Every so often, in the world of digital content creation, the subject must naturally turn to piracy and the effects it has on the industry. While there are hordes of people willing to offer solutions, far too many of them seem to center of stamping it out, fighting against it. Some, particularly organizations hit hardest like the RIAA or MPAA, even desire or expect the government to step in and lay down the law.

It's unlikely anything will ever be done about it. Business models are simply going to have to change. Adapt or die. There's been a lot of talk on the net lately about why "free" is the future of business in the online world. There are also already plenty of examples of those who have adapted and proven that "free" can be turned into a very profitable venture.

Direct sales to end users is not the only way to turn a profit from one's work.

Have you ever notice that all of Google's services are, and always have been, free? Yet they are one of the largest companies in cyberspace even shelling out $1.6 billion to grow larger with the free site, Youtube.

All of the cartoons and content on Homestar Runner, the hard work of those artists, is, and has always been, available on their site totally free. Yet they have grown from a garage operation to a full size company with a staff of employees.

There are a number of online comics that have been free since their inception and they have grown into huge, profitable operations.

There are even plenty of indie musicians who earn good money from their work and art because they realize that good and popular bands have assets that can never be pirated. Selling records as a business became big in the middle of last century. Talented musicians have been getting rich from their work and art for over a thousand years before that. Business have to adapt.

People can scream and rave all they want about how politicians and the government or police should do something about it, but it simply isn't going to happen. More piracy happens outside of America than inside. The Pirate Bay, the largest warez site in the world, is an eastern european operation. Most are well aware of how rampant piracy is in Asia. Not all countries share, or have any interest in, our intellectual property laws. They don't care and it would do them no good whatsoever to start caring.

As a content creator myself, I am not in any way in support of piracy nor do I condone it. I wish it did not exist, but crying about it isn't going to solve anything. Screaming for the government to do something about it isn't going to solve anything. DRM and copy protection isn't going to solve anything. Adapting to new business models will solve everything.

Many net business are already adapting and seeing incredible returns in a new market catering to what people both want and expect on the net which is free content.

Outsourcing animation, in order to save costs, has been a mainstay of the American animation industry for more than two decades now. Numerous countries, where labor is much cheaper than hiring homegrown talent, have seen the struggling animation industry through many trials over the years. Now, however, the tables have turned. With the U.S. dollar at the lowest it's been in 13 years, Chinese companies have begun outsourcing their animation to operations here in the U.S.

To that end, Studio ArtFX and Terrence Walker have been offered $438.00 American dollars to animate a 90 minute feature film for burgeoning Chinese technology firm Siu Kru Yu. Although the firm, which has specialized in IT since its inception, has never ventured into entertainment before, the team of managers in charge of the project seem confident that the script, penned by the bosses wife, will break them into the business with a bang. Company president Chien Lee Zhang, however, has chosen not to be personally involved in the project.

"My wife has wanted to write since she was a child." Spoke the aging CEO. "Even though she has never written a story before, I am certain that her script might find some viewers." Although turned down by numerous studios in China, the prospect of animating the film for a low cost in the U.S., with its steadily weakening dollar, has made company president Zhang's wife's dream a reality.

"This would not have been possibly if not for current economic circumstances." laughed Zhang. "Films take a long time to make. If the dollar continues to fall, it'll be like getting all that work done for free."

Tags: Art

We've always heard about "life imitating art" by right now my thoughts turn to the matter of life getting in the way of art. I'm doing laundry right now. Lately it's become far more apparent just how much life can get in the way of the enthusiasm to really create something.

The day before yesterday I was exploring new Poser figures and morph targets and really got excited about all the new possibilities and how much better things could look. Like many success teachers mentioned, I was in the place where I couldn't wait to get up the next day and dive back into it. Ideas were flowing and I wanted to see what could really be done. I wanted to see how far I could take things. Unfortunately, when I got up the next day, I had to go grocery shopping. Well, I had to go if I wanted to eat that day anyway.

Of course that didn't stop me from eventually getting in there and playing. I mean, it was nearly lunch time when I got around to it, but after lunch I was able to get deeper into exploring. I got so deep that I really couldn't wait to get up and get back to it this morning. Of course, then I realized I had to do laundry. The building I live in doesn't offer washers and dryers in the rooms. I am not even sure washing machines existed when this place was built. There is a room on the other side of the building with washers and dryers and they are few, so one has to get in early. It's also wise to go back and check on your stuff now and again.

These are little things, I know, but they can be huge when it comes to breaking the flow and the excitement of creation. I guess the next interruption will be going to get my passport renewed. That will be worth it though. Then I can go somewhere in Asia and stay in a five star hotel like I did in China. Everything is done for me there. Life can never get in the way of art again!

Tags: life, Art

It took me years to realize just how much I overthink things. Worse still, just when I realize it and start moving down another path, I fall back into the same old ways before long. Sadly, overthinking really boils down to one thing: Worrying too much about what other people think or say instead of making what you really want to make.

PJ Foley of The Foley Folio sent me an email the other day about the Nine Inch Nails Ghosts project. In this project, Reznor says, "This music arrived unexpectedly as the result of an experiment. The rules were as follows: 10 weeks, no clear agenda, no overthinking, everything driven by impulse. Whatever happens during that time gets released as... something." When I read that, I remembered that that's how I used to do it! I used to enjoy it so much just creating in freedom, especially when I was a kid. I still did it, to a point, even up to creating Skeleton Man.

The funny thing is, I still do that sometimes. Unfortunately, I usually I create in freedom when I am testing out technology as opposed to testing out ideas. Oftentimes I go back and look at that stuff and see that it is better than what I create when I am seriously trying to make a show.

Trent Reznor goes on to say, "We began improvising and let the music decide the direction. Eyes were closed, hands played instruments and it began. Within a matter of days it became clear we were on to something, and a lot of material began appearing." That's what I really want. To let my art decide the direction. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying this path or method is for everyone, and I'm really not even recommending it. It's just something I miss. This isn't the only answer to overthinking, not by a long shot.

Overthinking can be overcome by getting your boards done and sticking to them, no matter how many other ideas you come up with. If you've been working on your project for years and the boards aren't done, you're probably overthinking. If you're a scriptwriting type and your script isn't done, ask yourself if you're overthinking. If you're working on your art and find yourself messing with individual pixels, you just might be overthinking. According to my spell checker, overthinking isn't even a word, so there's no excuse for doing it!

There are many ways out of the overthinking trap, and they all usually involve doing something, sometimes anything. Do a little side project to clear the mind and regain focus. Do something unrelated the project for a while. The bottom line is that if you're overthinking, you are more than likely talking yourself out of making the project you really want to make.

Tags: life, Art

I am just about back in business, with everything up and running after my major computer crash experience. Of course, it will never be the same, but moving forward, one would expect things will be better! I've learned some things in getting back up to speed, things about following the trend. I am talking about a technological trend here. Software is always updating and some newer "better" version of something is always coming out, but does that mean it is the best thing for your project? We as indie creators don't necessarily benefit from using the same tools the studios use, no matter how good they may seem.

Rebuilding from scratch I saw a lot of flaws in where I had taken my system and my production pipeline. We've all heard the term "bloatware". There are some major software packages many of use that are guilty of that. They keep piling things on, adding new code and features when they should be rewriting and the program just bogs down over the years. Well, that's what I had done to my system. I had all this power and didn't see that it was stifling. When I first got the system, what was one of the first things I did? It was ANIGEN. Production was smooth and simple, using mostly tools that came with the system. I could create in freedom. If I had an idea, I could just do it.

I am coming back simple now. Recreating my system has allowed me to organize things in such a way that nothing can stand in the way of an idea. I could imagine something and see on screen results in a matter of hours, with sound and music even! I am now getting back into posting on my blog regularly and have a lot of topics I want to discuss about the state of the industry and where we as independent creators can go from here. I also have some new animation under way and there will be a few surprises coming up pretty soon.

One of things I am wondering about, for those who are working on their own projects, if anyone is struggling to just see results, what is the one thing you think is keeping you from getting into a "just do it" mode? I have learned from much experience that oftentimes the main thing holding me back is me. My own thinking about a project or worry about what a project should be instead of truly doing what I love. Looking around at what everyone else is doing, what Hollywood is doing, or what the Japanese are doing, concerning myself with what's "popular" or "could sell". There's no such thing as should in nature.

It should be fun! If it isn't, ask yourself, are you truly doing your project or are you doing someone else's?

Tags: life, Art

About a month ago I suffered a major computer crash. I almost lost everything. In fact, for a while I had lost everything because I had to reformat my computer and reinstall the OS as if I just pulled it out of the box new. All of the software that I used, all of the 3D content that I had was kept, but it was saved only in the form of pre-installed zip files and packages. I had all the stuff, but I would have to start from scratch. I didn't see myself ever getting back to where I was, it took a year and a half to get there, but I moved forward installing software and content on an as needed basis.

Now this morning I awoke to my main external drive whining loudly. This is the drive to which I copied almost everything to survive the last crash. When I clicked on it, it appeared to be empty. I should have seen this coming. The clues were there. About two weeks ago I noticed video streaming from the drive started to stutter. I also noticed that, while listening to music from the drive, when I wrote to it at the same time, the music would stutter or stop altogether. These are things that never happened before, but I thought little of them.

I am starting to think there is a message from the Universe in all this. I was able to get the drive to show again, and will now begin the long and arduous process of backing up this 300 GB drive to DVD and any other drive where I might have spare room. This means I will have some time to think over the holidays. I can reassess my plans and my goals. I can make sure I am on the right path.

None of this means I won't continue to create. I always want to create. Life goes on... at iPhone Alchemy.

Tags: life

I don't yet know what this blog is going to be about. I don't know how often it is going to be updated. I more or less just wanted a place to write. I just wanted to talk about where I am and what I am doing. Thinking of my old blog, I can certainly say what this blog won't be about.

With The Legend of Zahur I am creating a world... a universe in which to place characters, stories and experiences. There's no such thing as a world built by a writer which is not based in beliefs and experiences. The shows and movies we watch, the dialogue and events in them, come from someplace inside a writer, from their life and experiences.

Right now I am experiencing something very tedious. I have a very large sound effects library on CD. In the past I pulled from them as needed, copying files to the computer for use in editing. Today, though, hard drive space is cheap and I can easily store all the sounds on the hard drive. After all, why go searching through a large library to find a sound and then capture it? And so I began the process of importing them into iTunes.

It took me more than two hours to get the first 20 discs imported. My task was to simply change the discs and hit the import button. Very tedious process. I am not even halfway done... barely a third. Anyway I decided to take a break and write this before I get back to it. I was hoping to have the first episode done today, but I would rather get this out of the way since it has to be done at some point.

I still don't know what this blog is going to be about.

Tags: life, audio