It's mostly not interactive; it's not necessarily long-form; and it's
largely not 3D. On the other hand, it is here today, and it's
popular, and a lot of money (and big-name talent) is being thrown at
it. See
http://www.usatoday.com/life/lds048.htm
for an article about various companies that are creating animated
content on the Web. Apparently most of 'em are using Flash (one
advantage of which is the near-ubiquity of the player software).
I think most of us here agree that the content is more important than
any particular data format. Are any of you doing work in Flash or
other non-VRML formats? Have you found any format particularly
well-suited to *interactive* stories? Have any of you tried any of
the non-VRML approaches to 3D (for storytelling, I mean, rather than
pretty objects or e-commerce)?
I've looked at some of the Flash cartoons out there, and so far I
haven't been impressed -- the art mostly *looks* fine (though still
nothing to write home about), but the stories are mostly just bad.
Is that a natural consequence of Sturgeon's Law and/or growing pains
of a new medium? Are the good storytellers just hard to find among
the chaff? Or are they biding their time, waiting for a better
medium/format?
As usual, I have more questions than answers. Would be interested to
hear people's thoughts about these topics.
--jed
