> Pixar and other studios don't have really extraordinary computers. They're usually run of the mill HP or Dell workstation specced machines with a dual Xeon and tons of RAM.
"Pixar has a huge 'render farm,' which is basically a supercomputer composed of 2000 machines, and 24,000 cores. This makes it one of the 25 largest supercomputers in the world." Source: https://sciencebehindpixar.org/pipeline/rendering
The worst part about the office in the United States is the car commute most people have. Besides that, it's not so bad. Socializing and feeling like a true part of a company is much easier when going to work. I like the office and the physical separation between more home and work life it provides. When I get home at the end of the day, I don't want work to be interrupting me. My home life is the priority when I am home.