3D has now become the norm in cinemas for the most part, but what comes next? The animation industry is already targeting 5D and is increasingly looking at other business areas far away from the cinema.
Last year even Queen Elizabeth was ready: For the first time she could be seen on British television in three dimensions during her Christmas speech, the technology that was once driven primarily by the box-office hit “Avatar” came directly into the English living room. This groundbreaking type of animation, which was so pioneering just a few years ago, is now part of everyday life, as the FMX trade fair in Stuttgart, which runs until Friday, proves. The conference is regarded as one of the most important of its kind in the world, and three-dimensional animation plays only a minor role there.
“The technology has established itself,” says Niels Rinke, head of FMX (Film and Media Exchange). “The next step will now be autostereoscopic projection, a 3D demonstration that I can watch without my glasses. But Rinke doesn’t see the fading 3D trend as hype. “3D was very important to establish digital cinema,” says Rinke. The cinema and animation industries benefited from HD on television and better cinema projections, even for 2D films, because more detailed representations are now possible.
Other experts take a more critical view: “Current 3D versions take up less, the conversion of the screens slows down and ticket prices can hardly be increased”, wrote the analysts from Morgan Stanley in their market report for the fourth quarter of 2012.
Virtual effects in the industry
In terms of the third dimension, another branch of the virtual effects industry has already overtaken the film industry. “It’s almost more exciting in the gaming industry,” says Rinke. “There is not only consumption, but also live production. In addition, the technology can adapt more to the viewer. A 3D cinema film is shot firmly and can no longer be adapted to the individual pair of eyes while watching it, so that a somewhat blurred feeling of vision often develops. With computer and console games, on the other hand, individual calibration is possible, so that the player is more involved in the action through sharper images.
The animation world’s preoccupation with finances and production costs is also changing. Crowdfunding, i.e. financing by many users through calls on the Internet, is becoming increasingly important. The Finnish-Australian-German Nazi satire “Iron Sky” has paid for part of its effects-laden spectacle with several hundred thousand euros in user financing. Such projects are also successful in southwest Germany: according to figures from the financing platform Kickstarter, Black Forest Games from Offenburg has raised more than 140,000 euros for the project “2Giana Sisters: Twisted Dream”, a successor to the 90s hit “Giana Sisters”.
The fact that such alternative financing approaches are possible at all is favoured by another trend, which is also in the motto of the trade fair: “Lean, smart and agile”. Where previously individual computers cost several hundred thousand euros for virtual effects, nowadays only a fraction of the cost is incurred for software and hardware. Result: Market entry will be easier, smaller independent companies will emerge. “The market is democratizing,” says Rinke.
Foreseeing the future in cinema
Such revenues could then be used to pay for production technology that is already on the horizon for the time after 3D. “More and more work is being done on 5D,” says Rinke, referring to other sensory experiences in the cinema, such as smells or movable seats. The aim here is also to involve the audience to a greater extent, including during music or sports performances. “If you don’t go to the cinema for a film, then perhaps for such a quasi live event,” Rinke looks to the future.
Finances and production in animation world
The animation world’s occupation with finances and production costs is also changing. Crowdfunding, i.e. financing by many users through calls on the Internet, is becoming increasingly important. The Finnish-Australian-German Nazi satire “Iron Sky” had paid for part of its effects-laden spectacle with several hundred thousand euros in user financing. Such projects are also successful in southwest Germany: according to figures from the financing platform Kickstarter, Black Forest Games from Offenburg has raised more than 140,000 euros for the project “Giana Sisters: Twisted Dream”, a successor to the 90s hit “Giana Sisters”.
The fact that such alternative financing approaches are possible at all is favoured by another trend, which is also in the motto of the fair: “Lean, smart and agile”. Where individual computers used to cost several hundred thousand euros for virtual effects, nowadays only a fraction of the cost is incurred for software and hardware. Result: Market entry will be easier, smaller independent companies will emerge. “The market is democratizing,” says Rinke.