Vfx pros have to stay on top of new developments in technology and business to improve their companies’ performance.

The VFX business is a skillful blend of art and commerce, and companies have to stay on top of new developments in technology and business practice. From balancing budgets to content development, new technology to customer service, here are observations from professionals on the trends and challenges they plan to tackle to improve business.

Investment in America and Technology
Carsten Sørensen, ceo of The Orphanage, says the development or trend most important to The Orphanage is fighting against foreign subsidies of the vfx business (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K.) that continue to threaten companies in the U.S. To improve business, the company plans to “increase efficiencies through investment in various technologies.”

Carsten Sørensen of The Orphanage sees foreign subsidies of the vfx business as a threat to U.S. vfx businesses.

Desktop Revolution, More Talent
Michael Caplan, exec producer, Engine Room VFX, says that the most important development or trend for his company is the ability to compete and execute high-end-visual effects. “In the current market, with the acceptance of desktop technology (such as After Effects) as standard and with an ever-growing community resulting in cross-intellectual exchange and a larger overall knowledge base, boutique companies like Engine Room can now compete for and execute high-end visual effects.”

“The desktop revolution of the last few years has leveled the playing field in terms of technology so that the most important asset a company has is its talent,” Caplan adds. “By staffing a core team of great artists and supplementing with freelance hires as necessary, our talent and flexibility afford us unlimited opportunities and this is already yielding some truly rewarding opportunities.

“On a basic level, by implementing custom production management software and toolsets in an effort to streamline project, data and creative content management to keep our pipeline as efficient as possible.

“In much bigger terms we are soon going to undergo some significant changes that will take the company to the next level,” he adds. “We are going to add some fantastic talent and expand our capabilities. And though we can’t talk specifics yet, we anticipate a very exciting second half of the year.”

For Engine Room VFX, the acceptance of desktop technology is the most important development. The firm recently completed work on the trailer for The Da Vinci Code. Courtesy of Engine Room VFX.

Content Creation and Delivery
Francois Wolf, director of marketing, BOXX Technologies, sees the 64-bit ecosystem, HD, devices for viewing content, the public’s appetite for vfx and the creation of content as all key developments and trends important to BOXX.

“The 64-bit ecosystem has finally matured,” says Wolf. “The 64-bit OS (Linux, Windows Server 2003) and major 64-bit applications in the vfx space are arriving in 2006. Most devices have 64-bit versions, and both AMD and Intel have high-performance 64-bit processors. For BOXX, this development drives demand for high-performance workstations with high-memory capacity designed to allow smooth work with very large models.

“The 64-bit workstation and continued development of multi-processor architectures are the way of the future. All processor roadmaps show more cores per processor. BOXX is at the forefront of this movement to drive more multithreading in major applications designed for vfx work, which means vfx professionals can expect more performance out of vfx workstations for greater creative freedom and higher quality of output.”

In addition, HD is real in 2006, Wolf stresses. “Many U.S. households can receive high-quality HD programming even over the air. HD televisions are everywhere, with all major screens manufacturers already offering a broad range of HD TVs. For BOXX, this development drives demand for high-performance workstations like APEXX 8, which is designed to handle HD resolution material with ease.”

Wolf notes that devices for viewing content are proliferating, “Music players, cell phones, PDAs can all view multimedia content. For BOXX, this development drives demand for content creation workstations (3DBOXX) and encoding solutions (RenderBOXX).”

Plus, as the public's appetite for visual effects keeps growing, vfx work has become part of all types of content today. “Expectations of quality of fx keeps growing and the field of vfx is rapidly growing to meet demand,” Wolf comments.

Wolf says that content creation is becoming more democratized, and a small team of professionals can produce content that can rival the productions of much larger companies. “These small teams are proliferating and are at the forefront of innovations in vfx,” Wolf says.