Sending Pixels, Not Particles

Splice Makes Remote Work "Work" with Teradici

Remember March, 2020, when everything changed? Well, it changed for us, too.

"We had to re-think our entire way of working, overnight," says Ben Watne, VFX Supervisor. “We had to keep everyone safe, which meant we had to keep them apart—but we also had to protect our clients' content with no compromises."

"Fortunately, we had already started thinking about how to work remotely before Covid-19 hit," adds Carl Jacobs, IT Security Manager. SPLICE® had begun experimenting in 2019 with new technology from Teradici. The software protocol, called "PC Over IP," allows artists working remotely to access an on-site workstation by sending only the encrypted pixels of the screen over the internet. The workstation, and all client content, stays safely protected behind the layers of network and physical security at Splice. With nothing more than a small black box on each of their desks, called a "zero client," the VFX team can work just as if they were back at the office.

When the crisis hit, the team had to accelerate from “R&D” to “implementation,” immediately. 

’PC Over IP’ is solving a number of problems at the same time. "The most important thing is security. We take no chances with that,” says Andrew Sagar, VFX Supervisor. “But it also allows us to manage the massive data sets involved in our work. We’re only transmitting the encrypted screens, so we can still use our render farm and SAN storage like we always have. It keeps the whole system simple and reliable.”