Rumblings of recovery. (editor's note).(TrendWatch survey of studio and facility owners in the visual effects/dynamic media markets)(Industry Overview)

Last month in this space, we found out what top analysts from the worlds of digital content creation and 3D computer graphics had to say about current business conditions and what, if any, promising opportunities they could point us to in their respective fields. This month, we get the latest assessment from another leading researcher, Jim Whittington, founding partner of TrendWatch, which specializes in the visual effects and dynamic media markets. Here's a summary of the results of a major study his firm has just completed:

In a new survey of more than 600 studio and facility owners in the visual effects/dynamic media markets, approximately 84 percent expect business to be as good or better in 2003 than in 2002, 15 percent expect it to be poorer, and just 1 percent expect it to be much worse. This represents a dramatic attitude adjustment since last year. In fact, when asked about conditions in 2002, only 54 percent said business was as good or better than the year before, while 30 percent said it was poorer, and 15 percent said it was much worse.

The most sanguine segment are owners of companies that create and produce Web, interactive, and streaming media, including studios that specialize in designing and producing entertainment Web sites. These businesses do the initial creative, visual effects, animation, post production and most all other aspects of the projects they work on. Whereas only 8 percent of this group thought that business conditions were better last year than the year before, 42 percent say that the climate will improve in fiscal 2003. These optimists attribute their positive outlook to an increasing use of streaming media, a rise in the use of digital content, an expectation on the part of Web users for rich, interactive content, and the perception that B2B and ...