Roger

I can think of some things I'd like to see: GPU rendering/acceleration (but I think this has already been noted as being impractical so not going to happen most likely) Support for massively multi-threaded systems (or do we have this already?) Some sort of auto-rigging, at least for humanoid/bipedal characters (probably also a moonshot) How exactly does bullet physics differ from Newton?

Very nice. I could tell that was a fox right away. You've got a very distinctive style, I hope you win.

With commodity hardware that will run these software packages in the range of $500-$1500, I don't see how anyone can still sell a $3500 package in this day and age. Is their support really that much better? I can't imagine that being the case.

I have mixed feelings about Autodesk. 3D Studio 3 was the first actual 3D application I used extensively, and I have some fond memories of that time of my life but AM is going to allow me to finish my film and barring some eventuality where the software was completely unavailable, I'm sticking with it since I'm happy with what I've got. However, Autodesk hasn't lowered their prices in the 20 odd years it has been since I first started fooling with 3D (has it really been that long...yikes) and I don't think they are going to lower their prices, since they've "borged" most of their competition or eliminated them completely. Now that they are the 800 pound gorilla in both the CAD and 3D animation markets, I doubt they will. Who is really left these days? Autodesk (3DS Max, Maya), Lightwave, AM and Cinema 4D? Oh and Blender? I think Softimage got bought out by someone, not sure if that was Autodesk or someone else.

If this ruling wasn't appealed further, it looks like the movie makers won... "Spider-Man" can alter Times Square I think one of the crazier applications of copyright prevents you from photographing a building, as if it were a sculpture that was not in the public domain. That just about make shooting in any modern city nearly impossible without expensive clearances from every property owner. I wonder would this include a virtual copy of a building? Let's say you make a copy of the Empire State building and have a giant hamster climbing it, would that get you in trouble?

Thank you again, haven't had a chance to look at yet, have been running errands/doing chores and job related stuff.

Steve, If you don't mind my asking, what was your electric cost for running your farm?

Yeah, I figure I'd have to do extensive testing with 2 different test systems to get any sort of true picture of their relative performance. Electricity is cheap but with a system that draws a half kilowatt at full load, you're talking about 12 kilowatt hours per day, or about $1.20 per day to run, or roughly $30-$35 per month. I suppose you'd have to have 3 or 4 systems running full-blast all the time like that before it started to get too crazy. I suspect the best bang for the buck would be with Xeon cpus from a generation or two ago. These would be cheap enough that the power would probably end up being more expensive. I know that 6 core Xeon 5670 cpus can be found for about $100 or so, compared to modern 12 core cpus that go for over $1500, you could easily pick up 2 of the older model. I don't think the instruction set could have changed that much in 6 years. You could not say the same about a 486 system from 1993 and a Pentium III from 1999. I can't easily get my hands on a system with a modern 12-core xeon to confirm my suspicions, though. Does anyone out there have one of the new Macs with the 10 or 12 core cpu?

I'm nowhere near ready to render anything for my movie, but I have been trying to figure out what makes the most sense for a renderfarm: raw performance or performance per watt? Hypothetical renderfarm 1: Xeon-based renderfarm with high GHz high-dollar Xeon cpus (say, 4 8-core Xeons on a quad socket motherboard). Total cost: Probably in the range of $3000-$4500 Hypothetical renderfarm 2: Lower performance AMD cpus with a much lower power requirement (the 25w Kabini quad core at 2ghz comes to mind) --- for an equivalent number of cores, you could do 8 motherboards each with one 25w cpu for a total of 200 watts, compared to 500 watts for the Xeon system (minimum). Total cost: maybe $800-$1000 max? I think the Kabini APU/CPU performs somewhere in the neighborhood of a Core i3 on the Intel side, however if the AMD-based rendering farm only costs $20/month to run 24/7 where the Xeon costs closer to $50-$70. My thinking is even if the AMD cpu is 20-30% slower at a given clock rate, that may be offset by the cost savings of being able to run the farm 24/7 at a lower cost. I'm just sort of thinking out loud at this point, as I'm nowhere near the point of being ready for final rendering of any kind, but I'd be interested if there is anyone out there with experience in designing a system solely for rendering what you considered more important: absolute screaming performance, or performance at a more reasonable price/operating cost?

That might be fun to play with but seems like it would be more work than just animating if you were trying to do any sort of film.

I knew Don worked at Disney at one point and I very much liked "Anastasia" and "The Secret of NIMH" I will have to watch the video, looks like good stuff.

I think the pitch reel is up to 4 or 5 minutes *of animation* now (by hitting the various stretch goals that added additional work to the reel) I could have sworn I typed "4 minute". Anyway, I hope they get their funding. If I'm doing the math right, every finished 10 minutes would cost them about million dollars, so they need maybe 10 million to make a feature? Dragon's Lair was a game designed to just eat your quarters. I could never get very far. Usually, I would watch someone else play and then drop in 50 cents or a buck at most. And die within 2 minutes.

Hmmm ok the 500k + is going towards a minute pitch reel. I guess I didn't really expect they would be able to make the whole movie for 500k. I'm getting some nice stuff so I can't complain. Hope they get the rest of their funding.

Dang Rodney, Don may have me eating noodles and tuna this month. I am really tempted by those animation cels.

BTW I felt it was reasonable to post this as it is a completely different animal than AM, and thought that people might want to take advantage if they also do 2D animation.

Anyone that is interested in having a 2D animation program, may want to check this link out: http://digicel.net/SpecialOffer.htm The Lite version is only $20 right now and the Studio version is $89.99. They are offering the educational discount to everyone, I'm not sure how long this will last, so if you're interested you better go grab it now.

JohnL3D, you're going to have to wave at me on the course forums. Haven't seen you yet. I posted a link there to my WIP here, hopefully people find it helpful. My current goal is to complete an animatic by end of this month.

Well I signed up and so far my impression of the course is that it is very much a beginner's "get your feet wet" type course but I still think that the content is of use to more experienced people, if only as a refresher. It is also interesting to see all different perspectives everyone has.

This looks interesting, do the classes meet at a set time or are you just required to view the lectures at your convenience and post an exercise by such-and-such date? I'm thinking about signing up but not sure if this is compatible with my current work schedule.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone Still hoping to complete a passable AM "Christmas card"...looking grim

Sounds interesting. We don't have anything like that in the US. The illustrations on the cards remind me of Alice in Wonderland, for some reason. Are you doing this all your self or with a team/studio?

So which direction are you going with this? Comedy, satire, or true to the title?

Mark, I sent you my crappy mirror selfie, I hope that's going to work for you. Let me know if that will work or if you need a better picture.

My last sighting was rumored to be somewhere in the vicinity of Canton, Ohio. I guess I will have to dig up the manual for my camera and sort out how to do a timed photo. I will have it to you no later than end of the week, Mark.

Mark, I apologize, I have been a completely lazy bastard about it. Part of the problem is I can't get a proper photo of myself with only myself to take it, I either get that ridiculous "selfie" angle, or the bathroom mirror photo. I will have to see if I can figure out how to take a timed photo with either my iPhone or my other camera, or get someone to take it for me.