Machines Don't Cry Support

Making independent films can be a very expensive craft turning film makers into money solicitors. There are many private and public resources to apply for film grants and capital. There are so many books and courses on how to obtain funding. Some film makers just gamble their own money away or take on lots of credit card debt. Failure is devastating but there a few that succeed. Kevin Smith's "Clerks" cost over $27K to make, not counting post-production. He used 10 credit cards but it paid off for him and his crew. But even $27K is beyond the reach of many people thinking about making movies for the public.

Computer Animation can be cheaper and faster to produced thanks to the hardware and software of today. But this too can be expensive. Yes, there are free Machinima tools out there but there are legal limitations. For example, the Machinima film maker may be using computer software from a big corporation. The film maker may not be able to legally profit from using the company's software unless there is some type of agreement. This agreement could be expensive.

Most of the animation from Machines Don't Cry was done through Dakine Wave's VirtualStage. For the Robot Space Trooper clips, it was e-onsoftware's Vue d'Esprit.

Although I paid less than $50 for VirtualStage that was not like the typical Machinima (where you would capture video from a gaming environment) or 3d rendering software (like 3d Studio Max) I still had to pay alot of money for supporting tools and computer upgrades.

The work to do computer animation is taxing for one man with a 9 to 5 job and a big family. It is better to create projects with a team or production company full time with a budget already provided.

The reason for donations is to fund future film projects and man (and woman) power to drive the projects. It is possible to get volunteers but if I can pay for the people with the skills required to create animated works the chances of the film's success will be greater.

Here are examples of the approximate retail cost (without tax) of some popular computer 3d software/tools:

3d Animation

Autodesk AutoCAD                 $4000
Autodesk Motion Builder        $4100
Maxxon Cinema 4D                   $700
Caligari TrueSpace                   $600
e-onsoftware Vue Infinitie         $579
Eovia Carrara                              $549
Pixologic Zbrush                        $500
Hash Animation Master            $300
e-onsoftware Vue d'Esprit        $250

2d Paint/Digital Imaging

Adobe Photoshop                      $650

The following support software can range from free to a few hundreds of dollars:

3D Modeling

e-frontier Poser                          $249
anim8or                                        free

Texture Mapping Tools
Special Effects
Polygon Reducers
Renderers
Motion Capture
Video Editors

Computer Hardware is needed and the more powerful it is the better for rendering animation and graphics. It can range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand. If you are the only person working on a project, it helps to have multiple computers. Some animation renders can take a few seconds, hours, days, or weeks. You'll need to work on another computer since a very long rendering task will likely prevent you from using the computer you used for rendering.   If you have multiple computers you might be required to pay licenses to have copies of the same operating system and software applications on different machines.

The cost of Machinima will vary depending on the game engine, modding software, software environment, support tools, hardware, etc. You may have to pay additional for commercial use of the game engine or similar tool.

Computer Animator Salary
The salary can vary depending on the project, freelance, location, experience, and bonuses. The average animator annual salary coming from labor sites on the web reports average salary of $40K. Some exceptional animators with many years of experience can make six-figures.

Music/Sound Effects
If you, your friends, or volunteers can make music for your project, you can avoid the cost for paying royalties of muscians or copywrited music.

Actors/Voice Actors
If you find free ways to provide voice dubbing for your project you can avoid their costs which depends on union or non-union membership, the media type, and the length of the finished project.

The list goes on and on for funding the following:

Computer Animation education. The tools can be very complex and could take a lifetime   to master. (Think I'm kidding? Here's one of an infinite number of examples. Without using special tools, try making conforming and dynamic clothing for Poser 3d models. Now try making the clothing fit for different size models and different version Poser models. How about making the clothing fit for non-Poser models?) The cost for learning the tools can be expensive not only in terms of money but for time as well.

Writers
Animators
Artists
Storyboard Illustrators
Post production
Promotion/Marketing
Mass media production
Movie distribution
Time and travel to Film Festivals

Contributions will go a long way. With more powerful hardware and software, a co-hesive and talented team, or all the above, more film projects can be produced with speed and better quality.