with a value engineering constructibility review. there is no average—it simply depends on the detail of the model. “Yesterday I Simon and his team work directly out of Revit® and in their constructibility review, the did an exterior stairway with a water feature next to it,” he says. “Not an incredibly project estimators and in-house consultants receive PDF and hard copy plans. Based complicated model and I did it at a high resolution. It took four minutes to render. on their particular areas of expertise, they provide comments. A series of collaborative Best quality took twelve minutes. It was very fast. Doing a big model rendering with constructibility workshops (including the architect and owner) follow. After this, the custom lighting and 3Ds Max®, you have a lot less control over what is rendered model is converted to Navisworks®, becoming the “as built model,” i.e., what SB Ballard in Revit®, so you can’t turn things on and off. You pretty much have to render provides to the owner at the end of the project for facilities management. The model is the whole model. It was intense— probably took twenty-five to thirty minutes. then pushed out to the field. Another portion of Simon’s time is devoted to marketing, It would have taken several hours on the old machine. If the GoBOXX is not four where he provides customer presentations. times as fast, it’s at least twice as fast. When you’re actually navigating around the machine, the differences are subtle, but significant. The action on orbiting WORKFLOW CHALLENGES “In the pre-construction workflow,” says Simon, “the challenge and panning is smoother so that you’re less likely to catch and select the wrong is interoperability. You have architects that use ArchiCAD and architects using CAD are thing—and that can be very irritating when you’re modeling. If a machine is lagging a problem.” Another challenge Simon and his team face occurs during the construction just a little bit behind, you’ll select and then you’ll find you actually selected the phase when subcontractors are slow to review the models and provide input. Another is last thing that you thought you were hovering over. I can’t estimate how much when, out in the field, an old fashioned superintendent objects to using BIM and Simon time it saves you because of that.” must insist that they do. “I’m pretty rigid about it,” he chuckles, “but it saves everybody As for being a solution to previous workflow problems, Simon also cites the ma- a lot of time and money if you can get them all on board.” chine’s easy and uncanny compatibility with AV projection systems. According WE’RE GOING WITH BOXX Prior to his GoBOXX mobile workstation, Simon relied on to him, this third aspect is critical since he is often required to present a model a top-of-the-line Dell laptop primarily because at that time, he simply wasn’t aware of on a moment’s notice. BOXX. “Dell was extremely well-rated with an aluminum case, good speed, and power for graphics,” he recalls, “but it was nothing like this GoBOXX.” Simon discovered BOXX “WHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO GET THE JOB, IT’S VERY CUTTHROAT” Because SB Ballard during a trip to Autodesk® University in 2012 where he actually shuffled his Dell laptop has earned a reputation as a builder of large scale, high profile projects, Simon’s around, looking for a comparable model. “I had just got it, so it was still brand new,” he project presentations come with a certain degree of expectation. “In some ways, recalls. “We didn’t know too much about the available machines. Lenovo was there, HP I think we sort of built a trap for ourselves,” he admits. “If we don’t walk in with too, and I asked them all, ‘What do you have that compares to this machine?’ They all all the bells and whistles, then the client thinks we’re giving him short shrift and said nothing. They didn’t have anything like it. So I went to the BOXX booth and their that we don’t really want the job. In the bidding process when you’re trying to get reply was ‘What do you need?’ We made the resolution then that when it was time to the job, it’s very cutthroat. The majority of contractors are going after these hard get another machine, we were going with BOXX.” bid jobs and we can’t differentiate ourselves in those because it’s all about price. When discussing the speed and performance of his mobile workstation, Simon mentions Ideally, we need to have a best value environment where we can demonstrate to the Intel® processor and ten cores, but is also quick to credit the machine’s cooling the owner what we can do and let them know that they’re going to get a better ability. “It has four good size fans underneath it, so it doesn’t get hot. If you put my old product and then they’ll want to use us again.” Dell machine in your lap, you’d get blisters,” he says with a laugh. “I had to keep a chill In conclusion, does SB Ballard considers BOXX a part of their future? Simon has pad under it. Other machines tend to bog down when they get hot, but this GoBOXX expressed that they already need more and as their current machines reach their doesn’t and that’s the big difference—failure rate. I think the ability to run cool makes expiration date, they will likely purchase additional GoBOXX systems. “I asked IT for a big difference in the life of the machine.” a GoBOXX 2720 and they got me (a top of the line) 2725 because they wanted to give it a try,” says Simon. “I’m glad they did. It’s a great machine. The performance is absolutely jaw-dropping and I couldn’t be happier with it.” To read the full story (and learn more about the BOXX products Phil Simon relies on) visit: www.boxxtech.com/philsimon. 

ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING, & CONSTRUCTION When leading architecture and engineering firm PBK needed state-of-the-art rendering for their new visualization lab, they chose BOXX. VIZLabrenderBOXX nodeJose Galindo is the Director of the PBK Visualization Lab (or VIZLab as he likes to refer WORKFLOW Depending on what group sends them a project, the VIZLabto it), a San Antonio-based illustration and animation group within PBK Architects, a workflow begins with either a Autodesk® Revit® model or a model out ofnational architecture and engineering solutions leader focused on K-12 school, higher SketchUp. If it comes from Revit®, visualization specialist Oscar Veloz usuallyeducation, healthcare, corporate, and government clients. PBK has offices in Houston, cleans up the model as needed and then links to it from 3Ds Max®. “We thor-Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin, and McAllen. In 2014, when PBK CEO Dan oughly enjoy working from Revit®,” says Galindo, “because it makes it easy forBoggio announced the creation of the VIZLab, it was understood that the new division us to apply changes to the model that came from the project teams. When wewould be tasked with specific goals, chief among them, providing clients with dynam- get a SketchUp model, we usually remodel the project in 3Ds Max® and useic, real-time, life-like, project visualizations prior to the start of construction. the SketchUp model as a reference. We spend most of our time in 3Ds Max® and rendering with V-Ray® 3.0, but we also rely heavily on Adobe Photoshop,THE CREATIVE PROCESS In most cases, when the PBK VIZLab receives a request from After Effects, and Premiere Pro. When we have elaborate environments, we’llone of their offices, they ask the project team to send either a SketchUp or Revit® use eon Vue because it can create intricate landscapes and environmentsmodel, along with any related drawings, such as site plans and material boards. After quickly. In situations where we have tighter deadlines for animations, we usereviewing all the materials, the VIZLab crew gets down to business. “We have a kickoff Lumion because it integrates with SketchUp and Revit® well and renders verydiscussion to determine how our illustrations will be used so we can tailor the look quickly on the GPU.” The VIZLab manages the render farm load with Pipelineand feel of the imagery to best fit the presentation,” says Galindo. “Once we have FX Qube! render management software and at present, is working withworked through a storyboard and feel happy with our creative direction, we jump into Pipeline FX to develop a new job type for SketchUp so they will be able toAutodesk® 3Ds Max® and begin modeling, texturing, and lighting our projects.” distribute render jobs from SketchUp through the Qube! interface. All images courtesy of Jose Galindo.

ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING, & CONSTRUCTIONRENDERING DILEMMA When he first arrived at PBK, it boxes and delighted that it only took an hour or so Multiple renderBOXX nodes can be configureddidn’t take long for Galindo to see that the rendering to assemble. The real excitement, however, began into a BOXX RenderFarm On Wheels. It canprocess left much to be desired. “All we had were when he put it to work. “Once I had all our software include up to 80 modules with up to 2,880 coresstandard Dell 3600 machines and a render farm made installed,” he says, “I was amazed that I could now in a 42U rack. (24U rack shown above).up of various unutilized computers,” he recalls. “In the render, in a matter of minutes, projects that previouslybeginning, I would spend more time trying to get the took hours upon hours to complete. Since that point, To learn more about the PBK, BOXX Technologies, andfarm running and stay running than I would actually we haven’t had any down time on the farm; it simply see remarkable examples of PBK VIZLabs animation,working on projects.” Realizing that they couldn’t works. The ROW allows our small group to output work watch the video PBK: A BOXX Customer Story here:execute projects efficiently and wanting more from at a rate that would have never been possible if we www.boxxtech.com/pbkthe final product, Galindo spoke with Boggio about were using our previous impromptu farm.”starting the VIZLab. The wise CEO quickly agreed that An added bonus is that Galindo no longer spendsan illustration group in PBK would be a valuable asset hours maintaining a render farm. “The new technologyto the firm’s workflow. has allowed our team to spend more time executing our projects, rather than stopping work earlier thanCALLING BOXX Galindo already knew his next move. necessary to render,” he says. “In addition, havingWhile employed at Jacobs Engineering, he had the ROW allows us to iterate many changes withoutwatched a render farm demonstration presented by worrying about render times getting in the way of ourBOXX Technologies. Needless to say, it left an impact. deadlines. It’s amazingly effective to be able to renderOver the past few years, Galindo also enjoyed occa- multiple jobs and thousands of frames at nights andsional opportunities to use a high performance BOXX on weekends, and know that in the morning, our jobsworkstation. “When it came time to purchase a render will be finished and we can spend our day working.”farm for the VIZLab,” he says, “my first thought was toapproach BOXX.” When Galindo contacted the Austin, EXPANDING THE FARM At present, PBK uses builtTexas-based hardware manufacturer, the voice on the workstations, but as the group continues to growother end of the line was BOXX performance specialist (and after seeing how their RenderFarm on WheelsRich Petit. “The entire experience was awesome,\" performs), Galindo believes he will likely be makingGalindo recalls. \"Rich was very knowledgeable and al- a transition over to BOXX workstations in the future.ways quick to respond to my questions and concerns. “If the performance and reliability of our ROW is anyHe was very sensitive to my needs and budget, and I indicator, BOXX workstations should perform on parnever felt like he was trying to sell me more than what with our built machines while being more reliable,”I needed.” he says. Galindo would also like to expand the render farm. “I see our workflow transitioning into a heavierTURNKEY SOLUTION What PBK needed was a Render- GPU-compute workflow and away from pure CPUFarm On Wheels (ROW), the ultimate turnkey render rendering. As a result, BOXX solutions make even morefarm, available in a wide range of sizes and expand- sense over competing solutions. I know that I can go toable to over 80 modules (2880 cores). The complete BOXX and get a four GPU workstation custom-tailoredhardware package included rack-mounted, dual CPU to my workflow. As far as I know, similar custom config-render nodes held in a mobile enclosure. When the urations are not offered by the competition without aROW arrived, Galindo was surprised that it fit into two significantly higher price tag.” 

MANUFACTURING & PRODUCT DESIGN APEXX 2 is currently reviewed as the fastest SOLIDWORKS® workstation on the market. BOXX Technologies relies on SOLIDWORKS® Premium design software to more efficiently and cost-effectively develop its top-performing workstations and rendering systems.BOXX TECHNOLOGIES, INC.ADVANCING SPECIALIZED COMPUTER WORKSTATION DEVELOPMENT WITH SOLIDWORKS® PREMIUMCHALLENGE: BOXX Technologies, Inc. manufactures specialized workstations and rendering systemsACCELERATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF POWERFUL WORKSTATIONS & for visual effects (VFX), film, television, game development, architecture, engineering,RENDERING SYSTEMS TO MEET THE SPECIALIZED NEEDS OF MEDIA, product design, simulation, higher education, government, defense, science, medical, andENGINEERING, MEDICAL, & BUSINESS CUSTOMERS. general business industries. BOXX workstations continually beat the competition in speed and reliability, and the company’s overclocked APEXX series workstations are the fastestSOLUTION: IMPLEMENT SOLIDWORKS® PREMIUM DESIGN SOFTWARE. single-socket workstations on the market, providing the ideal solution for frequency-bound CAD applications. For multi-threaded tasks like rendering and simulation, BOXX has a full lineBENEFITS: of dual Intel® Xeon™ workstations and rendering solutions.- CUT DEVELOPMENT TIME BY MORE THAN HALF- REDUCED SHEET METAL FABRICATION TIME BY 50% With its industry-leading expertise in hardware requirements for modern render farms and- ELIMINATED ITERATIVE PROTOTYPING CYCLES simulation clusters—backed up with comprehensive lab benchmarking of various software- SUPPORTED YEAR-OVER-YEAR BUSINESS GROWTH OF 40% applications to ensure optimum performance—BOXX focuses on developing systems that push the limits of what computer workstations can do. According to Founder and Vice Pres- ident of Engineering and Operations Tim Lawrence, BOXX needed a 3D design platform to advance development of the custom chassis and enclosure designs required for its systems.MADE IN THEUSAAMERICAN METAL: To watch the video visit:THE BOXX CHASSIS STORY www.boxxtech.com/usaFor decades, U.S. industry has taken a hit as companies moved their manufacturing the chassis arrive at BOXX HQ where our production team integrates the components.overseas to produce cheaper goods. Unfortunately, our mass-market, tier one com- You don’t buy a BOXX to send emails or play video games. You buy it to go to work.petitors have been part of that trend. But at BOXX, our systems are made in the U.S.A. So take a few moments to watch this film and the next time you boot up your BOXXIn the process of designing our state-of-the-art chassis, our engineers provide local workstation, you’ll understand what I mean. And just maybe, like me, you’ll discovermetal fabricators with precise 3D CAD models. The parts are machined, assembled, and that American manufacturing is ready for a comeback.

ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING, & CONSTRUCTIONCREATING FOR VIRTUAL REALITY The Blue Marble 3D team tries to do all design work in “VR GIVES YOU THE ABILITY TO MOVEAutodesk® Revit®, which can sometimes be a challenge when working with clients. “We THINGS, SO INSTEAD OF LOOKING ATwant to try and have everyone in Revit®,” says Matos, “and if they’re not, then we’ll do it A FLAT REPRESENTATION WITH NOourselves because it benefits them in the long run. Being in Revit® has a direct correla- SENSE OF SPACE, YOU ACTUALLY FEELtion to the virtual reality experience. If it’s just two dimensional drawings from CAD, then LIKE YOU ARE IN THERE.”it’s not real construction data. With Revit® data, if we’re inside the cube and discoversome aspect of the design is not right, then we also know that it’s not right in the Revit® - George Matos | Principal at Blue Marble 3Ddrawing and we can change it.” It was the quickness, flipping between things inside it, it didn’t matter—same model,Following the Revit® work, rendering is done using Autodesk® 3ds Max®. From 3Ds Max®, two different machines, and the BOXX was just that much quicker. There wasn’t eventhe renderings are transported to the EON software. “3Ds Max® is a conduit to EON’s VR lag with multiple programs open or switching between Revit® and Adobe® Photo-software,” says Matos. “On either the architectural or construction side, we can bring you shop® or Revit® and CAD. There were no issues at all.” Once Blue Marble 3D came intoin to experience VR, but the interesting thing about this technology is that it’s not going existence, Matos needed 3Ds Max® workstations for his new team and selected BOXX'sto look photorealistic. That’s not what this is about. It’s about the spatial awareness and GPU edition workstation, a liquid-cooled, overclocked Intel® Core i7® workstationbeing able to look around. We have designers, branding team members, and company optimized for the most demanding 3D scenes and engineering assemblies. Just likeexecutives virtually walk through two different seating layouts with the options trig- with Revit®, the Blue Marble team noticed a remarkable difference with BOXX. “Withgered as they move through the cue line, or go to the counter to pay, etc. and with the Max, we can load up to four GPUs. Our users have anywhere from two to three perflick of a button, do it again with a completely different seating layout.” Matos also men- system—it just depends on how they use Photoshop and other applications. It givestions that the advantages of VR are not just about aesthetic considerations. Sometimes them the ability to do a little rendering, but when they really need to kick it off, theyit’s about mechanical features like HVAC and soffit conditions, which, because they can can send it to the render farm where we have both five GPU and seven GPU systems.”see it, enable the client to make the right decisions or adjustments. Because changeorders are such a critical (and costly) aspect of the design process, VR can be essential in Where larger firms have projects that may extend for months, Blue Marble 3D jobskeeping construction costs low. typically last from one to three weeks and with the addition of BOXX workstations, they probably last even less. “BOXX has really accelerated our efficiency,” says Matos.BECOMING A BOXX SHOP The Blue Marble 3D EON Icube features four projectors, each “We’re no longer waiting for files to open, or when moving between viewports. Ourone powered by its own BOXX Technologies’ workstation, the company’s liquid-cooled, users are more efficient and we’re saving money. ROI is hard to say, but probably asoverclocked, Intel® Core™ i7 workhorse. Each workstation features an NVIDIA® K6000 much as 1.5 hrs a day.”graphics card. “The GPU is how the image gets synced and loaded into the cube,” saysMatos. Prior to BOXX (and prior to Blue Marble 3D), Chipman relied on HP workstations, ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL But it wasn’t smooth sailing when Matos first switchedbut that changed based on a recommendation from former Autodesk® 3Ds Max® man- to BOXX, forcing HP to try and keep them in the fold. “I remember a group call withager Shane Griffith, who now serves as product marketing manager at The Foundry. “He eight people on the phone,” says Matos. “It was a half hour disaster. Their argumentsaid I should be looking at BOXX, so we bought one machine for evaluation,” recalls Ma- was that Intel® only allows you one overclock and my response was ‘That’s not mytos. “My premise is that I always let the users evaluate it because I’m the CTO, the tech problem—it’s BOXX’s. BOXX will take care of me if the thing overheats or burns up.’guy, and not the actual end user. When we got the first one, I didn’t have the visualiza- Our Revit® workstations aren’t overclocked, but the Max ones are and the overclockingtion team yet, so I brought in my Revit® guys to ‘spec out’ a machine that I could com- has never been a problem.”pare to an HP. We set the specs, a high price point, installed everything, gave it to threedifferent users to test, and in minutes they said, ‘This is far better.' That spec became the “The tier ones have one script they work off of for everybody,” says Matos. “When weRevit® standard workstation at Chipman as the company added more 3DBOXX models: were looking at workstations, Dell and HP wanted to put dual processor mother-3970, 4050, and 4120. “They noticed the difference right away,” says Matos, “especially boards in there whether we needed it or not—plus it raised the cost significantlythe responsive time. The specs were the same, but they noticed when flipping between because on the Max side, when we do GPU renderings, we needed more cards in athe viewports and rotating around the model, that they no longer experienced any lag. single machine to create our little render farm and Dell and HP wouldn’t offer that. The power supply wasn’t there and the board wasn’t big enough to support four GPUs. What Blue Marble does is very unique. BOXX recognizes this and offers that difference, that uniqueness. It’s been great ever since we adopted BOXX for all of our workstations.” And as Shane Griffith had done for him, Matos recommended BOXX to EON Reality, which had also been an HP shop. \"When we started talking to EON about what we had, I said you need to look at BOXX because their machines will destroy HP for running the cube. EON followed up with their own testing, and went with BOXX as well. I always say the proof is in the pudding.”APEXX 2 is ideal for: LEGENDARY SUPPORT In addition to BOXX performance, Matos is also impressed by- Single-threaded applications the advantages of BOXX customer support. “When I call (BOXX sales consultant) Rich- 3D Animation Petit and I need something, he gets it. He can deliver the quote right away or if I need- Modeling an answer I’m not finding on the website, he knows it. If it’s something that requires- 2D Image Processing even more tech expertise, he’ll get me the answer.” As Chipman and Blue Marble- Multi-tasking between software 3D continue to grow, Matos says that they will continue to stick with BOXX. The- CAD Design companies have purchased over 45 BOXX workstations in less than two years, along with a pair of renderPROs as well. “We have those because we’re starting to do some things that are CPU intensive,” says Matos. He adds that there are still a few lingering HP computers on the floor but says they are quickly disappearing. “BOXX is our choice for workstations,” he says matter-of-factly. “And we look forward to continued growth with them, as well as all the exciting BOXX technology still to come.” To read the full story and learn more about BOXX products visit: www.boxxtech.com/GeorgeMatos. 

MANUFACTURING & PRODUCT DESIGNMANUFACTURING& PRODUCT DESIGNC ertified for Autodesk® and Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS®, BOXX CUSTOMERS CATIA®, and other professional applications, BOXX product design & manufacturing solutions deliver unparalleled power and reliability for the most demanding workflows.For over 19 years, we have earned a reputation as the leading innovator ofreliable, high performance solutions that enhance creativity and increaseproductivity—resulting in increased profits and efficient workflows for ourcustomers.Call one of the top tier workstation manufacturers and ask them a questionabout ray trace rendering or how many triangles per second you can pushwith their workstation and be prepared for the silence that follows. One ofthe many reasons BOXX is the professional's choice is that our expert salesconsultants, engineers, and legendary technical support not only knoweverything about BOXX hardware, they also have intimate knowledge ofthe professional software applications you rely on and the optimal workflowfor your business.

MANUFACTURING & PRODUCT DESIGNWHAT MAKES BOXX BETTER? At BOXX, we pride ourselves “We’ve just deployed them. Very positive feedback fromon selecting components that deliver peak performance, the users, particularly with Revit® load and commandnot bottom-dollar commodity components built by the execution times. Big increase in productivity on thelowest bidder. These components deliver incremental larger projects.” – Harris Consulting Engineersperformance, value, and longevity, paying for themselvesthrough increased productivity and less down time. We “I haven’t even been in this machine for 20 minutes andthen enclose these components in custom-designed, I’m really looking forward to getting the engineers onhigh-performance chassis engineered in-house and it. It is impressive! Thank you.” – GS Precisionmanufactured right here in Austin, TX.Once we’ve integrated high quality components into a Professional Grade Overclockinghigh performance chassis, there are numerous ways to Delivers Measurable ROIpush the performance envelope. One of these methodsis overclocking. Overclocking helps push beyond the and AMD turned a blind eye to this activity. Instead, WHAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE FOR ME? In an application likeperformance bottlenecks present in most CAD programs they focused their attention on selling as many CPUs as SOLIDWORKS® or other CAD software, if you’re not doinglike SOLIDWORKS® and Revit®. To fully understand the possible to the multi-national commodity builders who, frequent rendering, odds are you are operating wherevalue of overclocking, one must have basic knowledge in turn, had no interest in building a PC with the right single-threaded performance is all that matters. Addingof a CPU and how it impacts the overall performance components to enable overclocking. Their focus was more cores or even going to a dual CPU system will not gainprofile of a workstation, which is also dependent upon trained on building the cheapest product that would you more performance. Neither will upgrading your GPU.the applications a professional runs. run a CPU at its rated spec. Only by increasing the frequency of your processor will you But several years ago, Intel® and AMD recognized the eliminate the bottleneck and that’s what BOXX is all about.WHAT IS OVERCLOCKING? When companies like Intel® growing market for overclocking products and began We deliver maximum performance that will provide a reallook to increase performance of their CPU designs, offering the option to set the frequency to their cus- return on your investment. BOXX overclocking delivers 20%they have three ways to do so. They can 1) increase the tomers. You can determine if a CPU has an uncapped or more performance than a workstation utilizing the samefrequency (going from 3GHz to 4GHz, for example), (or unlocked, as it is) frequency if it has a “K” or “Extreme processor from a multi-national commodity builder. This2) increase the Instructions Per Clock (architectural Edition” designation in the model. They intended for translates into less waiting and more doing. More oftenenhancements that allow a CPU to get more done in the these processors to be overclocked. And once Intel® than not, a BOXX overclocked workstation will actually paysame amount of time), or 3) add CPU cores (four cores, gave its explicit permission for companies like BOXX to itself off within three years. We’ll make sure your workflowsix cores, eight cores, and so on). qualify processors at higher frequencies, the market for is not bottlenecked by single-threaded CPU performance.Of these three methods, adding additional cores will only the supporting components really began to blossom. And when you’re free of the artificial performance shacklesshow a performance advantage when utilizing heavi- For instance, the closed-loop, maintenance-free liquid that a slower computer delivers, you’ll get more done,ly-threaded applications, like those used to render an cooling that BOXX utilizes features a 50,000 hour mean faster. We’ll make sure that you have a reliable systemimage. (This is where it’s important to have a good un- time between failure (MTBF) and keeps the processors for years to come, and we’ll also make sure to be there toderstanding of what kind of performance your application cool and quiet. It’s the same technology from the com- support you with unparalleled expertise along the way. Ifneeds.) Of the two remaining options, the one variable pany Asetek that is used in critical data centers, so you you’re not doing it on a BOXX, you’re not getting it donethat a solutions company like BOXX has a level of control know it has to be absolutely bullet-proof. as fast as you should be.over is the frequency of the CPU—and that is by design.Take the fourth generation Intel® Core processors as an SO HOW DOES BOXX TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS TECH- To learn more about BOXX overclocked workstations,example. These processors are produced on a silicon NOLOGY? These unlocked processors from Intel® allow watch the video at: www.boxxtech.com/workflow.substrate with many CPUs on the same wafer. They then companies like BOXX to achieve higher frequencies and,undergo multiple micro fabrication process steps be- therefore, provide you with higher performance. Wefore they are individually separated. At this point, the then qualify the high performance components neededprocessors are “binned,” or separated by performance (motherboards with the right number of power phases,and capability (not every CPU on a wafer will end up as premium memory, power supplies that deliver clean andthe same product). After undergoing various tests, some efficient power) and match it with the cooling necessarymay end up in the i3 family, while others will qualify or to keep the CPU within a thermal envelope to ensurebe sorted into i5 and i7 products. longevity. We stress-test our overclocks to remain 100%By design, there is headroom in most of these CPUs. That’s rock stable for even the most demanding applications.so Intel® can extract as many functioning products from a Unlike other industries that may overclock, like the gamingwafer as possible in order to maximize profit. This means PC market, we guarantee a set frequency in the toughestthat many models are artificially throttled to run at their of professional environments. We know that down timerated speed. For instance, a Core i7® 4770K may actually costs money, so our overclocks have been certified tobe fully functional and stable at 4.3GHz, but Intel® caps it work in any number of professional applications. Andat 3.9GHz to ensure that they can maximize the number we have thousands of these overclocked units deployedof 4770K processors they sell. in various Fortune 500 companies.IS IT SAFE? Over the years, computer enthusiasts have WHAT’S THE END RESULT? An example of our imple-taken advantage of the fact that there’s headroom in a mentation of this technology is the APEXX 2 Model 2401processor and have employed numerous tricks to make overclocked to 4.5GHz. In most instances, it delivers morethe processor run at higher frequencies. This has become than 20% more performance than a workstation that isan industry unto itself, with various high-performance not overclocked. But don’t just take our word for it, checkcooling solutions created to keep the CPUs cool at high- out what some of our customers have to say about theer frequencies. For a while, CPU companies like Intel® overclocked performance they receive: 

written by John VondrakMANUFACTURING & PRODUCT DESIGN City Detroit BOXX renderPRO Features: - Dual Xeon™ CPUs, 28 cores When presenting VRED automotive - Personal, dedicated rendering design software, Autodesk’s - Ideal for rendering and simulation James Cronin rides with renderPRO When I speak to James Cronin, his latest news is that he is back in Detroit, a city you won’t find on many “preferred des- tinations” lists. In fact, most of today’s press reports regard- ing the Motor City read like autopsies, centering on a once great metropolis now fallen on hard times. There’s always talk of a resurgence, but it is slow getting underway. Despite all of this, for an industrial designer, car guy, and family man like Cronin, Motown sounds like home. He lived here for over a decade when he studied at the College for Creative Stud- ies, followed by a job (right out of school) at General Motors as an Autodesk® Alias modeler. From there, he went to work for Alias Wavefront, traveling to car design studios as a con- sultant and Alias training provider. His last stop was in San Diego, working for a major Japanese automaker, beginning as a concept modeler and departing as the visualization lead. The father of two children, Cronin likes the idea that he and his family are back in Michigan where his wife grew up and her family still resides. “The summers are great,” he adds. If it sounds like James Cronin is, in effect, getting back to his roots, it’s true. It’s even more apparent when he describes how good it is to be working again for Autodesk®—espe- cially since their acquisition of PI-VR, the German software company and makers of VRED, a series of software applica- tions that streamline the car manufacturing process through sophisticated, real-time, visualization techniques. Autodesk® is integrating VRED technology within its own existing line- up including Showcase, Alias, Maya®, and 3Ds Max®. “For the past nine months, I’ve been using the world’s best visualiza- tion tools,” says Cronin, “and that’s pretty exciting.” THE VRED ADVANTAGE Although VRED users have expand- ed to include virtual photographers and other industries, it is still an automotive-focused visualization tool featuring real-time ray tracing courtesy of a CPU-based ray tracer. And because VRED is CPU-based, it can accommodate large data sets, as opposed to other visualization software which is GPU-based. “In terms of automotive design, that’s one of its major strengths,” says Cronin. “We can pull in data sets right out of team center as a JT file (the 3D data format used for product visualization, collaboration, and CAD data ex- change) and we don’t even have to clean it up. This is criti- cal to Cronin since he admits when working in visualization, most of his time is spent preparing data. He sees time savings as the true advantage of VRED. One of the reasons Autodesk® made the decision to acquire PI-VR (and VRED) is because VRED is very much a cross-func- tional tool with a very broad range of uses, as well as a strong appeal to a certain type of user. “Most would probably fall under the category of a designer that needs to make a mar- keting level quality rendering and do it quickly,” says Cronin. High fidelity visualization, or experiencing reality as close as possible before a product actually becomes real, is becoming more commonplace thanks to CPU-based rendering capa- bilities like those found in VRED. Cronin explains that in the past, there would likely be eight design proposals with six

MANUFACTURING & PRODUCT DESIGN All images courtesy of James Cronin.of those selected to move on to the clay model phase. other features found in VRED, he brings along a BOXX “and standing on the show floor I want to be able toThree of these would then become full-size models, and renderPRO, the compact, dedicated rendering module show off this high end software, but we just have ourof those three, one would be selected as the full-size car featuring dual Intel® Xeon™ processors and solid state laptops. It’s great to be able to throw the renderPROmodel. Nowadays, six proposals become two quarter drives. “It gives me workstation power without having in the little cabinet under the table and then I’m net-scale models, followed by one full-size model. “One of to lug my workstation around,” he explains. worked right into it.“ According to Cronin, renderPRO’sthe reasons the design schedule has been reduced is mobility also makes it ideal for working from home.because they’re making the early ones so much more When Autodesk® first acquired PI-VR and Cronin start- “When I’m at home, I’m able to cluster my workstationaccurate,” says Cronin. ed working with VRED, he quickly learned that his with the renderPRO,” he says. “Now I have the power of laptop was woefully insufficient for demonstrating two workstations without actually having to own twoIn addition to rendering, VRED Design and Professional the software’s potential. Because of his previous ex- workstations.“are also instrumental for processes like validation and perience with BOXX, Cronin went in search of a demoverification. For example, engineers may want to know solution and discovered renderPRO. “I was able to con- Cronin also likes the fact that if you’re working for awhat a particular headlight is going to look like in bright vince my boss to get me one, along with a nice little large company, renderPRO is an easier sales pitch tonoonday sun. They may also want to see how that same Pelican rolling case,” says Cronin. “Before, whenever I management and IT departments. “I don’t have the re-light will look in a lit condition or how much light the had to take my workstation, I’d also have to bring a striction of going through IT personnel to install this,”LEDs are emitting. “These engineers don’t care about monitor, a carry cart, and all that. It was a cumbersome he says. With renderPRO, it’s a lot easier to say that allmaking a picture or rendering it,” says Cronin. “They process. But renderPRO is compact and easy to trans- I need is this one small cluster unit and I’ll be doublingjust want to look at it for validation or to see what these port—and it’s even faster than my workstation!” my speed. It’s also easier to justify by saying that youinterior parts look like when they are all together. In have to render this many frames by next week and thatother words, how do they line up?” VRED Professional The speed of renderPRO is also critical since demon- you’ll be sitting here watching your computer do noth-also includes engineering tools like surface analysis and strations require providing a wealth of information in ing but render for the next ten days or you can knock itgap measurement, enabling car makers to take a look a short amount of time. “When you’re presenting, you out in four days.“at a virtual prototype of the auto body and determine if don’t have a lot of time,” says Cronin. “No one wantsthe surfaces were built correctly. This means they don’t to sit and watch a full global illumination with photon I remind Cronin that at BOXX, we often hear that ourhave to build an actual, physical prototype of the car map gather to one hundred percent. They want you to systems are expensive or that a particular company,body and send it to surface analysis. go on to the next thing. You have limited time to show though impressed with BOXX performance, is already off, so that’s where other guys have to lug the worksta- entrenched with a mass- produced computer manufac-ON THE GO WITH renderPRO Though officially desig- tion in and say this is what you will get with your nice turer. Cronin’s response is simple: “If you’re kicking off anated as a member of the Autodesk® sales team, Cro- workstation. I just bring my laptop and renderPRO.” giant animation on Friday, when you walk in Monday,nin is actually the subject matter expert for automotive you want to know that it finished on Saturday after-design, focusing on Alias and visualization. Most often, Was Cronin surprised the first time he used the render- noon. My argument is always this: ‘What’s more expen-he splits his time between the Big Three automakers, PRO? “Yes, it was so nice to see the status bar inside of sive: someone sitting on their hands doing nothing oraccompanying sales personnel. “I go in and demo Alias, VRED,” he recalls. Where it used to read eight cores, faster frame rates that equal greater productivity?”demo VRED, and answer questions,” he explains. “I do it now said forty. Usually, when you’re demonstratinga lot of support as well since I’m on site so much. I get high end, full global illumination, you rotate the vehi- His logic makes perfect sense: save time, save money,asked the instant question instead of customers putting cle and then wait for all the ray tracing to gather. With increase productivity, increase profits. And since therea call into support.” renderPRO, it’s nice to see it gather at an exponentially are no substitutes for creativity, hard work, and com- faster rate. It’s all about time to image. How fast can I mon sense, if Detroit can hasten the return of more indi-It was at Cronin’s last job (the aforementioned Japanese get the best looking image without making mistakes? viduals like James Cronin, while retaining the like-mind-automaker) where he first became acquainted with You need fast results and renderPRO allows you to ed souls who already reside there, perhaps the MotorBOXX Technologies by way of the four-GPU BOXX work- make the right choice sooner.” City resurgence will get underway after all.station that sat on his desk. But now, in his new role asa demo expert, he travels with a 17” laptop manufac- As much as Cronin appreciates the power and perfor- To learn more about renderPRO visit:tured by a tier one company. However, when Cronin mance of renderPRO, he loves to talk about its mobility www.boxxtech.com/renderPROneeds to demonstrate detailed lighting, or any of the as well. “Sometimes I go to trade shows,” he explains, 

ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING, & CONSTRUCTIONARCHITECTURE,ENGINEERING,& CONSTRUCTIONBOXX solutions for architecture, engineering, and construction industry BOXX CUSTOMERS applications maximize performance and ROI through overclocking, liquid cooling, and reliable operation. We build custom-configured workstations for Revit®, AutoCAD®, 3ds Max®, Adobe® CS®, Sketch-Up®, (and more) that will have you working faster than ever before. We hear a lot about components—as if all workstations are created equal based solely upon their components. Truth is, it doesn’t work that way. Our innovative integration of only enterprise class components, drives, and customized BIOS sets us apart from the “off the shelf” workstation manufacturers, just as our unique BOXX labs engineering concepts (easily expandable, overclocking, liquid cooling, specially tuned air cooling, and chassis design) demonstrate the difference between what it means to be a professional workstation and a standard one. For over 19 years, we have earned a reputation as the leading innovator of reliable, high performance solutions that enhance creativity and increase productivity—re- sulting in increased profits and efficient workflows for our customers.

MANUFACTURING & PRODUCT DESIGN “We went to BOXX in the first place because they’re the fastest systems we could buy...”All images courtesy of Nick Schoeps Of course, the 3DBOXX 4920 XT also includes Maximus - Nick Schoeps | Lead Engineer at MotoCzysz technology: a Quardo® K5000 and a Tesla K20, built onSIMULATION DRIVEN DESIGN In fact, it was NVIDIA® NVIDIA®’s fastest-ever Kepler GPU architecture. “The and there are no problems, no lag in performance.who offered MotoCzysz an opportunity to pilot its BOXX workstation with NVIDIA® Maximus makes sense It’s nice to have the freedom to think about theMaximus technology used in a series of comput- for us because we can create fully rendered images of a design, focus on the aspect of the project I’mer workstation from BOXX Technologies. BOXX bike before we actually build it,” says Schoeps. “A major working on and not think about working on theworkstations featuring NVIDIA® Maximus technology manufacturer might make several passes, create a machine. The machine works for you.”combine the visualization and interactive design physical clay model, and then make further refinementscapability of NVIDIA® Quadro® graphics cards with to the design. With our small staff and budget we need The absence of lag time is just one indication ofthe computing power of NVIDIA® Tesla® GPUs into to do it all in one pass.” In addition, the benefit of real- the speed and performance of BOXX workstations.a single system. Maximus also helps users reduce time feedback, as well as the satisfaction of knowing “It really flies. Load time, boot time, a five to tenthe need for expensive prototypes by moving their that their design is correct on the first pass, translates percent performance increase when openingworkflow to simulation-driven design—and that was into a 20-30% increase in time savings alone. and closing files—it’s so much faster,” Schoepsjust what MotoCzysz needed. The firm’s engineers says. “I’m continually amazed at how quickly itcontinually refine their designs in order to create the With the earlier model workstations, Schoep’s team was turns on. When I used to turn on the old system,most powerful and lightweight components possi- forced to shut down a number of graphics features and I’d go make coffee, come back, and it was ready.ble. However, as MotoCzysz began to take on more simplify their models in order to make the rendering [The BOXX workstation] boots up in less than tencomplex surfacing projects, it was becoming clear workflow more manageable. Another unfortunate seconds. I had to start making coffee faster.”that a workstation with greater GPU capabilities was consequence of the simplified design versions was theneeded. The design firm’s overclocked, liquid-cooled difficulty of manipulating models at a lower frame rate. In addition to the Maximus technology andsystems, state-of-the-art when purchased in early Now, when running SOLIDWORKS®’ Real View Graphics overclocked Intel® Core i7® processors, Schoeps2011, were single GPU systems relying on an older on the 4920 XT, MotoCzysz engineers are able to look credits the fast performance (and subsequentgeneration NVIDIA® Quardo® card. This meant at curvatures of a particular surface with no lag. time savings) to the inclusion of solid state drives.engineers couldn’t spend the time necessary to “SSDs really require a cost benefit analysis,” herender designs at full quality. With only six full-time The BOXX workstation is also credited for accelerating says. “You pay a few hundred dollars more foremployees and a limited budget, MotoCzysz had the adoption of Bunkspeed Pro. “Bunkspeed’s per- SSDs, but how do you justify the cost of hiringto carefully balance design decisions and cost con- formance on this system has been outstanding,” says another engineer? It makes economic sense tocerns—all under the added burden of a remarkably Schoeps. “I can rotate the model and it updates the spend the money on the hardware that you relytight schedule. design in real time. I can see how the different design on every day.” features are interacting and how light is reflecting fromBETTER BOXX, BETTER BIKE In order to upgrade different angles—all in a high frame rate.” The BOXX As for the ongoing MotoCzysz/BOXX relation-their workflow, Nick Schoeps, Lead Engineer at workstation also enables Schoeps to multitask, creating ship, Schoeps sees a commonality between twoMotoczysz, and his engineering team selected the a motion animation in SOLIDWORKS® while Bunkspeed unique American companies. “Our engineersworld’s fastest single processor workstation BOXX Pro performs raytrace renderings in the background. want to make the best product possible,” he says.offered at time. Featuring a six core Intel® Core™ i7 This also provides another benefit. “For me,” he con- “They take great pride in that, and I feel like BOXXprocessor overclocked to at 4.75 GHz, liquid cooling, fesses, “it also breaks up the monotony of always doing approaches their work the same way. They do aand solid state drives, BOXX workstations provide surface work.” Most importantly, however, the system great job engineering their workstations.” And foroutstanding support and application interactivity allows Schoeps to concentrate on engineering. “That’s Schoeps, the comparison doesn’t end there. Likefor engineering, architectural visualization, motion what I like most about the BOXX,” he says. “It allows me everything MotoCzysz does, it all comes back tomedia, and rendering workflows. “We went to BOXX to be a lazier engineer. I don’t have to think about the a need for speed. “We’re kind of an overclockedin the first place because they’re the fastest systems number of files I have open. I’ve had as many as twenty company ourselves,” he laughs. “Like BOXX, wewe could buy,” explains Schoeps, “and BOXX is the or more parts files open along with a large assembly work fast and cover a lot of ground.”only workstation manufacturer that overclocks theCPU and still provides a three year warranty.” 

ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING, & CONSTRUCTIONLife of Pi tPhoewerCuibngeA LEADING AUSTIN, TEXAS ARCHITECTURE FIRM George Matos was sold on BOXXMAKES THE SWITCH FROM MAC PRO TO BOXX workstations, even before he enlisted them to power the virtual reality inEric Lancon is an intern architect at Pi Architects, located in Blue Marble 3D’s EON IcubeAustin, Texas. Depending upon the size and scope of a particularbuilding project, he works alongside four or five other team Whenever George Matos made the rounds of a major tradeshow like Autodesk® University,members including draftsmen, project architects, and project he was able to engage potential customers in discussions surrounding digital technol-managers. From master planning to schematic design, from ogy—from photo-realistic rendering and panoramas, to full-motion computer animation anddesign development to construction documentation, Lancon interactive virtual reality simulation. His knowledge made him a sought after consultant, butis directly involved in each phase, fleshing out overall designs with each new prospective client, there would be that odd moment when he presented hisin graphisoft ArchiCAD. The work is demanding, especially in business card which read “George Matos, VP/Technology & Visualization, Chipman Designthe schematic phase where clients like to see options, require Architecture.” The term “architecture” was a bit of a curveball. “We had a good, knowledgeablechanges, and want them by next week’s meeting. In order to consulting arm,” says Matos, \"but because our name included 'architecture,' we were always onmeet these critical deadlines, Pi Architects bid farewell to their the receiving end of a funny look that said, ‘So what do you know about this kind of stuff?”underperforming Mac Pro systems and now rely on BOXX pro-fessional workstations. The results have been astounding. The puzzled looks, however, were not the soul impetus Watch the video at www.boxxtech.com/pi for creating a subsidiary of Chipman Design Architecture All images courtesy of Eric Lancon. known as Blue Marble 3D. In fact, Chipman had already been considering the develop- ment of an entity outside of the architectural community itself, but it was an admittedly slow process, especially when the company began its foray into virtual reality (VR) which Matos had already been providing for one of Chipman’s other clients. “They asked me to research and then advise them on a virtual reality facility,” he recalls. “After some study, I told them that EON Realty was the way to go.” Matos then worked closely with EON (located in Irvine, California, with other locations throughout the world) on the project, so by the time that Blue Marble 3D was ready to launch, Matos had over a year’s worth of VR experience. By September of 2013, with six Chipman employees coming on board, Blue Marble 3D was ready for business, and despite its other services, much of the talk surrounding it would center on the EON Icube, its virtual reality solution which, for those in the architectural design world, can translate into serious cost-savings for clients.

MANUFACTURING & PRODUCT DESIGN Tim LawrenceFounder & V. President of Engineering and Operations“We started out using AutoCAD® 2D design tools,” Lawrence recalls. “While 2D initially “With SOLIDWORKS®allowed us to get the job done, it was difficult, slow, and costly to develop systems in 2D. software, we’veWe foresaw challenges as we continued to develop and advance our technology—includ- introduced designing sheet metal fabrication; design branding; advanced cooling systems development; features thatunique shipping requirements; and electromagnetic shielding, safety, and international provide the reliablecertifications—that we could better tackle in 3D. As a systems manufacturer, we need to performance that ourcontinually develop custom chassis and enclosures that not only embody our brand but customers need...”also satisfy a range of requirements that are unique to high-performance systems.” Using SOLIDWORKS® Premium sheetBOXX consulted with manufacturing partners before standardizing on SOLIDWORKS® Pre- metal design tools, BOXX can moremium design software. The systems manufacturer implemented SOLIDWORKS® softwarein 2004 because it’s easier to learn and use, provides robust sheet metal and simulation quickly deliver production information—capabilities, and supports both industrial design and mechanical engineering. including bend radii and tolerances—“We asked our sheet metal fabricators about the 3D CAD systems used by their customers,” which accelerates sheet metal fabricationLawrence recalls. “While they mentioned Pro/ENGINEER® and SOLIDWORKS® software as while improving quality.the systems they saw most often, they also indicated that SOLIDWORKS® software waseasier to learn and use, and was trending upward in terms of popularity. I sat down withSOLIDWORKS® software, was able to design right away, and decided to utilize SOLID-WORKS® software for chassis and enclosure development.”DESIGNING MORE SOPHISTICATED SYSTEMS IN HALF THE TIME Since implementingSOLIDWORKS® Premium software, BOXX has realized dramatic reductions in the lengthof its development cycles, while simultaneously increasing system complexity, improvingquality, and boosting performance. “SOLIDWORKS® software has enabled us to cut ourdevelopment process by more than half,” Lawrence stresses.“We’re saving on both time and resources using SOLIDWORKS® software,” Lawrencecontinues. “It used to take two to three people about 15 weeks to develop a system in 2D.With SOLIDWORKS® software, I can complete a system by myself in four or five weeks. Inaddition to these efficiency gains, we ultimately end up with a better design.”ACCELERATING SHEET METAL FABRICATION, REDUCING PROTOTYPES BOXX has seen fast-er production cycles and a reduction in prototyping requirements since moving to SOLID-WORKS® software. Using the software’s sheet metal design tools, BOXX can more quicklydeliver production information—including bend radii and tolerances—which acceleratessheet metal fabrication. With SOLIDWORKS® Premium software’s collision detection andintegrated simulation capabilities, the systems manufacturer has eliminated the iterativeprototyping cycles that were a necessity in 2D.“Our sheet metal fabrication time has decreased by 50 percent, and we have fewer pro-duction issues because SOLIDWORKS® software helps us to be more accurate,” Lawrencenotes. “With increased accuracy, we’ve eliminated the iterative prototyping cycles thatwere a fact of life in 2D and can go straight to production. With SOLIDWORKS® software,we can identify and resolve potential issues during design instead of relying on physicalprototyping.”IMPROVING QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE DRIVES GROWTH Using SOLIDWORKS® Premi-um software, BOXX has continually improved the quality and performance of its systems,which has allowed the company to enjoy year-over-year business growth of 40 percent.“To provide the functionality and performance that our customers demand, we designsystems that utilize the fastest and most powerful components, which also run at highertemperatures,” Lawrence explains.“With SOLIDWORKS® software, we’ve introduced design features that provide the reliableperformance that our customers need, such as liquid cooling systems, filtered air, multi-GPU capability, and optimization of the pitch of fins on heat sinks,” Lawrence adds. “SOLID-WORKS® software lets us be more agile, flexible, and innovative. From an engineeringstandpoint, we couldn’t do what we do today without SOLIDWORKS® software.” 

PRODUCT DETAILS Product Details WORKSTATIONS Model Basic Processor Processor Overclocked Overclocked Max Max Total USB Ports Power APEXX 1 Configuration Type Cores Frequency Configurable GPUs Supply (5) USB 3.0 Price Up to 36 Memory 1 (4) USB 2.0 (W) Intel® Core i7® 17 CPUs N/A 64GB 300 Intel® Xeon™ E5 only TBD 2600v3 Intel® Xeon™ E5 1600v3 Model Basic Processor Processor Overclocked Overclocked Max Max Total USB Ports Power APEXX 2 2201 Configuration Type Cores Frequency Configurable GPUs Supply (6) USB 2.0 Price Memory 2 (4) USB 3.0 (W) $2,073.00 Intel® Core i7® 4 No N/A 32GB 550 Intel® Core i5 APEXX 2 2401 $2,924.00 Intel® Core i7® 4 Yes 4.5GHz 32GB 2 (6) USB 2.0 550 (6) USB 3.0 APEXX 2 2601 $2,954.00 Intel® Xeon™ 4 No N/A 32GB 2 (6) USB 2.0 550 E3 1200v3 (4) USB 3.0 APEXX 2 3201 $3,833.00 Intel® Core i7® Up to 8 No N/A 32GB 2 (5) USB 2.0 850 Yes 4.125GHz 32GB (6) USB 3.0 APEXX 2 3402 $4,660.00 Intel® Core i7® 8 2 (5) USB 2.0 850 (6) USB 3.0 Model Basic Processor Processor Overclocked Overclocked Max Max Total USB Ports Power APEXX 4 7201 Configuration Type Cores Frequency Configurable GPUs Supply (W) APEXX 4 7402 APEXX 4 7601 Price Memory 4 APEXX 4 7901 4 $4,778.00 Intel® Core i7® Up to 8 No N/A 64GB (12) USB 3.0 1250 4 (2) USB 2.0 1250 $5,242.00 Intel® Core i7® 8 Yes 4.125GHz 64GB 3 (12) USB 3.0 (2) USB 2.0 $4,022.00 Intel® Xeon™ 18 No N/A 128GB (4) USB 3.0 1250 $5,442.00 E5 2600v3 Up to 36 No N/A 512GB (4) USB 2.0 Intel® Xeon™ (4) USB 2.0 1250 E5 1600v3 (6) USB 3.0 Intel® Xeon™ E5 2600v3 Model Basic Processor Processor Overclocked Overclocked Max Max Total USB Ports Power APEXX 5 8901 Configuration Type Cores Frequency Configurable GPUs Supply (W) Price Memory 5 $10,322.00 Intel® Xeon™ Up to 36 No N/A 512GB (5) USB 3.0 1250 E5 2600v3 (4) USB 2.0 RENDERING &1SIMULATION Model Basic Processor Processor Overclocked Overclocked Max Max Total USB Ports Power Configuration Type Cores Frequency Configurable GPUs Supply (W) Price Memory renderPRO 1 TBA Intel® Xeon™ Up to 18 No N/A 64GB 1 (5) USB 3.0 300 E5 2600v3 (4) USB 2.0 

RENDERING & SIMULATION PRODUCT DETAILS 2 Model Basic Processor Processor Max Max Total USB Ports Power Configuration Type Cores Configurable GPUs Supply (W) Price Memory renderPRO $3,169.00 Intel® Xeon™ Up to 28 256GB 1 (2) USB 3.0 350 E5 2600v3 (1) USB 2.0 Model Basic Processor Processor Max Max Total USB Ports Power Configuration Type Cores Configurable GPUs Supply (W) Price Memory renderBOXX $3,522.00 Intel® Xeon™ Up to 36 256GB 1 (2) USB 3.0 500 E5 2600v3 ROWRenderFarm On Wheels Model Basic Processor Processor Max Max Total USB Ports Power Configuration Type Cores Configurable GPUs Supply (W) Price Memory RenderFarm On Contact Sales Intel® Xeon™ Up to 36 256GB 1 (2) USB 3.0 500 Wheels E5 2600v3 (1) USB 2.0MOBILE WORKSTATIONS Model Basic Processor Processor Max Max Total USB Ports Power Configuration Type Cores Configurable GPUs Supply (W) Price Memory GoBOXX 15 SLM $2,484.00 Intel® Core i7® Up to 36 16GB 1 (3) USB 3.0 180 Model Basic Processor Processor Max Max Total USB Ports Power Configuration Type Cores Configurable GPUs Supply Price Memory (W) GoBOXX 15 MXL $3,697.00 Intel® Core i7® 4 32GB 1 (5) USB 3.0 230 GoBOXX 17 MXL $3,728.00 Intel® Core i7® 4 32GB 1 (5) USB 3.0 230SPECIALIZED SOLUTIONS XDI:xtreme desktop infrastructure Model Processor Type Processor Max Max Total USB Ports Power XDI S1 Cores Configurable GPUs Supply (W) Intel® Xeon™ E5 2600v3 Memory Intel® Xeon™ E5 Up to 18 256GB 4 (2) USB 3.0 1400 1600v3 XDI V4 Up to 18 256GB 4 (2) USB 3.0 1400 Intel® Xeon™ E5 XDI G8 2600v3 Up to 18 256GB 8 (2) USB 3.0 1400 XDI S2 Up to 36 512GB 1250 XDI V8 Intel® Xeon™ E5 Up to 36 512GB 8 (2) USB 3.0 1250 XDI G16 1600v3 Up to 36 512GB (2) USB 2.0 1620 Intel® Xeon™ E5 8 (2) USB 3.0  2600v3 (2) USB 2.0 Intel® Xeon™ E5 16 (2) USB 3.0 2600v3 (2) USB 2.0 Intel® Xeon™ E5 2600v3 Intel® Xeon™ E5 2600v3

WWW.BOXXTECH.COM (512)-835-0400 | (877)-877-2699 10435 Burnet Rd. Austin, TX 78758 (USA)BOXX is a registered trademark of BOXX Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.“Intel, the Intel logo and Iris are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.”