Comments on: Thought Of The Day… http://www.ultraist.net/journal/2006/11/29/thought-of-the-day/ thoughts, musings and other rambling… Thu, 08 Dec 2011 06:40:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: M Kitchen http://www.ultraist.net/journal/2006/11/29/thought-of-the-day/comment-page-1/#comment-110 M Kitchen Fri, 01 Dec 2006 19:02:32 +0000 http://www.ultraist.net/journal/2006/11/29/thought-of-the-day/#comment-110 Harsh assessment? Hardly. When I started in this CG game there was the seduction of the rock-and-roll lifestyle. The idea was to follow in the footsteps of the special-effects greats. CG animation was state of the art. The cutting edge of animation. Flown all over the world to set keyframes on big feature flicks. The promise of cash to start and feed my family, plus the thrill of seeing my name projected on the big screen. That lasted for a few years. But over time... The whole CG industry has hit a glut. There is a beat-down going on, attempting to turn this animation into another slave-wage trade. The "art" is in a steady decline. Anyone with a home PC can set keyframes. Pay has been steadily decreasing over the years. At this point the cash is barely enough to break even with the cost of living. And for what? 10 hours a day staring at a screen, clicking buttons, making animated magic for some empty and hollow over-managed CG glut. A cog in the studio production machine. There is no thrill in it anymore. Look at the shit being produced; less than inspiring. Nothing to take pride in being a part of. The only step up the ladder is to sacrifice personal life and play middle management between the artists and executives. No thanks. 10 years later, what is there to show for it? A couple minutes of animation in some mediocre flicks. It has paid the bills and put food on the table, but at this point in life, that isn't enough. I thought my art skills would improve over the years... I was wrong. My traditional art skills plateaued, then got rusty. After 10 years I should be at the top of my game. Instead I'm struggling to play catch-up. Fuck. There's gotta be more to life than this. The 7:43 to 7:30 is crushing me down. My mind is a bomb that's ready to blow. This comic has to break out or I'm apt to just lose it. This isn't a life. I'm getting too old now to sit around and wait for the right time. Mid-life crisis, here I come. I gotta get out of this industry. 2007. I'm done. Stay tuned for SPY GUY #1 to read the complete Ultraist Manifesto. Harsh assessment? Hardly.

When I started in this CG game there was the seduction of the rock-and-roll lifestyle.
The idea was to follow in the footsteps of the special-effects greats.

CG animation was state of the art. The cutting edge of animation. Flown all over the world to set keyframes on big feature flicks. The promise of cash to start and feed my family, plus the thrill of seeing my name projected on the big screen. That lasted for a few years.

But over time…

The whole CG industry has hit a glut. There is a beat-down going on, attempting to turn this animation into another slave-wage trade. The “art” is in a steady decline. Anyone with a home PC can set keyframes. Pay has been steadily decreasing over the years. At this point the cash is barely enough to break even with the cost of living.

And for what?

10 hours a day staring at a screen, clicking buttons, making animated magic for some empty and hollow over-managed CG glut. A cog in the studio production machine. There is no thrill in it anymore. Look at the shit being produced; less than inspiring. Nothing to take pride in being a part of. The only step up the ladder is to sacrifice personal life and play middle management between the artists and executives. No thanks.

10 years later, what is there to show for it?
A couple minutes of animation in some mediocre flicks.
It has paid the bills and put food on the table, but at this point in life, that isn’t enough.
I thought my art skills would improve over the years… I was wrong.
My traditional art skills plateaued, then got rusty.
After 10 years I should be at the top of my game.
Instead I’m struggling to play catch-up.

Fuck. There’s gotta be more to life than this.
The 7:43 to 7:30 is crushing me down.
My mind is a bomb that’s ready to blow.
This comic has to break out or I’m apt to just lose it.
This isn’t a life.

I’m getting too old now to sit around and wait for the right time.
Mid-life crisis, here I come.
I gotta get out of this industry.
2007. I’m done.

Stay tuned for SPY GUY #1 to read the complete Ultraist Manifesto.

]]> By: Matt Campbell http://www.ultraist.net/journal/2006/11/29/thought-of-the-day/comment-page-1/#comment-109 Matt Campbell Wed, 29 Nov 2006 22:43:32 +0000 http://www.ultraist.net/journal/2006/11/29/thought-of-the-day/#comment-109 Ouch - harsh assesment of your life. In other news, reading that post wasted 30 seconds of my life that I'll never get back, thanks. Ouch – harsh assesment of your life.

In other news, reading that post wasted 30 seconds of my life that I’ll never get back, thanks.

]]> By: blair kitchen http://www.ultraist.net/journal/2006/11/29/thought-of-the-day/comment-page-1/#comment-108 blair kitchen Wed, 29 Nov 2006 22:38:02 +0000 http://www.ultraist.net/journal/2006/11/29/thought-of-the-day/#comment-108 P.s. ......slacker! P.s. ……slacker!

]]> By: blair kitchen http://www.ultraist.net/journal/2006/11/29/thought-of-the-day/comment-page-1/#comment-107 blair kitchen Wed, 29 Nov 2006 22:37:28 +0000 http://www.ultraist.net/journal/2006/11/29/thought-of-the-day/#comment-107 But just think of all the money... I look forward to the autobiographical story, but it will never get done, because you have too much computer animation to do. Now get back to work. But just think of all the money…
I look forward to the autobiographical story, but it will never get done, because you have too much computer animation to do.

Now get back to work.

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