Chapter 346: Maya
Chapter 346: Maya
Cameron was familiar with rendering software. Simply put, the purpose of this kind of software was to perform complex calculations on primitive computer-generated images in areas such as lighting, materials, and color, making the image effects appear more realistic and believable, even reaching the point where real and fake became indistinguishable.
The special effects company handling The Abyss, Industrial Light & Magic, was currently using the RenderMan rendering software developed by Ed Catmull.
Back when Ed Catmull was still at Industrial Light & Magic, George Lucas had very foresightedly purchased the permanent usage rights to the software. After Jobs acquired Industrial Light & Magic’s animation division and established Pixar, Ed Catmull brought the software into Pixar in exchange for a certain amount of equity. However, as Jobs continuously injected funds into the loss-making Pixar, the shares held by several Pixar executives were ultimately reclaimed by Jobs, and the RenderMan software also became Pixar’s property.
When Eric had originally wanted to acquire Pixar from Steve Jobs, Jobs had even attempted to separate the RenderMan software from Pixar’s asset list. He ultimately failed, which clearly demonstrated the software’s value.
After reading through the development proposal for the fluid simulation software and learning the general situation regarding the RenderMan rendering software, Cameron immediately developed a strong interest in the 3D modeling software Eric had mentioned earlier.
From Eric’s previous words, Cameron had keenly sensed that the 3D modeling software was the true core of the entire plan.
“The San Francisco side still hasn’t finalized a detailed proposal yet. Originally, I planned to commission Autodesk to develop the software, but we couldn’t come to an agreement regarding software ownership, so in the end we could only do it ourselves,” Eric explained with a shrug in response to Cameron’s curiosity.
“Autodesk?” Cameron asked in confusion.
“The company that developed the famous CAD industrial design software,” Eric explained further.
Based on memories from his previous life, the major 3D animation design software programs such as Maya, 3ds Max, and Softimage would all eventually become Autodesk products. Autodesk had practically monopolized this category of visual effects software.
However, even if history proceeded unchanged, that would still happen more than ten years later.
At present, Autodesk was still focused entirely on the development and operation of CAD industrial design software.
Because computer-generated visual effects had only just begun emerging, Autodesk had absolutely no interest in developing 3D animation software for film visual effects. They believed that software with such highly specialized professional applications had very little commercial future.
The reason Eric had wanted to commission Autodesk was mainly because the company already possessed nearly ten years of technical accumulation in 3D design software development, which could greatly shorten the development time for the 3D modeling software.
However, although Autodesk had little interest in this type of software, they still wanted to share ownership rights with Eric. In the end, the two sides failed to reach an agreement, and Eric could only organize a development team himself.
Only after Eric mentioned CAD did Cameron finally remember the company. After asking a long string of detailed questions, Cameron finally asked, “Eric, how much are you planning to invest in all these projects? I imagine it’s going to cost an enormous amount.”
“The development of the fluid simulation software and the optimization of RenderMan won’t require too much money. Thirty million dollars will already be enough. The main focus is still Maya. That software will require continuous investment. But I believe it will definitely bring me sufficient returns in the future.”
“Maya? You mean the name of the 3D modeling software you mentioned? I didn’t expect you to be interested in the mysterious Maya civilization.”
Eric explained, “The Maya here doesn’t refer to the Mayan civilization in South America. It’s actually the pronunciation of an ancient Indian term meaning ‘illusion’ or ‘dream fantasy.’”
“That name is… surprisingly fitting,” Cameron said with a smile.
“Of course. Actually, 3D modeling is only Maya’s most basic function. In my plans, it will gradually gain functions for 3D animation, simulation, visual effects, and more. It will also interface with the RenderMan rendering software to form a complete visual effects production pipeline.”
Eric spoke confidently and fluently.
Of course, this was merely his ambition on the technical side.
The reason so many mainstream and non-mainstream visual effects software programs had appeared in Eric’s previous life was mainly because during the first decade of the rise of computer-generated effects, most major software giants did not think highly of the commercial prospects of such software. Many established visual effects companies had been forced to conduct their own development.
By the time the major software companies realized the enormous commercial value of visual effects software, the market had already become flooded with all kinds of competing products, making monopoly virtually impossible.
But now, Eric had moved much earlier than everyone else.
Moreover, he had no intention of keeping Maya exclusive to Digital Domain. Instead, after the software matured and while ensuring Digital Domain maintained an absolute technological lead, he planned to gradually introduce the software to the market.
He believed that when a mature visual effects software package already existed, very few visual effects companies would still be willing to independently develop their own systems.
And this was only the first step.
As Digital Domain developed and Maya spread throughout the industry, many visual effects solutions and plugins would gradually begin developing based on Maya, just as countless applications in later generations would be developed around the Windows operating system, ultimately forming an extremely powerful ecosystem lock-in effect.
By that point, even if software giants wanted to enter the field, Maya’s status within the visual effects industry would already be equivalent to Windows within operating systems.
Even companies with money, technology, and resources would only be able to stare helplessly at this multi-billion-dollar market.
Women always took much longer to get ready.
After returning from the tennis court, Eric had spent only around ten minutes showering and changing clothes, whereas Famke Janssen took over half an hour before entering the study carrying a pot of coffee.
She had already changed out of the hot crop top and shorts she wore earlier. Now she wore a simple white T-shirt and loose khaki casual pants. Her hair still carried a slight trace of dampness, and she wore light makeup on her face.
“Mr. Cameron, Ms. Bigelow, would you like some coffee?” Famke Janssen asked while pouring coffee.
Kathryn Bigelow, who had originally been standing by the wall admiring Eric’s storyboard sketches, turned around with a smile and nodded. She even walked over to help.
Meanwhile, Cameron, who had earlier been dazzled by Famke’s beauty, had now completely lost interest in female attractiveness. He enthusiastically discussed the disaster film franchise’s special effects problems with Eric. Upon hearing Famke’s question, he merely nodded slightly without even turning his gaze toward her.
“Miss Janssen, please don’t mind him. Jim is always like this. Once he becomes focused on something, he ignores everything else,” Kathryn Bigelow apologized after noticing Cameron completely ignoring Famke.
Famke Janssen handed the two cups of coffee to Cameron and Eric, then returned to sit beside the sofa before saying, “It’s nothing. Actually, Eric sometimes acts the same way. One time I saw him pacing back and forth by the window with a frown, so I went over to ask what was wrong. But Eric reacted as though he’d been startled awake and became very angry, saying I had scared away his inspiration.”
After Famke Janssen finished speaking, the two women exchanged a glance and simultaneously felt a strange sense of shared suffering.
Perhaps because of that, the two women quickly became friendly with one another and even began calling each other by nicknames.