Imagine the hundreds of people that a computer graphics animated feature requires.(Think: Pixar or a VFX heavy superhero blockbuster.)
Now imagine the entire undertaking of these projects being done by a handful of people. Instead of a pipeline of specialized workers, this handful of people are unique multi-talented “librarians.” Like DJ’s who sample electronic music, animated storytelling will mix streams of data, creating visualizations for a variety of new platforms.
Hypothesis:
Computer Graphics Production – as it exists in the movie business – will be disrupted by peer based, real time networks.
Increasingly, collectives of creative developers are sharing new ideas, code and work flows. By sharing powerful tools and know-how, communities are growing at a pace that will soon outperform the quality and market need of closed systems. Essentially, the open networks will outperform the closed companies. The advances of these creative networks will make the computer graphics artists that work within it, mind-boggling, productive.
Most interesting to me, is that visualizations might not be rendered on a centralized farm of computers, but by an infinitely scalable, distributed network. The libraries, the labor and the processing power will be shared by all who participate. The more who join in, the more powerful the network will become.
This is enormously exciting for the art form. The way Youtube empowered content creators, and Instagram made everyone a photographer, new networked technologies will democratize and enhance the animation storytelling process for anyone with an internet connection. Admittedly, it is also threatening to those who exist in the industry today.
This is what my research and writing has been focused on for the last year. I’ve spent this time exploring engines and new workflows, playing with ways to develop content, and then writing my thoughts over and over. I want to understand this evolution.
The best way for me to internalize my learning is to write about it, teach it, and share it. And so, it is my hope that the self imposed pressure of a weekly newsletter will keep me diligent on these explorations.
Every week, I will write a new post discussing my thoughts on technology like game engines, distributed networks, machine learning, agile storytelling, but most importantly, the evolution of the networked artist.
If you are a computer graphics artist, producer, student, or thinker, I welcome you to subscribe and join in. If you feel this is useful, please pass it on to others who you feel it will be useful to.
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