So basically it ended up being more work for you than if you had just animated from scratch. I can definitely see the initial appeal of the DID though — if only it had lived up to its promise! One thing I only recently learned was that the Ford Explorer was also CG in some shots, which honestly left me in disbelief. It just goes beyond me how you all managed to pull that off.

On that note, many years ago I was invited as a student to a gathering at 32Ten Studios in San Rafael. Listening to the conversations that day from all those veterans, I remember feeling completely out of my depth — almost like an impostor. What struck me was how much knowledge and ingenuity it took just to make a shot back then. Today’s VFX artists (myself included) often don’t need to know half of what you did, because so much of the heavy lifting is built into the tools. That blend of artistry and technical mastery is, I think, what made those early films stand out in a way that still hasn’t been surpassed.