New Pixar animation Elemental is the Walt Disney Company’s most technically complex feature film to date and required a new data storage pipe that lays the foundation for use of AI, reports Adrian Pennington.
“We are not actively using AI yet, but we have laid the foundation,” began Eric Bermender, Head of Data Center and IT Infrastructure at Pixar Animation Studios.
“One thing we have done is taken our entire our library of finished shots and takes for every single feature and short - everything we’ve ever done, before even 1995’s Toy Story - and put it all online and available and all sitting on the VAST cluster.”
He continued, “As you can imagine...
You are not signed in
Only registered users can read the rest of this article.
NAB 2026 technology round-up: “The biggest shifts in media are no longer theoretical”
The 2026 NAB Show has wrapped after welcoming more than 58,000 registered attendees and a host of new tools and technologies intent on shaping the future of media.
NAB 2026 review: “Live immersive production is here, and it’s extraordinary”
If there is a single takeaway from NAB 2026 it’s that the broadcast media industry is rebalancing. The centre of gravity is shifting, the customer base is diversifying, and the definition of “media” is expanding across sectors.
Volumetric humans: The next frontier of immersive broadcast storytelling
Volumetric humans are moving from experimental captures to live, broadcast-ready assets, reshaping the creative opportunities and practical challenges of immersive storytelling and established production workflows across virtual and hybrid environments.
Spatial computing: “Instead of showing people a story, you’re letting them inhabit it”
Leveraging generative AI, computer vision, and data from real environments, spatial computing has opened the door for cutting-edge systems that blend the physical and digital worlds into a new frontier of human-technology interaction.
NAB preview: Automation, reinvention and politics to steal the show
NAB 2026 looks set to bring a raft of creativity and technological innovation, yet serious political and environmental questions remain.


