I watched XMen Future (or whatever it’s called) in 3D last night. It’s only the second time I’ve watched a 3D movie – I don’t get out much – it was amazing. I have always pooh-poohed 3D. No more. Gone are the majority of gimmicks of things flying out the screen which tend to be annoying. However, for me, the sense of human movement on the screen was superb, sometimes even tender (Jeff at CNET disagrees with me, but what does he know?). There’s a bit where Wolverine hit someone with a frying pan that was a bit lame but mostly I was really impressed.

Anyway, that is not the point of the post. The film has a rubbish extra bit afterwards, so I watched the credits. I was struck by how many digital artists there are: dozens and then some more. So, I just looked it up on IMDB and there are more than 500 (I stopped counting when I got to 500) visual effects people credited. More than 500! Now, I am aware that visual effects and digital artists are not the same role, but still. So, if you’re faced with a student wondering what career to choose, or saying they want to create computer graphics for a living, encourage them. Every time. Tell them there is a future for them. Tell them it is in reach and worth pursuing.

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