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editor's note Outlook for 2012 By RANDI ALTMAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF raltman@postmagazine.com Threats relating to different aspects of the industry. This industry is changing as I type, but savvy pros are looking ahead and changing with the tides. Here, some of those pros weigh in on what they expect to see for our industry in the year ahead. "It is hard to remain optimistic in a post uni- W verse that seems to be in an unending downward spiral of budgets. That aside, I do see a lot of opportunity in the 'three-screen' home viewing environment that continues to flourish. "On the edit front, by the end of 2012 we should have a concrete view of whether Apple wants to retain the high-end post market, or if they have ceded it to Avid and Adobe. I know one thing for sure, 2012 is going to be a banner year for all those in political advertising." — Terry Cur- ren, owner, AlphaDogs, Burbank. "With the accelerating exodus away from the US by the most prominent facilities (along with most film VFX work), we're very conscious of the threats facing that VFX business model — namely the cost savings that become possible with an international presence. Luma and the remaining US visual effects industry must continue to explore strategies that help us use international POST SCRIPT Luxology reflects on animation business M ountain View, CA's Luxology recently gathered members of the press and a By MARC LOFTUS SENIOR EDITOR mloftus@postmagazine.com hand-full of its Modo users to preview an upcoming release of the animation software, as well as to reflect on the company's upcoming 10th anniversary. The new technology was still under wraps at press time, but Luxology hinted at a release date of early next year. At the event, Brad Peebler, a co-founder with the company, recounted his time travelling the world as a demo artist for NewTek prior to setting up Luxology with Allen Hastings and Stuart Ferguson a decade ago. There are the benefits of perspective and perseverance, said Peebler, looking back on the past 10 years and the company's decision to enter a crowded marketplace of manufacturers offering tools for modeling, animation and ren- dering. "It's a small market and there are so many players in 3D," he notes. "When we set out to establish Luxology, it was with the goal of making 3D easier to create." At the time, and even now, getting up to speed on an ani- 2 Post • December 2011 elcome to our year-end Outlook issue, when we look at the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and cost benefits, while simultaneously fortifying our US-based presence." — Payam Shohadai, presi- dent/CEO, Luma Pictures, Santa Monica "Just as PC gained market share in the '80s and '90s by opening their hardware platform, as mix- ers I think we're probably all hoping that the infrastructure that's developed from the Pro Tools and Euphonix partnership will extend to Neve and Harrison film consoles. "We also have a unique opportunity in our industry as tools continue to be developed to use less of a linear creative process from picture edi- torial to sound editorial to mix. This enables pro- ductions that embrace the advantages of being less linear to involve sound earlier in the process, which can make for a far more creative and pow- erful track." — David Raines & Mark Server, re- recording team, AMC's Hell On Wheels. "We have seen the entry of 'Lab In A Box' sys- tems that will allow our camera crews to get deliverables finished on set before the end of the production day that will be in whatever format necessary for post, with DP and director approved color management indications that will follow those specific images through to the final DI as metadata. That will be the real beginning of the end-to-end, device independent color manage- ment systems." — Steven Poster, ASC. EDITORIAL RANDI ALTMAN Editor-in-Chief (516) 797-0884 raltman@postmagazine.com MARC LOFTUS Senior Editor/Director of Web Content (516) 376-1087 mloftus@postmagazine.com CHRISTINE BUNISH Film& Video RON DICESARE Audio BOB PANK European Correspondent bob.pank@virgin.net DAN RESTUCCIO West Coast Bureau dansweb451@aol.com BARRY GOCH West Coast Blogger/Reporter IAIN BLAIR Film MICHAEL VIGGIANO Art Director mviggiano@postmagazine.com ADVERTISING NATASHA SWORDS VP, Marketing (818) 291-1112 nswords@copcomm.com MARI KOHN Director of Sales (818) 291-1153 cell: (818) 472-1491 mkohn@postmagazine.com GARY RHODES Eastern & Intl Sales Manager (631) 274-9530 cell (516)410-8638 grhodes@copcomm.com CHRIS SALCIDO Account Manager (818) 291-1144 csalcido@copprints.com CUSTOMER SERVICE 620 West Elk Ave, Glendale, CA 91204 csr@postmagazine.com (800) 280 6446 mation application can be overwhelming. When Luxology introduced Modo, Peebler said the goal was "to build application with the highest quality technology, but wrapped in a UI that made it easier to learn and faster to produce high-quality animation." They also built it on a flexible, layered archi- tecture — Nexus — that would allow the company to license layers to other companies, such as Solidworks and Bentley. These initia- tives alone would introduce the technology to 1.3 million customers and would take their focus beyond games and films, where many of its competitors were concentrating. "Our conscious marketing focus has been on computer graphics for advertising and mar- keting," Peebler explained. Here, Modo could be used as an alternative to photography and Photoshop, replacing the camera in a product shoot with realistic CG. The event went on to showcase different Modo users who were doing just that. 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