FINISHING MOVES

If there is one thing I have learned this year it is the importance of finishing your movie. When I say finish it I mean finish anything. This year I have seen more than enough proof that if you finish your movie, no matter what it is, somebody's going to buy it. There is no end of proof of this in Best Buy, on shelves at Blockbuster, in Netflix and many other sites where there are movies so bad it is hard to imagine they made it on the shelf. I mean movies shot on video where it is clear the people on screen never acted a day in their life. But you know what? They got done.


This is Recon 2020. I don't mean to say that this movie is bad as I haven't seen it. I have heard some things though. My point, however, is that it is shot on video. No effort made to make it look like real film. The armor suits are clearly homemade. The CGI effects look like that of a dated video game or a TV show from the Seaquest era. This movie epitomizes cheap. But it got done, it got sold and can be found on the shelves at Best Buy. Many who would speak ill of this movie probably wish they were there.


Is it possible that the thing which is keeping you from finishing is, in fact, where you started? I mean, many of the creators of the latest blockbuster films didn't start out so big. James Cameron, of Titanic fame got his start on Piranha II, a cheap low budget horror film. He worked for low budget king Roger Corman before that. Spielberg started in TV and made his mark with Duel a film that seems so much larger than what went into it. Sam Raimi started with a super low budget 16mm film with Bruce Campbell and a few guys in a cabin in the woods. So why is that so many would be film makers want to start with their multi-million dollar, Lord of the Rings level epic?


I think it gets even worse when it comes to animation. Many think you have to compete with Pixar from the get-go. I have heard so many capable artists take a "this or nothing" attitude about their project. Why is this? I have never heard of a storyteller with only one story to tell. Like I often say, they want to make their Once Upon a Time in Mexico without making their El Mariachi first. The concept of building up to the big stuff is nowhere in them.

If you want to finish your project, you have to start with what you can finish. There are people out there shooting cheap horror films on video, in ten days, and they are getting sold for good money. I am not saying you should do this if it doesn't interest you. You have to first do what you love and love what you do, but if you're possibly looking at something too big, you may want to change your thinking with that in mind. Start where you are and believe that if you finish it, you're already 99% there.

YOUR CHANCE TO TRY!

E-On Software is now offering a free personal learning edition of Vue 6 Infinite and Vue 6 Xstream for their website. Following in the footsteps of Natural Motion, who recently released a completely free learning edition of their incredible Endorphin 2.7 software, E-On Software is creating a fully functional version of the software which allows you to to save your work and it never expires. It appears that they will simply save in a different format which is not compatible with the commercial version and they may watermark renders.

• Create complete projects, save your work and export to other applications,
• Render stills and animations without size/length limit,
• Experience Vue’s power directly inside Max/Maya/LightWave/Cinema4D (XSI coming soon),
• Learn at your own pace (the PLE never expires)!

The PLE is for personal, non-commercial use only, files cannot be exchanged with other PLE users and are not compatible with other versions of Vue, renders may be watermarked and carry a logo.

That's what it says on the website. Apparently you can go there and, after entering your email address, download it now.

CREATE WHAT YOU DESIRE

Satoshi Kon, the anime director responsible for the movie Paprika, which is currently gaining much notoriety on the festival circuit, is being interviewed everywhere in connection to this masterful work. In some of these interviews he makes some great points about the influences on his work and the process of creation of both films like Paprika and his TV series Paranoia agent. His thoughts are, of course, based on a concept of "what is" as opposed to what can be or perhaps, "should be" in the opinions of some.

To create manga takes a great effort and it is a personal work. That is a good point, in manga you can create what you want to create. But the opposite can also be said, that you can only do what you are capable of. In anime, the staff gets together and creates together. I am attracted by the idea of a team making the best work possible.

That's what he said in a recent TOKYOPOP interview. Of course, from his perspective he is quite correct, but those of us who desire to change the very nature of the industry may see things differently. What I am basically talking about is technology opening new doors. Those who saw Makoto Shinkai's Voices of a Distant Star and it's extra features may remember than in his interview he talks about how technology has literally brought the creation of anime into the realm of manga, where it is possible for one artist to create what they want in total freedom. I also remember how manga artists like Ghost in the Shell creator Masamune Shirow, having seen works like Urda or Kakurenbo, decided he wanted to delve into that world of CGI creation because of the opportunities offered there.

In another interview with Satoshi Kon on Coming Soon.net, he wrote:

I read the novel of "Paprika" right when it was first published years ago. Right after doing my first film, "Perfect Blue," I really wanted to do a film adaptation of "Paprika" next, but at the time, it was just as an idea that was floating around, and the production company that I was in talks with actually went out of business and it never came into fruition. Afterwards, a lot of the works I did—"Millennium Actress," "Tokyo Godfathers" and "Paranoid Agent"—the works that I was doing were original pieces that were developed. I think some of the production houses had expected or were anticipating me to do more original works.

That's not freedom. No one wants to be dependent on a company which might go out of business to get their project made. There is no longer a need to spend years with your idea floating around or looking for some studio to develop it with you. Today, because of the tools available, you can have an idea and just start making it. You can create what you desire right now and there are no forces that will prevent you from doing that.

When it comes to forces that might prevent one from creating what they want, they are often only in the mind of the creator. Even though I knew for years that the technology said we can create what we want without the need for millions of dollars or major studio backing, it wasn't until recently that it really hit me that I can create what I truly desire right now. I knew there were no real world barriers preventing me from creating, but I was still stuck "in the box", so to speak, in the belief that I had to create certain types of shows, characters, lengths and scenarios. When I say create what you desire, I mean without limits. In today's world with a multitude of markets and delivery systems, a 3 minute animation for cel phones is as viable as a feature film with the hope of theatrical distribution. You can really make anything and believe there is an audience for it. Because there is.

CRITICIZING ANIME

To this day, many cannot shake the notion that animation must be some particular thing. This applies to the current state of the anime industry as well as to Hollywood animated feature films. We all know that Hollywood currently seems to be in a talking animal rut. Anime has not escaped monotony either. Although there is a general lack of risk taking in the anime world, it's not necessarily the creators of the individual works that decide this, but the system as a whole. Director Satoshi Kon makes this somewhat clear in a recent New York Times interview about his upcoming film Paprika.


I make them with the intention of being for a general audience, a mainstream audience,but they tend to get perceived as much more artistic.

Animation is supposed to be like a dream, pretty and nice. When you see a Disney cartoon, you’re in a dream world of sweet animals and pretty flowers. The dream world in ‘Paprika’ is quite the opposite — frightening and horrible, a surprising notion coming from a cartoon.

Should such a thing really be surprising in this day and age? That very article goes on tot talk about how directors like Katsuhiro Otomo, Mamoru Oshii and Satashi Kon started a movement that changed the face of anime beginning with films like Akira, more inspired by serious science fiction writers like Phillip K. Dick and William Gibson than the works of Walt Disney. Still, Akira is almost twenty years old. How long does it take for a perception to change? Well, anime in general is a very niche market product, so from the mainstream perspective, there was very little perception to be changed in the first place.

Breaking out of this notions of what animation should be, especially across borders, can be very difficult. In this "new movement" in anime, no film that has been brought to America has grossed more than $3 million at the box office except the Oscar winning, highly promoted and twice released Spirited Away. Most gross less than $1 million for their time in theatres. It takes a very westernized Pokemon to make any real money in American theatres.

One of the greatest barriers to breaking notions of what animation should be is cultural, and more specifically, the religious ideas on which that culture developed. In Hollywood films, when religion is touched upon, it is almost always Catholic. In animation religion and its associated symbols are very rarely even hinted at. Spawn creator Todd McFarlane once said that simply showing a graveyard full of crosses in animation could up the MPAA rating to an R. While he was likely being sarcastic, I think he makes a good point. What the audience can accept, or what the system believes they can accept in animation will always hinder what can make it into the mainstream. When it comes to foreign cultural or religious concepts it gets even worse.


I understand that, from the Christian point of view, animism — where you give a soul and spirit to all sorts of objects — is wrong and incorrect. But I don’t think that is a reason to oppose any other country’s culture. In Japan, Shintoism is a polytheistic religion in which you believe in many different gods for many different people. Shintoism acknowledges the Christian God. Why not? There are many gods. But when I think about how that respect doesn’t go in the other direction, I get a little bit sad. I think that’s something that contributes to world cultural conflicts and problems.

So spoke Satoshi Kon in the aforementioned interview. Personally, I don't think there should be some grand movement to break these perceptions nor do I think anime is going to flood the mainstream. Niche markets are what they are. If we want to see change, or see more acceptance of a certain type of film, though, there simply needs to be more of those type of films. If we want to see more animation for older audiences, then we must make more animation for older audiences. If we want to see more cultural diversity in animation, then we must make those films which show that diversity. We must also find our own roads to get those films out because the system will not do it for us. The solution is, and can only be, to make films, and make films of all types and expand the perceptions.

MACHINIMA FUTURE

I have written many times about machinima, the technique of using real time game engine technology to create animated film. Machinima continues to grow in popularity because of the power it gives filmmakers, but the question has often risen, can anyone make money with it? I think the future of machinima, not so much in the hands of the Quake engines or Unreal Tournament based mods, but in the hands of tools like iClone, made specifically for filmmakers, holds a lot of potential. Still, the users have to have the control.

Alessandro Cima of Candlelight Stories used The Movies video game/machinima software to create Dracula's Guest among other machinima tales. However, the level of control offered by the software was precisely what turned him off.

Ultimately, machinima as a technique wears out quickly on me and leaves me wanting the much finer control of animating in Flash, so I probably will not do more of it until someone produces a real software tool specifically designed for filmmakers who want total control over environment, cameras, character design, and editing.

That's what he said even though his movie was Boingboinged and mentioned in Wired Magazine as one of the two best films done with The Movies software. Having spoken to aspiring filmmakers who tried The Movies, I learned that there are quite a few crippling limitations to those who wish to for the power to do anything they want. Not just in the software, but in the licence that comes with it. It seems that Microsoft is getting in on the action now having joined forces with the creators of that software. That sounds, to me, like a step in the wrong direction.

Maybe tools like iClone or others in the same vein, should they give filmmakers total freedom and the ability to interface with any tool they might choose, (iClone limits model creation to 3DS MAX) could give machinima a bright future, where users can create content that can sell. I think there is still a way to go before we will see this. Until then, as higher end tools like Vue, Poser, modo and others get easier and offer more power to the user, I will continue to find my creative freedom there.

INTERVENTION TIME?

According to Variety, the anime industry in Japan is seriously suffering from stagnating DVD sales both locally and in the international market. As a result, some of the top studios, like Madhouse and Production I.G. are pitching their most popular properties to Hollywood studios for live action remakes. This includes a possible live action version of I.G.'s Ghost in the Shell, for which negotiations are in progress.


One of the things that is not mentioned is possible reasons for this stagnation. Let's face it, anime has, with few exceptions, become very monotonous, falling into the same "command & repackage" mentality of the top video game publishers. How many times can you sell another cute girl in a giant robot or armor? One of the reasons for this lack of risk taking in both industries is the rising cost of production. You don't dare spend millions on an untested idea and hope to make your money back.

Efforts are being made to keep to the cost down. The U.S., Hong Kong and Japanese companies behind Ex Machina, the sequel to the all 3D CGI Appleseed are introducing profit sharing plans, where the studios involved in the production get something on the back end rather paying all the production costs up front. The studio behind Genius Party, which I wrote about previously, is distributing the profits among the individual directors who created it. These are all good efforts.

Variety goes on to report that the problems within the industry don't stop there. Wages for animators in the trenches, actually doing the work, remain incredibly low. As a result, many anime studios are losing talented staff to video game companies which tend to pay much better. Also, many believe that continuing to outsource production work to low cost shops in Korea and China has lowered the quality of anime. One need only look at the quality of Naruto The Movie 3 to see where that is going.

The problem here is clearly cost, cost cost! The studios continue to do things the old way. When that gets too expensive, they outsource the work to a cheaper country to continue doing things the old way for a lower price. Maybe it's time to start considering doing things a new way! As I mentioned before, these problems with anime are not the result of demand. The demand is there. Anime grows on TV everyday. I've seen bittorrent sites where an episode of Naruto was downloaded 270,000 times from that one site, and there are dozens of such sites. The simple fact is that the industry cannot long supoort itself. The vast amount of content means a necessary switch to long tail economics. Anime is going to have to be made cheaper and I mean much much cheaper. I know this is possible. I've done it. I think now is the time for indies to keep doing it and show a new road. Then maybe the smaller studios, the ones who are struggling at the bottom, will catch on and follow suit. Then they will have their own creations and a new era can begin.

IS THEIR ROOM FOR GROWTH?

Coming early in June, anime and manga fans will be treated to Otaku USA Magazine, published by Sovereign Media, the same niche market magazine publisher which publishes SCI FI magazine for the Sci Fi Channel. Veteran anime and manga journalist Patrick Macias, author of Cruising the Anime City: an Otaku Guide to Neo-Tokyo, will helm the project as editor.

Each issue of OtakuUSA will be oversized 9 x 10 7/8, with a poster bound in the center spread, and a DVD inserted onto the front cover, with full- length Anime features and game demos. In addition, each issue of Otaku USA will include a full manga feature, printed as a pull-out section. My aim is to make Otaku USA the best, most comprehensive Japanese pop culture magazine in the marketplace.

That's what he says, but this makes me wonder. We are seeing new anime magazines, books and merchandising coming out constantly, and yet all indications are that the anime market in America is shrinking. We all know about the disastrous year of 2005 when over 40% of anime stock was returned to the publishers by major retail outlets suffering from over saturation of the market. Even today there are only half the number of titles populating store shelves than last year. So is the market growing or shrinking?

For those of us who want to make anime or other types of animation along the same lines, this is something to consider. Shows like Naruto, Death Note or Fullmetal Alchemist clearly show the growth of anime and manga, but at the same time, the pushing of too many obviously niche market titles on stores has created the appearance of less demand. The real key for those producing their own content, though, is to look at the performance of shows like Afro Samurai, The Boondocks or Avatar: The Last Airbender, which reflect a different paradigm than those made in Japan and imported. While they were all well promoted beyond what anime companies are typically capable of, the vast difference in their market penetration must be looked at from other angles.

On one hand, all things Japanese are very popular at the moment, but anime in America is still foreign and that is never going to change. This may put a ceiling on its growth. The style, however, is greatly appealing to audiences and local productions which take influence from it have been very successful. Audiences can relate to them better. While anime from Japan may always be in its niche corner, an expanded concept of anime, considering the accepted style, may have no barriers to how high it can climb.

YOUTUBE: THE NEXT GATEKEEPER?

It seems that last week Youtube announced the opening of their partners program in a press release which states that they elevated their "most popular users to partners." According to one video blogger, though, things are not quite what they seem. In a rant posted to John Battelle's Searchblog, a popular Youtuber claims that even though they have tends of millions of views, they were not included.


If they could, YouTube would love to become the next gatekeeper, the next network. And in fact they have, they've gently plucked their stars and anointed them with advertising dollars. And someday you too can be touched by their magic wand and granted the status of weblebrity if you pass the test.

That's just one of the points brought up by the anonymous Youtube star, which I must wonder if it isn't the makers of Lonely Girl15. The rant goes on the speak of how they have been treated by Youtube in comparison to the big guys that Youtube seems so intent on signing deals with. While the majors might get high dollar value ad deals, the rant seems to indicate that indies might be thrown a few pennies to keep them chasing after that bone. The discussion then goes on the talk about exclusivity, an important point that may be a killer for indies in the near future.

Just what is exclusivity? This means that when you post a video on a site requiring an exclusive deal, then you can only post it on their site and nowhere else. If it fails to perform or make you any money, you're simply out of luck. In the currently small Internet video market, you should never sign an exclusive deal. It's not like you're handing your project over to Warner Bros. You may make very little. In fact, the ideal way for the indie to make a living may in fact be to get that project seen everywhere. Have it on Amazon, on Lulu, on Metacafe, in an Ebay store, your own site and anywhere else that eyes may come to see it and cash may come to buy it.

One commenter on the rant says, "You get what you pay for. YouTube doesn't have a sign-up/cancellation fee, bandwidth overages or any other type of service charge. It's a good promo tool -- and if your content's good, you'll be able to reap some benefits of it." I agree. I could see using Youtube for a teaser video or two, but you should always keep complete control over your valuable content.

WHO'S THE NEXT GENIUS

Apparently there's already 13 entries by individuals artists or groups submitted to the Next Genius MySpace page which I wrote about yesterday. Most of the entries seem to be by Japanese artists. Some are 2D anime, and some seem like full 3D. I wonder if any use Poser or other low cost tools. Some of the 2D entries approach the quality of typical TV animation in Japan. One of the 3D entries, however, offered something quite a bit more impressive.


Entry number 4, called Life, seems to be done in very high quality, full CGI animation. Done by one artist, Toshiaki Yamada, it clearly shows what kind of quality can be achieved today. Unlike other entries, which list software like 3DS Max and Photoshop in the credits, this one doesn't say, but it is very impressive regardless.

Entry number 1 seems to be a very cool rotoscoped piece from Aoi Film. The quality is really up there. It's amazing to see so many artists out there just doing it. This is a clear example of what technology has made possible. I think many of us need to come to the realization that it is not as hard as we often make it. At least it doesn't have to be. There are too many opportunities out there and more than enough markets, when one considers a global scale, that any artist should be able to make money doing what they truly want to do. I think the problem I most encounter is that many artists think they have to compete with Pixar or not do it at all. That's not what the world of animation is all about.

When it comes to indie film, there's evidence out there that the project doesn't even have to be good. I'm not advocating making bad films, but they get distribution all the time. The key is they got done. The question really needs to be, do you want to make films or do you want to deal in hundreds of millions of dollars. These are two very different sand boxes, and two very different ways to get projects made. In reality, we don't need green lights. We just need to begin and finish.

A STROKE OF GENIUS

Eiko Tanaka, who gathered together a wealth of Japanese talents for projects such as The Animatrix, is at it again on the Studio 4C MySpace Page with a new animation contest based on the recent Genius Party, which will see a theatrical release in July. The Genius Party movie contains short anime films by top anime directors like Shoji Kawamori, creatorof Macross Plus, Shinichiro Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop fame, Koji Morimoto of Animatrix: Beyond and Memories: Magnetic Rose and indie directors alike. Want to show you're the next genius to come up in the anime world? Maybe you should consider submitting your work.


Personally, I'm not into this sort of thing. It continues to play to the tired old idea that we need some higher-up's approval to tell us if we "got what it takes" to make anime films. You know, if Henry Ford needed some higher-up's approval, he could have taken Thomas Edison's advice and stopped messing around with that worthless gas engine of his and stayed at his regular job.

The true indie doesn't need a major studio to discover their genius. We don't need to be assimilated into the system by virtue of our own creation. With the advent of services like Custom Flix, we can make what we want to make and get it out to our audiences, right now today, without hesitation and without any major studio telling us what we can or cannot do. I like that road better.

MOVING TOWARD FREEDOM

Apparently, YAMATO Morita, creator of Kakurenbo and the director of the new Katsuhiro Otomo project Freedom, will be speaking at Anime Expo 2007. It's been a pretty nice rise from the day of their independent creation to one of the most talked about projects in the anime world. When I first heard about Kakurenbo, I contacted Shuhei Morita through their YAMATO WORKS website to ask about thew tools they were using. He sent me a few screen grabs of Lightwave 3D in use on the project. They were two months away from completion at the time.


When I saw the first episode of Freedom, I noticed the big YAMATO WORKS credit in the end titles. I was not surprised they worked on it, seeing as they previously created one of the best looking all CGI anime projects around, but I did not know that Shuhei Morita was, in fact, the director. Freedom is 6 episodes in total and the first will see U.S. release in June. The Japanese DVD release of episode 3 is currently #6 on the top ten anime titles list. I will probably continue to import them as I am impatient.

In other news, yesterday a friend of mine turned me on to Custom Flix, a DVD on demand service from the makers of Amazon.com. What they offer service wise is no different than Lulu, but their rates are far more friendly to the end user. While Lulu takes 20% of the revenue remaining over the manufacturing cost, Custom Flix only takes 5% for titles sold through your site or theirs. Their manufacturing costs are also considerably lower. Any independent creator can be up and running with their title for as little as a $15 investment, leaving the creator to focus on promoting and selling their product.

This is really getting to the point where doing it yourself is starting to pale by comparison. Although you can get DVD's made for as little as $1.29 per disc at Discmakers, with a bulk order, you would have inventory to stock and have to handle shipping, customer service and returns yourself or hire another service to do that. It may cost $4.95 per disc on Custom Flix, but you are left free from all that comes after that. Custom Flix also allows you to list your title on Amazon, though for a considerably reduced chunk of the revenue, and have access to one of the largest online markets in the world. Apparently, some of their top users have had considerable success with this.

This makes it well worth considering what road to take when getting your project out there. Obviously, there's nothing stopping the indie creator now. Since many of these services are non-exclusive, it may be that the best road is to do a little of bit of each.

STUCK THE WRONG WAY

Inspiration can come in a lot of ways, but we should be prepared to understand its meaning. Many of my industry peers will tell you that it was the original Star Wars movie in 1977 that inspired them and that's why they are here doing what they do today. That is not the case for me. I was inspired by a syndicated animated series called Robotech. In the days of the Amiga computer, I played with some ideas and scenes involving giant robots, but on the whole, it's not something I really desire to do. Only recently did I find an important lesson here.


Ghost in the Shell is and has always been one of my favorite shows. I like the movies, the TV series, wish I could play the overly difficult game on Playstation, basically I like everything about it. This is why I was quite shocked to learn that I have no real desire to make this kind of show.

When I think of science fiction ideas along these lines, I may visualize them and get excited or think they are cool, but when it comes down to making, the actual doing, of them that excitement, that fire is nowhere to be found. I decided I wanted to find out why. So I did a little exercise to discover the answer.


I once learned an exercise to find your purpose. The method is that you take a piece of paper and on it make two columns. In one column, you write the things you truly enjoy doing (like drawing, playing piano, singing etc.) and in the other column, you write a list of things you enjoy giving to people (like laughter, knowledge about something, material gifts, making them feel good etc.), at first making no attempt to relate the two columns. By putting as much as you can in each column you can then begin making combinations to find what may be a perfect business idea for you. You may find two things from the first column that go with something from the second column and they combine into a million dollar idea!

Anyway, I did a variation on this idea to get to the specifics of what I want to create. I made a list of what I truly enjoy creating or drawing, including what tools I use, and a list of what I want to show or say in my work. As each list got longer, some surprising things things started to become very clear to me. There are many types of movies and shows that I love to watch, but it has no bearing whatsoever on what I want to actually make. In search of the kind of fire and excitement I found creating those things seen in my recent gallery, I found that many things related to the kinds of shows I like to watch did not make the list.

I love watching The X-Files type of supernatural mystery/government conspiracy shows, but I haven't the slightest interest in making them. I love watching science fiction like The Matrix or Blade Runner, but the type of science fiction I want to make is the total outer space adventure. What it comes down to is I want to create the worlds in which my characters live. What's really interesting, though, is the way ideas started flowing once I realized this!

ALWAYS BE SURE TO CHECK

When you get a cool program like Vue 6 Infinite or Poser 7, one thing you want to make sure to do is check everything on the CD. Make a point to spend a session just going through all the extras on the disc and see just how useful they might be. It may have been some time ago that most content included with a program was laughable, but those days are gone. I was at a friend's looking at work he had done in Vue and I saw a cool structure in his image. I asked where he got it and he said it was on the Vue CD. You have to check what's on the CD.


I can't say that I have really checked out the entire Vue 6 Infinite extras CD to see everything that is there. But I did quickly find the pieces necessary to make the above image right on the CD. It took me just a few minutes to throw them in an Eco System and multiply them into this city. That's why you want to be sure to check the CD. You never know what might be on there.


Continuing to play with spectral atmospheres and different combinations of the included pieces, I also did this image. I certainly intend to spend some time this weekend just checking out every single object included on that disc. I will see how good it is and think about where I might be able to use it. Of course that's not the only thing I'll be doing.

I am convinced that Natural Motion Endorphin is a "must have" tool in my production arsenal. It's not for everyone, but the more I play with it, the more I know I can rely on it for some complex action scenes I might previously have shied away from. Now the price of Endorphin does not by any means make it easy for any but the big studios to gain entry to its use. Luckily, they also offer a rental license on a monthly basis for a much lower price. Still not cheap, but for making a high quality feature length product, it would be small potatoes for what might be in the end result.

ENDORPHIN EVERYWHERE

In a bold, though in my view smart, move from Natural Motion, makers of the dynamic motion sythesis software I wrote about two posts ago, the learning edition of Endorphin 2.7 is totally free. This isn't some totally crippled demo of the software. It contains every feature of the original, with no time limit, and even allows you to save your scenes, though in a format or file extension that sets it apart from the normal release. The only caveat is that you cannot export the motion capture data for use in other 3D programs. What they do allow though is thr ability to export movies directly from Endorphin and users everywhere are taking great advantage of this feature. And what is the result?

ENDORPHIN WRESTLING

That's right. Users the world over are downloading Endorphin and using it to create extreme wrestling videos to put on Youtube! You too can see suplex moves done through tables, out of building windows, and all over complex obstacles in a wide variety of extremely funny videos seemingly posted by users who somehow came across this great idea from Natural Motion and started playing.

I think Natural Motion has a brilliant thing going. They are going to hook a ton of people on this tool, which has been relatively unknown, despite its great power, for years. Considering the current price of the software it seems something that can only be founbd in the hands of the major studios. Could they be planning a major overhaul of their business strategy and going wide with this one very soon? The heavy adoption by users, as see in their forums, shows the market for this type of animation is definitely there.

In other news:
If you have been trying to email me lately, even through the contact form, I haven't been getting it. In fact, I haven't gotten any email in almost two days now. There is a problem with my hosting or server currently, and my disk quota keeps getting reset to a number so small, I am using 2000 percent of it. Thus, no new email, no new posts on the site, no nothing. I just got off the phone with support and it seems fixed for the moment, but I suspect it will happen again shortly, as this is the third time support has fixed it for me and so far nothing has changed. After a short time working, it goes back. I'll keep you updated on that situation... well.. if I can post.