easyrider
Photo addict
Not a strictly RFF topic but a sort of warning about your kid should become a computer geek instead of a photographer.
This is what IKEA is doing (from the Wall Street Journal
Computer-Generated Images Aim to Save Money on Marketing Costs as Photographers Are Retrained to Apply Skills to 3-D Scenes
LMHULT, Sweden—That couch catching your eye in the 2013 edition of IKEA's new catalog may not be a couch at all.
It is likely the entire living room was created by a graphic artist. In fact, much of the furniture and settings in the 324-page catalog are simply a collection of pixels and polygons arranged on a computer.
The Swedish furniture giant has for decades spent more than two-thirds of its marketing budget building and furnishing living quarters, which are typically portrayed with a sparse, fastidious fashion sensibility and lighted with impeccable precision.
But the privately-held company's quest to curb costs and boost productivity has it mothballing some of this real-world production. It is instead turning to 3-D graphics to fill its pages. . . .
Putting together a catalog is a massive task, taking about 10 months from concept to finished product. Until late in the last decade IKEA relied entirely on its sprawling photo studio here. The studio is one of the largest in Europe, covering 94,000 square feet—about a third the size of an IKEA store—and employs 285 photographers, carpenters, interior designers and other people working full time on photo shoots. . . . .
IKEA's 3-D team is housed in the same building. Faced with a shortage of people capable of doing this work, the company is collaborating with photo schools to teach computer design skills. It is also retraining photographers to better create a scene without a camera.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444508504577595414031195148.html
This is what IKEA is doing (from the Wall Street Journal
Computer-Generated Images Aim to Save Money on Marketing Costs as Photographers Are Retrained to Apply Skills to 3-D Scenes
LMHULT, Sweden—That couch catching your eye in the 2013 edition of IKEA's new catalog may not be a couch at all.
It is likely the entire living room was created by a graphic artist. In fact, much of the furniture and settings in the 324-page catalog are simply a collection of pixels and polygons arranged on a computer.
The Swedish furniture giant has for decades spent more than two-thirds of its marketing budget building and furnishing living quarters, which are typically portrayed with a sparse, fastidious fashion sensibility and lighted with impeccable precision.
But the privately-held company's quest to curb costs and boost productivity has it mothballing some of this real-world production. It is instead turning to 3-D graphics to fill its pages. . . .
Putting together a catalog is a massive task, taking about 10 months from concept to finished product. Until late in the last decade IKEA relied entirely on its sprawling photo studio here. The studio is one of the largest in Europe, covering 94,000 square feet—about a third the size of an IKEA store—and employs 285 photographers, carpenters, interior designers and other people working full time on photo shoots. . . . .
IKEA's 3-D team is housed in the same building. Faced with a shortage of people capable of doing this work, the company is collaborating with photo schools to teach computer design skills. It is also retraining photographers to better create a scene without a camera.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444508504577595414031195148.html
