Usability Views Article Details  home | timeline | recent | popular | e-reports | userati | books | about  Graphically Speaking: Thoughts on the State of 3D CG in Film and Video (19 May 2005) Far more than a lack of dollars or technology, I believe that it’s the lack of vision within our industry that has brought us to this place. We just got complacent and lazy, which is ironic, given that we provide tools for, and work with, some of the most imaginative and creative minds in the world. Too bad more of it didn’t rub off on us. Am I being unfair? I think not. Let me put the question to the test. Consider your answer to the following: In 3D CG for film and video, do we do things the way that we do them today because it’s the correct way, or because it’s the only way that we knew how, and was technically feasible, in the 1980s when we started? For me (and I suspect, with today’s eyes, to anyone technically literate and familiar with filmmaking and animation), the answer is obvious and clearly the latter. Yet, virtually all products from the major companies implicitly support the former. Why? Because, despite being only about 20 years old, our industry (like many others) is rooted in the inertia of the status quo. Our focus is on the proverbial buggy whip, despite the obvious emergence of the internal combustion engine. Not only is there a better way conceptually, the technical and economic fundamentals that make such an approach viable are in place—as could have (and perhaps should have) been recognized much earlier. Sadly, however, whether for technical, economic, or cultural reasons, none of the major players seem to have shown themselves capable of changing their approach to take advantage of this potential or vision. Article URL: http://www.billbuxton.com/IEEE3DCG.pdf Read 112 more articles from Bill Buxton sorted by date, popularity, or title. Next Article: Reflections on Challenges to the Goal of Invisible Computing     This site is a labour of love built by Chris McEvoy