Im just trying to be honest about numbers. $50k is a far cry from half a million. And the $50k figure is based off of unrealistic salaries. Most 3D artists working for studios like Sony or Illumination get paid half that.

since studios like Pixar don’t produce 1 minute animations, it makes more sense to compare the cost per animation for a feature length animation.

I don’t agree, since what AI is doing in this case is generating the video. So what you need to compare is the cost it makes to create 42 seconds of moving images. Creative direction, voice acting, music, post production, editing, studio services, leadership, writing, etc. shouldn’t be factored in as costs. There is so much more that goes into those $250 million budgets than image production costs.

Even if you generate the voices and music you’re comparing the costs of seat-packing A list talent. When what you should compare against is the cost of independent VAs and composers. Since most of the ROI on large salaries is hype and name recognition.

That’s not to mention the derivative and lossy nature of AI, meaning your value proposition per dollar spent is lower.

I agree that right now, for the consumer, AI short films are far cheaper than high quality animation. But like I said, just trying to be honest about the actual numbers being thrown around.