Networking cartoon and anime re-animates animation industry
But for professional animators, mostly comprised of SME based establishments the necessity for far more powerful tools has long since been felt. Many animated series require a production crew no less impressive than traditional film production. While animation series may be smaller scale - cost wise, their lack of expertise and specialists is not. This has put a tremendous strain on resources, both in terms of software and personnel. As a result, collaboration between these SMEs has had to develop. In this regard, the 3DINCTRAP project developed production tools that would offer animation studios the means through which they could facilitate their collaborative efforts, thereby pooling and utilising their assets. The "CreaToon" tool initially developed to create animations was further enhanced with three particular features that assist in production. The first of these is a real-time feature presenting 2,5D features based on both 2 and 3 dimensional elements. The second feature is one that assists in asset management that constitutes parts of the animation production. The third and final aspect is that of an interactive collaborative tool allowing the joint-real time co-operation on producing animated features. This tool now enhances animation production houses, allowing them for the first time to become competitively based through resource sharing and management. In this manner, small production facilities that could previously only turn out strictly small-time features, can raise their animation caps and aim for full feature productions the likes of which Walt himself could only ever dream of.
