Re: Sami animation project

Paul,

> I just want to get an idea of what people like, what they hate, how
> they have to work around limitations, but also how certain things have
> made things easier for them. Regardless of style and preferences of
> the artists I'm interested in knowing more about how other artists
> work, especially those who are on a linux mailing list.

Maya + RenderMan + Shake seems the most popular toolset.

DreamWorks uses Maya. ILM uses SoftImage|XSI. Sony Pictures Imageworks uses 
Houdini. These are all good tools that make great movies. If there was a 
compelling advantage to a particular tool then studios would adopt it 
predominantly (as has happened with Linux). Many studios use competing tools 
for different tasks or to accommodate an artist's preference.

> PLEs licence doesn't open for any commercial production. I was just
> sighing my regrets for never taking the time to explore Maya and its
> possibilities when it is available for free for exactly that purpose.

Houdini and SoftImage|XSI offer student versions, too. Everybody does, not 
just Maya.

> I'm asking broadly because I want to know more about different tools
> in order to find out which fits our needs better. At the same time
> I've been looking through galleries and videos to find examples of
> styles which are close to what I'm looking for.

That's a good approach. After you've picked your style you can ask about 
tools to produce that style.

> Hehe, I've told the most rabid gearhead of ours, that we shouldn't buy
> anything until we have the finished storyboards. No wasting time on
> "tests" and "experiments".

Tests are absolutely required! Technology development should go forward in 
parallel with story development -- just not ahead of story development. For 
evaluation purposes (at very little cost) you can get more technology than 
you can possibly absorb:  Maya, SoftImage|XSI, Houdini, Blender, RenderMan, 
Mental Ray, Shake, DrQueue, SGE, etc.

Your technology development lab needs to be working in harmony with your 
story people so you come up with a practical plan for the movie you want to 
produce. You may have to change the story for budget considerations.

> At the same time we have to compile a thorough financial plan, which
> needs to have price estimates for the different parts of hardware
> which will be needed for finishing our projects. This needs to be
> based on facts and on quality information....

Running small pilot projects through a development lab provides the facts 
and quality information for a future movie. And for a creative technologist 
like me, it's a lot of fun!

Robin
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www.LinuxMovies.org - Advancing Linux motion picture technology





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