Why software alone cannot (yet) develop 3D computer animation.

It seems that the time of animators and storyboard artists is coming to an end.

A company called Plotagon has released a software program of the same name that can create 3D computer animations (for example to present a 3D configurator) from a written script. In this the end if many careers pre-programmed?

Will Plotagon replace the work of 3D animations in the future?

While it`s clear that the technology is rapidly improving, including the ability to displace live actors (e.g. in TRON: Legacy) in terms of animation, this has not been the case so far. Yes, CGI has taken on many of the roles that humans once played, but they have also created a number of new positions that require human brains.

Protagonist has a very innovative character. The ability to immediately see a written script animated will be a blessing for scriptwriters, but it`s unlikely to jeopardize the artistic nature of storyboarding and animation. The magazine “Fast company” noted the following.

“We can`t pretend that plotagon movies look much better than a Sims game, but the core competency of actually using this software is incredibly impressive. It helps that scripts are code by nature. They establish a scene.”

So this program is more aimed at writers and gives them the opportunity to see how their script is animated. It`s essentially a tool, not something that will replace professional artists.

The future.

At the most basic level, Plotagon is about improving  the end product, which is a script. Problems can be detected and fixed much earlier with Plotagon. Despite some dificulties, Plotagon could be a valuable tool for animation production in the future.