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THE NOTION OF PROMOTION
How do we Turn Our Indie Animation into Cold, Hard Cash?
Part V
So, in the last post in this series I mentioned that traditional style advertising was a mistake for my particular project. I also noted that by the time I got to my second DVD release, called Shadowskin, I found out that promotion, rather than advertising got me a lot further and cost me a lot less. So how do you do it?
Well, let me give an example. Sometime in 2003, I think, I was in LA and, at that time, still had no work outside of my own projects. Sales for my DVD projects were down to near zero. Then someone wrote to me and asked me about the Shadowskin DVD. They wanted to know if it contained the same type of behind the scenes content as the Chaos DVD. I was shocked. I just assumed that everyone knew the DVD would "show you how it was done" just like the last one. Well, I was wrong, and to my own detriment.
So how does one fix this oversight without an expensive advertising campaign? The answer was simple. I cut a new trailer. This time, instead of focusing on the animation alone, the traler showed many behind the scenes clips and featured narration from the extra features about how it was made, and then went into the cool animation clips. I put this trailer up on the web and made a simple announcement. The response was as big as when the DVD was first released, and sales were back to full steam. This move even helped spark new sales of the previous DVD, and it cost me nothing.
Advertising would have cost me a lot of money, which I didn't have, but that type of promotion cost the one thing the indie artist has plenty of, time and skill. The same were employed to make the show. Why not use them to their fullest to sell the show? Internet surfers likely skip right over big colorful banner ads with lots of gloss and phony hype. People on the web want information. The new trailer I cut provided information and not gloss, and it drove buyers to my webstore. Many of the major animation, computer graphics and manga websites carried images and a blurb about this new trailer release because websites want real news and real content, not corporate "hype machine" jibberish. Your audience also wants real news and real content.
Ever hear of a website called Kong is King? On this webite, Peter Jackson, director of the epic motion picture King Kong, posts news of the project and his production diaries. These are video diaries, showing an inside look at how the film is being made. Now we all know these features will appear on some uber edition of the DVD, so why post it on the web "as it happens"? Because this way, the user is there! This makes it real news and real information. It's free advertising! According to Video Business Weekly, extra features sell DVD's. People can rent a movie anytime, watch it and take it back, but extra features are why people buy the DVD. With this promotion, Peter Jackson is selling tons of DVD's before they even exist.
So what methods of promotion can you use? Try submitting artwork from your film to the many CG show-off sites out there. Not only is your work before hundreds of thousands of eyes, but so are links to your page offering more information. Develop relationships with the vendors of the software you use. One of the best things that happened to me was when companies like Newtek started using images and clips from my work, with links to my page, in their advertising. The makers of the software want great content to show that their users are doing great things with their tools. You get free advertising.
The reality is that the possibilities for promotion are limited only by the imagination. Now that I am done with the past, in the next few posts in this series, I am not only going to explain some of those possibilites in detail, I am going to point you to examples of those who promoted their way to major licensing deals.
More on that in the next post...
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"The Path of the Righteous..."
Today I had one of those real, "Wow! I really am in the movie business!" moments as we went to Orange Box Entertainment for a loop group ADR session. The last time we did this, it was just crowd scenes, walla, and lots of dying, but this time I actually voiced two characters for our upcoming film Magma.
What made the day, though, was as we exited the recording room, there was a small walkway where it appears that actors who had previously recorded there had written little blurbs, thank you notes and their signatures. We were surprised to see names like Mel Gibson, David Duchovney, Seth Green, Russel Wong and many other feature actors. There were also notable TV actors like John Ritter, The Smoking Man from X-Files, Dwight Shultz who played Murdock on the A-Team, Lindsay Wagner, Andy Griffith, Barbara Hershey and the list goes on. The walls were completely covered. I can't even recall all the major names we saw. The walls were also covered with lots of little cartoons and drawings, as I am sure many animated shows were done there. It was just cool!
In other news...
"Ezekiel 25:17. The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the snakes on the plane."
One of the funniest websites I have ever seen proves that Hollywood is not out of ideas and that Samuel L. Jackson, last mentioned on this page connected to such a great animated project as Afro Samurai, will play in just about anything. Take a look at Dorkafork.com and prepare to laugh. What makes this even more laughable, is that this is a real movie! It is listed on imdb. What more needs to be said?
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Lucasfilm Opens in Asia
We've heard about it. We've talked about it, and many have speculated as to what would happen, but now it is a reality. Lucasfilm has opened the doors to it's new studio facility in Singapore! So far it seems to be all about Star Wars. That's to be expected, of course, but really impresses, is the lineup of talent on board.
Coming on as exec producer at Lucasfilm Animation in the U.S. is Catherine Winder, who has worked as both an exec and producer in feature films, home video and television animation in both the U.S. and Asia... Her producing career started at Colossal Pictures, where she quickly moved to HBO and set up a studio to develop and produce the Emmy Award-winning animated series Todd MacFarlane's Spawn. She began her animation career at Walt Disney Television Animation, Japan, and went on to work at Turner Films/Hanna Barbera in Taiwan. Winder co-authored the industry handbook Producing Animation.
Dave Filoni, who most recently directed the Nickelodeon animation series Avatar: The Last Airbender, has been hired on as supervising director.
That's just two of the names listed in the article in Animation Magazine. This list also includes Henry Gilroy, who wrote Star Wars comic book series for Dark Horse, and Industrial Light & Magic animation director Rob Coleman, who served as animation director on the new Star Wars trilogy. Now imagine, a new animated TV series coming in at the quality of Avatar: The Last Airbender! Well, we will only imagine because the series is not to be 2D animation. It will be fully digital 3D animation work. Still, with this lineup of talent, it may very well be something to look forward to in 2007.
There's much to be said about not keeping the jobs in the U.S., but we also have to face that we live in a global economy and quality animation comes from all over the world. The sad reality is that in today's market, these shows would likely not happen at all, being prohibitively expensive if done in America. Perhaps using techniques such as those I employ or those of Makoto Shinkai or Yamato Works could make this feasible, but that would require they have knowledge that I am certain the big boys just don't seem to have.
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DOES TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING WORK?
How do we Turn Our Indie Animation into Cold, Hard Cash?
Part IV
It was November 2001. Westwood Studios, the famous video game house where I worked at the time, was in dire straits. Grumblings were in the air that the end was very near. It was only a matter of time. I was among the first batch to be laid off. When I was told, my supervisors wondered why I didn't seem phased. I wasn't shocked. I wasn't sad. I left with a smile on my face. Part of that was because of the huge severance package given me, but it was also because I had something else.
I had a beautiful full color advertisement in Animation Magazine. I had a DVD of Understanding Chaos, fresh off the presses and ready to sell. I had an order fulfillment company in northern Nevada ready to handle all shipping, returns and even dealing with customers. I had a web store ready to take credit cards orders and notify the shipping house. The entire thing would run automatically without me having to watch over it. I had something to fall back on.
So fall back on it I did, and believe it or not, it worked! I could make a living doing this! Maybe it wasn't a jet setting and exciting living of the rich, but I could make a living! Sure, there were the usual problems. The shipping house makes a mistake, there's a bad disc or two in every batch, but it was actually running smoothly. People would come to the site, order a DVD, emails would notify everyone necessary and the DVD got shipped like clockwork. Still, I made one major mistake.
Animation Magazine is a magazine about the business of animation. The full color ad I spent so much money on got me a lot of press and made me many good contacts, but in reality, in that day the people who would view traditional ads and buy weren't on the internet. They were retail customers. In fact, the people who would be affected by almost any traditional advertising were retail customers, patrons of the brick and mortar store. Luckily, I had a series of banner ads on a wide variety of related web sites that were either very low cost or traded for minor art tasks. Or was this even enough?
Does MacDonald's need to advertise in this day and age? I mean, everyone knows who they are. You see one on every other street corner. They have achieved the height of brand awareness haven't they? So why do they spend millions and millions hawking the same old hamburgers at customers who already know they are there? Because they have to! Otherwise people would just about forget they existed and when they got hungry the first thing to come to mind would be the fast food joints which are flashing ads at them every single commercial break.
I found I had to keep rotating and changing ads at every turn to keep it all alive. Sometimes a banner ad would become old news in as little as a week and I had to change the artwork or find a new approach just to keep people coming. Traditional advertising has its place, but on the internet and with the type of product I was selling it was the wrong choice. It would be even poorer choice today. By the time I got around to doing Shadowskin, my second DVD, I found out that promotion will get you a lot further than advertising.
More on that in the next post...
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Interesting Link
http://www.krafty.org/flash/
This leads to a very interesting flash animation. Somewhere there has to be a UFO Film in all this!
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THE ELEMENT
The above picture is from a soon to be launched franchise called Afro Samurai. It appears to be a collaboration between Gonzo, (Last Exile, Blue Submarine No. 6) creator Takashi Okazaki and actor Samuel L Jackson.
"With Samuel L. Jackson involved with this project combined with the talents of Gonzo, the leader in producing cutting-edge Japanese animation, and featuring a funky, hip-hop soundtrack -- this project was irresistible for us," says Kevin Kay, Executive Vice President of Development and Production for Spike TV. "Afro Samurai is already generating a great buzz for its animation and captivating storyline."
So it is written on Anime News Network. Now take note of the story of this program. "AFRO SAMURAI is the tale of a black samurai futuristic, yet feudal Japan who is on a mission to avenge the wrongful death of his father." Sound like anything special? Well it isn't. What is special is the collaborative team behind this project including A-list Hollywood talent, one of the best anime production studios in Japan and what they bring to the table, including most likely hip hop sounds from known or up and coming artists who have names in their own right.
What we are talking about is names! This is the element the indie does not have and cannot rely on. Names give a property built in demand. Not having that, we as indies have to think differently about how to approach the public with our work and find or build our audience. Now don't get me wrong, Afro Samurai was a little known indie manga years ago, but the attachment of names has vaulted it into a class of franchise big enough to realize an anime series, a live action feature film, a new manga series, a Namco video game and likely hip hop soundtracks to boot!
I, for one, can't wait to see this show, but consider these things as you develop your content. What is the selling point of your project?
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CHAOS ON DVD
How do we Turn Our Indie Animation into Cold, Hard Cash?
Part III
On September 11th, 2000, Understanding Chaos exploded onto the animation stage as a free download on the internet. Websites devoted to animation, computer graphics and manga quickly picked up on the news and stories about it, as well as interviews, were carried all over the world, some on sites I couldn't even read. I no doubt had people's attention. So how does one turn this attention into revenue? I had planned to release the project, with an extensive making-of video, on DVD exactly one year later, but world events altered those plans.
Creating your own DVD in that day was not like it is currently. Now you can do everything for very low cost in your home office. Back then, it was a very expensive process and the tools and equipment just didn't exist. I, however, was determined to make independent animation reality. After a lot of study, trial and error, Understanding Chaos was on DVD complete with a making-of video detailing how it was created.
Understanding Chaos was a short film and so the DVD centered around a making-of feature that would show artists and animators how to make their own films. That was the major selling point. So now everything was together and ready to go. The DVD release was even time to coincide with my first full page ad in a major magazine. Animation Magazine had an advertisement for my DVD called "Independents Day" which featured much of the artwork from the show and made it clear that this disk would show you how it was done. That full page ad cost me a whopping $3600 dollars, but I knew all the puzzle pieces were together and that this disc was going to start selling like mad. But did it?
More on that in the next post...
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CHAOTIC TIMES
How do we Turn Our Indie Animation into Cold, Hard Cash?
Part II
Independent animators don't exist in a vacuum. Our love for animation causes us to want to devote ourselves to it. While we me may love it enough to work a day job somewhere and then burn the midnight oil on our magnum opus, the goal is to be able to make a comfortable living doing indie animation. No one wants to make and let go of their original creations for free, right? Well, originally, that's exactly what I did.
Understanding Chaos, my first short anime movie of note, was released as a downloadable video on the internet in the year 2000. It was, in fact, downloaded so much initially, that my web site was permanently shut down. I had to scramble to get a new web service, the service I still use on this site today. So you may ask, well what would be the advantage in this? Well, a lot of people watched it.
In the old model, before there were hundreds of cable channels, television animation was very commercial. Not to say that it isn't now, but I mean many of these shows were literally 30 minute commercials to sell toys. If they weren't selling toys of their own franchise property, then they were selling someone else's. You see, when I say 30 minutes, in reality, inside each half hour you actually saw only 22 minutes of animation. That meant 8 whole minutes of advertising which the network wants to be able to charge a premium for. What determines how much they can charge? The amount of eyeballs they command. The shows that bring the most viewers get the prize.
This was a concept I will understood, and so I released Chaos for free on the net. Websites devoted to anime, 3D computer graphics and indie film quickly picked up on it and started carrying stories about the show. I was able to command quite a few eyeballs. The question then became, how do I capitalize on this?
More on that in the next post...
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MEAN GREEN
How do we Turn Our Indie Animation into Cold, Hard Cash?
Part I
So then is all well in TV land? Apparently things are going well for many studios and independent producers at MIPCOM, but there's a lot of money involved in getting to that point. Those doing good business are selling animated series that have been tried and proven in their local markets and only now are they able to sell them worldwide. So where does that leave the small guys starting off?
"It 's definitely a crowded market for indie producers. Having a show picked up in the North American market has become very challenging." Says David Michel of Paris based Marathon Entertainment. Anyone following MIPCOM will notice that while many properties seem to be going over well, and some of them really look good, most are, for the most part, "trendy". People trying to created animated properties that are outside the box are being told over and over to consider direct-to-video.
As I wrote before, that isn't the only option. Now we have to seriously look at mobile devices, video on demand and the internet as much greater possibilities than even they were five years ago when I started trying to make heads or tails of this business called animation. I am sure we all love the art of animation, but none of us wants to create and let out our dreams for free, right? Or do we?
As I continue in this little series of articles I want to start with the past, talk about exactly what I did and how well that worked and consider how things might be different today. Then I want to seriously look at all the possible models today and come up with a real answer to how we turn our indie animation properties into cold, hard cash.
More on that in the next post...
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Where Does the New Road Lead?
So while broadcasters and producers are still concerned over whether or not 2D is dead and arguing if photo-real CGI can work on television, where does this new road lead us? Well, the above image, from AOL's original web series princess Natasha, may be able to tell us something. Notice what Animation Magazine is hearing at MIPCOM:
Mobile TV growth is estimated to go from a $200 million biz to a $27 billion yearly biz by 2010. That growth will be at the expense of the traditional networks and the major movers will be kids/young people. A la carte screening is here and the Personal Medium Revolution is at hand. Plus, Internet viewing (i.e. AOLÂ?s Princess Natasha which became an Internet phenomenon and now is headed for Cartoon Network and major licensing deals.
-Peter Keefe, president and CEO, Earthworks Entertainment
Speaking about this same property, we find in an article on imediaconnection.com, this quote:
"We feel strongly that these deals represent a major shift in the way original internet programming is being perceived by the entertainment industry. With the increased adoption of broadband, the time is right for innovative online video programming to set a new bar," says Malcolm Bird, senior vice president and general manager, Kids and Teens Programming, AOL.
This leads me to think of the popularity of Ninjai on the internet. It was fresh, and most certainly different. It's the type of show that would set trends and not follow them. Aside from the obvious necessity of great stories and characters, new shows need to also have an edge. The age of clones will not last forever. Viewers with more and more outlets to choose from will move on quicker than ever before if the content is not truly innovative and captivating.
According to some at MIPCOM, direct to video is taking "a quantum lead over TV series in recent times in the U.S., Canada and Japan." But this is not the case for all genre of animation on DVD. Peter Keefe, president and CEO, Earthworks Entertainment said, "Hollywood is quietly wondering if the erosion in the DVD sales for big bucks CG fare is the result of too much of a good thing."
Still, there can be no doubt, looking at information published in trades like Video Business Weekly, that overall sales in the animated home video market are climbing rapidly. So who is benefiting from these sales? Anime, of course, plays a large role in this, but in the end, it's shows that offer something new and different that are being noticed, and they are being noticed in places other than the theatre and on television.
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Mongolian Chop Squad
A while ago a reader recommended to me the Japanese anime show Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad. I've finally had a chance to see this program and it is now clear to me why he was so excited about it. Contrary to what many expect of anime, there are no aliens, robots, samurai or monsters to be seen in this TV series. It's about kids trying to make it in the tough world that is the record business.
| Not wanting to make this into a simple review I will only say that the show is fresh, different and much needed in this industry. It is clear that the original creator is someone who truly loves music. Piggybacking on what I wrote previously about the current nature of the market, and what producers in Cannes are saying, I want to talk about this show and the idea of targeting an audience. |
As I mentioned before, the Beck anime is not fantasy, science fiction or action. Many might look at this and ask why it wasn't done live action. I am more than glad it wasn't because it says something about animation not often said. This show will not sell toys. I imagine it won't make Playstation games. So while producers are saying that less commercial shows can't make money, where does this fit in?
For the indie capable of production content on a budget, this program presents a perfect opportunity for study. This, or a show like it, would represent true targeting. Animation is not dwindling in popularity. With more and more TV channels, more specific content is needed. Imagine how well a show like this might play on a music video channel. Buyers are supposedly looking for completed productions, which make it easy to look at the wealth of anime coming from Japan for cheap licensing. But shows like Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad are not the shows being licensed. | |
This particular show would present some major challenges to whoever tried to bring it over. Much of the show is already in English and some parts feature mixed language conversation. The language barrier is a major part of the show. Putting it entirely in English just won't work. Then there's the fact that it is straight drama when, as far as anime goes, very commercial martial arts shows seem to be the rage on American TV.
| An original program created for this market would be an entirely different story though. The problem is that currently few broadcasters would dare risk the normally high production budgets associated with animation on a project without surefire commercial appeal. |
So who does that open the door for? It is not an easy door to walk through. Still, if the content can be created for a low enough cost, targeted animation of this type can become a reality. In fact, I suspect it will become necessity before too long. Like the video game industry, animation is becoming a monotonous sea of franchises and remakes. The shows which stand out are those created and owned by the broadcasters who show them, but they are very commercial like Avatar: The Last Airbender or very cheap to produce like Aqua Teen Hunger Force. We won't see a show like Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad come out of this system. Do we or do we not need to break the chains?
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Why We Need a New Road
As independent creators we can no longer expect to "have our shot" at the mainstream. We can't rely on the old ways of getting our content to our audience. That road has been fast closing for years now. Listen to some of these comments, taken from Animation Magazine, by the pros in Cannes this week:
The biggest challenge is the dwindling demand for independently produced animated programs. The pressure is on to make an outstanding program, which raises the development costs without any guarantees of success.
- Fernando Szew, COO/managing director, MarVista Entertainment
The biggest challenge is that broadcasters no longer pay enough to cover the production budget, even with four or five in the mix. This leaves producers to find the difference in whatever way they can, often from their own pockets. This is fine if the show is a big merchandising and licensing success but not so great for series which are less commercial.
- Camilla Deakin, co-founder, Lupus Films
The biggest problem facing animation producers today are increasing budgets and limited venues to sell series in the U.S. The market has consolidated greatly in the last several years and the economics have vastly changed as well. Unless you have a series with tremendous merchandising potential, it is quite difficult to recoup your costs.
- Andrew Berman, executive VP, sales, IDT Entertainment
What does that tell you? The mainstream world is falling apart! Now even outsourcing animation to sweatshops overseas isn't cheap enough. They say the market is saturated, but with what? What's missing now is true targeting. Of course, with 250 channels needing content, they can't pay what was paid when there were only five!
So who is your show for? How will you get it too them? The only advantage indies have is the ability to create high quality at a very low cost. We have something they don't. A lack of tradition. They say the new technology doesn't make animation any cheaper. For them it is true, because they can't see outside making it the old way. The new technology doesn't just make it cheaper for us, it makes it possible.
We are in a position now to create the content they cannot. While scores of producers are battling to create the next hit for the broadest possible audience, which is garnering less interest from broadcasters, we can create shows for very money that are more tailored to specific audiences and see a great return on our investment. The time is now more than ever! Let's travel that new road!
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VEGAS IN, ADOBE OUT
So I finally got around to installing my Vegas 6 + DVD package today and all I can say is, WOW! This is the way editing should be. I know that most non-linear editors are the same, but without looking at even a single page of the manual I was able to get into Vegas and just start making stuff!
What's most impressive about this tool, though, while I know that newer versions of Adobe Premiere than what I have support this, is the ease of working with 24P DV and HD using the Sony codecs, which I already have on my Vaio. This is nice. I was even able to take material given me from Final Cut pro, which I was previously unable to even load except in Mirage, and just work with it directly. Even after many format conversions I just couldn't get Premiere to act right.
Needless to say, Premiere is out the door of my studio and Vegas is taking over. I can't wait to get in there and play with it. I will probably do new versions of my reel just to get started. Because Vegas also has a major focus on the audio editing side of things, I will also test some music projects, related to movie scoring, with it. There is a lot of fun coming down the road.
I updated my links section to better reflect the changes in the tools I use. Adobe among others has dropped off the list completely and aside from Sony and Vegas, I have also added Native Instruments Kontakt 2 and the Bela D Media Giovani edition choir library. As I get more into music, sound libraries may have to get its own links page. That remains to be seen. This one of many updates planned for the next couple of months as I reorganize things and get Studio ArtFX ready to move forward in full swing.
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The Supertree Reloaded
Not wanting to become a mere industry news blog, I thought it best to get back to production discussion and show how things were done. There was an update to Vue 5 Infinite recently which made a number of improvements to an already spectacular program. With that, I thought I might revisit the issue of this super tree I created. I made some corrections to the original post I made, so it would be easier to understand, but I thought I would also explain in a bit more detail here as well.
Please note that our first piece is taken into the tree editor and changed to basically be a large stump. Note that the scale is 2.00. I could even be bigger if you desire to create an even more detailed tree. The settings are such that it has few, if any, branches and no leaves. Those are done separately.
What you are seeing in this image is how the final tree is created. Note that what we see selected in red, is an entire tree from the list on the right. This tree, however, is being placed as a branch on the big stump which was created in the editor above. You can place as many of these as desired to make your stump into a super tree. The items can all be placed in a group so that they can be manipulated as a single tree from that point. It's that easy!
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Governator Signs Violent Video Game Bill
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has apparently singed a bill to forbid sales of violent video games to minors, according to this Voodoo Extreme article.
"I am a parent myself and I think this is extremely important that we know what our kids watch or what kind of games that they play," Schwarzenegger said. "I am a big believer in those video games. I mean they're terrific, a lot of them are manufactured in California and they're doing a great job," he said. "But we just want to make sure it doesn't go into the wrong hands or children under the age of 10 start playing those things because it does have an impact on our children."
That's what he says. What's interesting to me is the varying attitudes about this on the message boards such as seen here. This is clearly something of a hot topic, but I also think that many see this going somewhere that it was never intended to go. It'll be interesting to see what happens from this point.
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Behold, The Hire of the Labourers...
According to this Gamespot article, EA has supposedly negotiated a settlement with former employees, some guys I know and have worked with, over working conditions and overtime issues. This comes after a history of complaints over their practices and treatmentof workers since the Origin Systems and Bullfrog era.
The terms of the settlement will see Electronic Arts pay out $15.6 million, to be distributed to all class members and plaintiffs' attorneys. A portion of that $15.6 million will go directly to the named plaintiffs (Kirshenbaum, Mark West, Eric Kearns, and Gianni Aliotti) as well as into a fund to cover all administrative costs. The case will be dismissed as a result.
That's what it says. Now many of you may know that I worked at Westwood Studios in Las Vegas for years before it was swallowed up by EA, at which point it underwent changes to reflect the kinds of things complained about by the employees in this suit. That company was eventually stripped of its valuable intellectual property and left for dead.
What surprises me is that thing apparently got Worse after those days. I actually remember when the site mentioned in the article, The EA Spouse blog, came to popularity. Those of us from EA read that and much of it was old hat, but stories of employees being told to "bribe" wives and girlfriends with gifts and money to make up for overtime almost stretched the limits of believability. And then things got worse still.
When friends of mine who stuck it out, and were moved from Vegas to the LA studio, started leaving, choosing unemployment or another field of work entirely rather than staying in EA, I knew things had to be as bad as all the rumors. Well, apparently they were.
So will the industry as a whole really benefit from this? I think so. The video game industry needs help, much more so than any other artist oriented field I have been involved in. EA may be at the top, but they are not the only ones to take advantage of eager workers. I think this may lead to at least some level of reform. We'll see...
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See How it Goes?
According to this link, Autodesk, Inc. has announced that they are acquiring Alias, the makers of the popular Maya animation software used in feature film animation.
Autodesk today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Alias, a privately held developer of 3D graphics technology, for $182 million in cash. This acquisition will grow Autodesk's expertise and offerings in the film and video, interactive games, media, Web, consumer products, industrial design, automotive, architecture and visualization markets. Autodeskk anticipates that the transaction will close within the next four to six months.
That's what it says. This is the level they are playing on in the big leagues. So how does this affect the indie creator? Well, what does this do to the market? 3D Studio Max and Maya, two of the top industry animation packages now come under one roof, even in an era when everyone is dramatically reducing prices. Everyone except Autodesk anyway. What does this mean for market growth through competition?
Let's face it folks, there really hasn't been any real innovation in the 3D world in years! What is the last big leap you can remember, in any package? Realistic fur and hair? Smoke and pyro clusters? Cloth and hard body simulation? Global illumination and radiosity? All old news. The nature of the market overall likely can't handle this and that is why we saw major price drops in recent months.
So back to the indie creator. It could be bad or good. Autodesk has not been known for conforming to the industry and dropping prices. They don't have to. 3DS Max never did. Now there are still other tools out there. Cinema 4D, modo, Lightwave 3D, and a few of the smaller ones. But if the market doesn't support them, they may fade away or disappear. Remember it was the market that allowed us to be here doing our own indie shows in the first place. We don't want a return to high prices and the technology being in the hands of those with money. Do you want to pay $6500 for your 3D tool?
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Mind On My Time and My Money on My...
We all want to create great shows. We all want creative control over our work and not have it go through some network or studio meat grinder. That's why we do what we do. But, of course, we also want to make a living doing it, right? It's not just about making shows, it's also about selling them. Marketing and distribution.
I once read an article, and I may have even posted a link to it from here, that talked about how most of the Japanese studios that create anime are run by artists and not business people. As a result, they create great properties and often sell them to the networks for a flat fee. The network turns around and through broadcasting and toy deals, turn these properties into millions, a few into billions. The artists who made the show never see another dime.
As indie content creators, we have to know how to sell our works, or properties and our dreams in order to make the revolution a reality. This likely means finding avenues to sell through that have little or no relation to the mainstream methods of distribution. We all know the web grants access to millions of eyes as an audience, but how few have actually made it work. Indie content producers have to create avenues that work. That will take effort and time.
There may be no instant score like selling a "Blair Witch Project" to a major studio. Building anything solid takes time. Your time. After all, the building built on Blair Witch is where now? How we use our time is of utmost importance, not just in making our shows but getting them out there. We can't stop when our dreams grace the screen. That's actually the beginning and not the end. This doesn't mean we have to be there tomorrow, it means knowing that each application of our time is working towards tomorrow.
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