2023: THE STATE OF THE 3D AND DIGITAL INDUSTRY

Welcome to mid-2023, a time when many of us are back in our offices and studios a far cry from three years ago. But what's changed? A little bit of everything...

- LANCE EVANS

For a bit of a marker in time, I had just installed an Nvidia 2070 Super card before the Covid pandemic hit. Now the 4070 series of cards are shipping a full two generations later. But there have been far deeper changes as well. Today we delve into the recent changes to the 3D landscape, and peer into our crystal ball to see what may be next on the horizon.

3D CHALLENGES

Let's start with a basic agreement: 3D is hard. While anybody can sit in front of a painting program, that isn't the case for most 3D. If 2D is like driving a car, 3D is more like piloting a rocket to the moon. It's infinitely more complex, and generally a lot more expensive.

But both entry and production costs for 3D have come way down in recent years, making it far more competitive with 2D options. This industry trend is being largely fueled by both the open and free offerings, and most impactfully on the higher-cost packages.

SO WHERE ARE MY 3D PALS?

If you've been under a rock for more than 15 minutes and now wonder where your go-to 3D tools are today, why don't we try and bring you up to speed.

If you were a customer of Autodesk, some things have changed and others have stayed very much the same. As you'll likely know already, Autodesk put Softimage to rest in 2015, leaving them with both Maya and 3ds Max. The former is focused on the entertainment markets, and the latter caters to industrial and architectural clients.

Each of these applications still has a dominant foothold in their respective markets. While both are still costly software, at £1,968 ($1,875) per year, or £246 ($235) per month, we've seen significant price reductions, along with a steady move towards the subscription model.