I can understand why CGI is currently and becoming more and more popular. After the likes of Toy Story being such a monumental hit and the relatively cheap cost of doing CGI (Computers are becoming more and more powerful, yet cheaper and cheaper. Processing power on most computer nowadays enable anyway to animate and render a somewhat decent CGI animation).
I found an interesting "Report" on the impact and the future of CGI in animation (Although it was written in 2002 he was right about a few things) in 8 years computer power vs cost has drastically lowered letting any newcomer animator to the world of cg to successfully use 3DStudio Max and Maya (Among others) I guess in turn this gives animators a head-start in the world of cg, and they bring it forward into their work.
An interesting quote i read was;
"The barrier to entry has gotten so low that it is feasible to create a studio that is under the radar of traditional Hollywood - and therein lies one of the secrets to their success - low overhead, reasonably paid animators, and a passion to deliver high-end product, for low end prices. As more companies begin to specialise, it is not out of the realm of reason to see shops offering Cloth, Hair and Dynamics effects that cannot be completed anywhere else."
,Mark Sylvester
It's a pretty accurate prediction if we compare it to 8 years after the report was written. It's about the cost really.
Another link i found (The first being an accurate study and prediction, the 2nd being a more opinion based but still an interesting read).
An intresting point the person made was that " The problem I have with CGI is that because it has become (relatively) inexpensive, other small companies are abandoning hand-drawn animation and while CGI may be more cost-effective, it’s still expensive nonetheless and since the indy companies don’t have huge budgets, the productions they release like; Donkey Xote, Impy’s Island and Farm Kids look shockingly bad".
Wasn't worded quite as eloquently as the previous report but it's a strong opinion and one that i agree with. Once in a blue moon a none CG animation will slip into cinema listings. The like of "Coraline" and "Fantastic Mr Fox" were incredibly good, but i have my sneaking suspicions that cg was implemented in some if not most of these 2 films. It's in expensive it's usually of high quality and doesn't seem out of place (but you can still tell).
In all seriousness i was looking for a counter arguement to the CGI is overused statement but i seriously couldn't find anything. Everyone is all fine and dandy when it comes to slating CGI there are 10's of 100's of blogs/pages stating their opinions on the matter.
When looking for a positive look on the other hand i couldn't seem to find one. I'm not saying in anyway that everyone agrees with me as i know people love CGI for the most part (as do i in some cases) but i feel it shouldn't take over everything mainly childrens cartoons (As stop motion did for a while) Although Stop motion is a different beast because it's still "Surreal" to some extent, where as CGI animation is often used for the "Realistic" touch. I remember the whole idea of Pixar making "Hair" look realistic for the Monsters inc film, yes it looked absolutely gorgeous BUT attempting to do that on stopmotion wouldn't work, so they had to find ways around it. With the likes of Pingu,Morph,Noddy,Postman pat, Oakie Doke, Bob the builder, fireman sam and lots more stop motion is (i feel) a kind of surreal and excentric animation format. And of course my favourite...The one...The only...The Trap Door!
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