Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!ucsfcgl!pixar!flip
From: flip@pixar.uucp (Flip Phillips)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: state of the business
Message-ID: <6492@pixar.UUCP>
Date: 27 Aug 89 23:05:24 GMT
References: <4690@portia.Stanford.EDU> <115@suntc.UUCP>
Sender: news@pixar.UUCP
Reply-To: flip@pixar.uucp (Flip Phillips)
Organization: Pixar -- Marin County, California
Lines: 31

In article <115@suntc.UUCP> jh34607@suntc.UUCP (john howell) writes:
>In article <4690@portia.Stanford.EDU>, rick@hanauma (Richard Ottolini) writes:
>> 
[...]
>Some of the problems facing people in the business is the cost of doing
>business.  If you got in early, the cost was _very_ high.  You had to
>buy some _very_ expensive computer gear and develop all your own
>software to render these effects.  Now, you can get into business with
>some reasonably priced workstations and commercial software.  

The unfortunate result of "some reasonably priced workstations and
commercial software" is the "computers have no talent" effect.

People buy these systems thinking that they will be able to do work as
good as the "big boys" [C/CP, PDI, DP, R&H, etc] do [did].

Unfortunately, very few can. Having a copy of Adobe Illustrator on 
you Macintosh does not make you an illustrator. Having a computer
animation system does not make you an animator.

When you pay big bucks for a 30 second computer animation spot you are
paying for the creative talent also, not just the "_very_ expensive
computer gear", etc. 

Some groups -have- done well with off the shelf hardware & software, 
these groups also have very talented creative people at their disposal.
[R&H, ILM, etc...] but the bad stuff is out there too...


Flip Phillips                                        {sun | ucbvax}!pixar!flip
Pixar - Marin County, California