3D business: an increase in quality tools and creative projects is also bringing about an increase in competition

Post, Dec, 2004 by Ann Fisher

A wine visual effects artist called new technology both a blessing and a curse. Available to everyone at increasingly lower prices, it opens the door for more creative and business opportunities; however; increased competition may threaten the very lifestyle of animators. So while demand for animation is on the upswing and the importance of pre-production is a given, those in the industry would be smart to take a long, hard look at their work situation. Has your company diversified?

DOUG COOPER

Visual Effects Supervisor

Dreamworks

Glendale & Redwood City, CA

(www.dreamworks.com)

STRENGTHS: "As a whole, I'm impressed with the capabilities that are accessible to smaller and smaller facilities. Given that the feature studios like us and Pixar are going with proprietary toolsets, capable animators using off-the-shelf systems are still capable of producing very good quality work."

WEAKNESSES: "A lot of the third-party applications out there, their biggest weakness and the reason they're not very appealing to really large facilities for the long-term is their pipeline integration. They're often intended for the user to do a shot using one tool from beginning to end, and that's not how we work. [For us] it's about workflow integration, it's about scalability, working with massive data sets, being able to work with subsets of data sets, and also being able to integrate pieces and have a large scale collaboration with the tools."

OPPORTUNITIES: "Huge opportunities right now are in the small house arena and it's funny for me to say that because I'm not in one. I am watching what's happening, especially in the visual effects market, more and more work is getting split up on shows. Instead of it all going to a big house, it's getting diced up into a bunch of little segments which go out to a bunch of small houses. Usually those big houses are taking care of something that's really groundbreaking or difficult, but everything from previz to this effect or that effect seems to be broken up into a variety of smaller places."

THREATS: "All that division of labor and incredible competition created between small houses and overseas facilities, I think is a real threat to the quality of life--salaries and benefits--facing artists who are working in the field. A lot of people are in this field doing it because they love it, which means they're not necessarily looking out to protect themselves from being taken advantage of. And I think the industry is able to do more of that now because there is so much competition. People are undercutting themselves in order to get the job and eventually they're going to cut themselves out of work."

OUTLOOK FOR 2005: "In terms of feature animation. I'm expecting to see a big boom over the next few years. It may start in '05, it may start a year or two later, but I think with the success of films like Nemo, Shrek 2, Shark Tale--I expect Incredibles is going to do very well--that we're going to see more players break into the feature animation business."

TIM SARNOFF

President

Sony Pictures Imageworks

Culver City, CA

(www.imageworks.com)

STRENGTH: "Stories are getting better. People are now learning how to tell a story without necessarily thinking that the best thing to do is blow something up. I have yet to see an animation project come out in the last few years that I didn't like and the ones I hear about I like even more, so I think this is a really strong time. People have learned that if you can tell a good story it really doesn't matter whether it's animated or live action."

WEAKNESSES: "The biggest problem in this business is you can't forecast five years down the road. In most companies you can only forecast until the end of the current project. Now, for my business, this is not a direct problem anymore, but most companies find themselves finishing off a project with nothing left to do. So the biggest risk to any company, and therefore to the industry as a whole, is to not be robust enough to be able to manage a new project while you're working on your current project."

OPPORTUNITIES: "The lesson learned in the past is visual effects are not something to do after you've shot your picture. Visual effects are something you should do when writing your script. Animation creation isn't something you do after you've created your Leica reel, animation creation is something you do as you're creating your Leica reel. One of the greatest opportunities that's occurred in the industry is that people have suddenly realized that the production process is absolutely essential in the creation process rather than just an afterthought."

THREATS: "The biggest threat is that people will grow their companies without having a plan. It hurts not only the companies but it hurts the individuals who join those companies. You have a number of dashed dreams and promises from artists who usually are very able and not necessarily culpable for the fact that the business plan of the companies is not as strong as the projects they have inside. Since there is so much work and so many companies gearing up, as an artist you'd be wise to choose a company that has a longterm plan, not just a great project."