Why do special effects and CGI cost so much money?
It's not just a program. It's the team of people needed to use those programs. Within the CG world, people tend to specialize.
The Short Answer
It's not just a program. It's the team of people needed to use those programs. Within the CG world, people tend to specialize. There are modelers, animators, texture and lighting people, compositors who put effects into footage, and so on. Each of those elements is hugely difficult and typically requires years of training to get to a professional level. Each of those people is a professional who receives a professional's salary for their expertise at what they do, and the long-ass hours they put in to do it. Plus, CG effects take a lot of processing power to properly render; you're looking at a lot of hardware, including huge render farms filled with computers tasked with taking those professionals' raw output and rendering it out as movie frames. There's a lot going on behind the effects you see in movies, even the short or simple ones that you don't even really notice. Source: SO is a 3D modeler. That shit's hard.
Analysis
Key Concepts: People, effects, it's
This explanation focuses on people, effects, it's and spans 161 words across 10 sentences. At 124% above the average Society explanation (72 words), this is one of the more thorough answers in this category, reflecting the complexity of the underlying question.
What This Answer Covers
The explanation opens with: “It's not just a program.” It then elaboratesultimately building toward a complete picture across 10 connected points.
How This Compares in Society
Ranked #21 of 500 Society questions by answer depth (top 5%). This places it in the comprehensive tier — the top quarter of most thoroughly answered questions. Questions at this depth typically involve multi-faceted topics requiring nuanced explanation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a simple explanation for why special effects and cgi cost so much money?
It's not just a program. It's the team of people needed to use those programs. Within the CG world, people tend to specialize. There are modelers, animators, texture and lighting people, compositors who put effects into footage, and so on. Each of…
How detailed is this explanation compared to similar Society questions?
This is one of the most thorough answer at 161 words, ranked #21 of 500 Society questions by depth. The key concepts covered are people, effects, it's.
What approach does this answer take to explain special effects and cgi cost so much money?
The explanation uses direct explanation across 161 words. It is categorized under Society and addresses the question through 1 analytical lens.