Decreased costs in 3D animation software makes movies like Goya-award winning El Bosque Animado possible. © Dygra Films.

Additionally, offers such as Alias’ Maya personal learning edition, which is free to download from the Internet, has resulted in an inevitable and exciting increase in “part-time” animators working in their own homes. Maya Personal Learning Edition, launched in April 2002, saw 100,000 downloads in the six weeks post launch. Also, with the Internet acting as a distribution channel, there is the possibility to distribute work globally.

While there is no doubt that this increased accessibility to software will help develop the 3D industry, there are concerns that product research and development may suffer. Even though vendors are continuing to carry out product development, it seems likely that the decreased revenues that the packages now command can only result in less money available for this. With prices for Maya Complete dropping from $7,500 to $1,999, one would hope that there would be a volume increase in unit sales comparable to the previous revenue injected into research and development. Unfortunately, this seems unlikely.

Tree House is another in-house development project at Graphiti Multimedia. © Graphiti Multimedia 2003.

To surmount this problem, one could look toward the user base, which are of a technological bent and are already testing and pushing the boundaries of the kit they use. Many animators share ideas and problem solving techniques, but workload and copyright issues may well thwart this.

Another related issue is that all tools used within a pipeline will need to be working to the same level. Additional programs and software will need to be able to plug into the pipelines and hardware will need to be of high enough capability to support it.

By definition, the 3D community is perfectly situated and equipped to set its own parameters with regard to the tools it requires. By creating specific tools to facilitate global working, projects can be created more cheaply and efficiently with the development of both the project and the industry in mind. However, the 3D computer graphics community cannot survive without the technology and the talent to help further possibilities. With talent learning more advanced techniques and coming from more diverse places, it is likely that the images we will see in 10 years will be far removed from what we see today.

Now based in the public relations and marketing department at the Moving Picture Co., Sophie Trainor, until recently, was festival manager for the London Effects and Animation Festival from 2000-2003. She is also a director of Shine Solutions (www.shinesolutions.com).