Google Acquires Zync Visual Effects Cloud Rendering Company Behind “Star Trek Into Darkness”

Google may have missed out on purchasing Twitch, but that hasn't stopped the company from acquiring other businesses. Its latest acquisition is Zync Inc, a visual effects cloud-rendering company that was behind Star Trek Into Darkness.

Special effects tend to be a costly venture for the film industry. With some exceptions, it is easy to point out which movies have a high budget and which ones are indie films. But it seems that Google might be trying to lower the cost barrier with its acquisition of Zync.

“Creating amazing special effects requires a skilled team of visual artists and designers, backed by a highly powerful infrastructure to render scenes,” says Google product manager Belwadi Srikanth. “Many studios, however, don’t have the resources or desire to create an in-house rendering farm, or they need to burst past their existing capacity. “

Zync Inc is responsible for developing cloud-based rendering software known as Zync Render. Aside from Star Trek Into Darkness, Zync has provided the visual effects for Flight, Looper, and Transformers. Google didn’t say how much it had paid for the visual effects company. However, it appears that Google is looking to make special effects cheaper, with different types of billing, and is pairing Zync with its Cloud Platform.

Srikanth added, “Together Zync + Cloud Platform will offer studios the rendering performance and capacity they need, while helping them manage costs. For example, with per-minute billing studios aren’t trapped into paying for unused capacity when their rendering needs don’t fit in perfect hour increments.”