Digital future-proofing. (editor's note).(Editorial)

Walk around any of our industry shows, and you're almost certain to walk away thinking that the digital video revolution is ancient history--that virtually all visual effects artists and animators are busy receiving, sending, and producing all-digital video files, and that they're performing their work on all-digital production pipelines with nth-generation digital video tools. Well, according to a new TrendWatch survey of the visual effects and dynamic media industry, titled "Media in Transition: Format Wars of the 21st Century," that notion would be only half true.

"Though this industry tends to be at the cutting edge, traditional formats are still very much entrenched," says TrendWatch partner Jim Whittington. For instance, he says, contrary to popular belief, and despite the production and distribution benefits of working with digital video, analog video is the most widely used format in effects and animation studios, which are at the most technically advanced end of the user spectrum.

In fact, when working with partners or clients, nearly 80 percent of effects and animation studios say they receive work in analog video format, while less than 60 percent receive digital video. When it comes to sharing their own video work with others, the picture is somewhat brighter in that about half the studios report that they send out analog video files, whereas the other half say they send video in digital format. The most promising trend is that for internal production work, animation and effects studios now use digital video more often than analog video. Indeed, more than half (56 percent) report that they use digital video, while just 36 percent say that they use analog as their primary video production format.

It's clear that animation and effects studios are making the transition to digital video, but they have only reached the ...