by Robin Rowe 11/23/05
The FossMovieProject was launched on November 23, 2005, when filmmaker Christian Einfeldt asked LinuxMovies.org founder Robin Rowe what the best approach to achieving the goal of a 100% open source film would be. Warned that it would be hard, Einfeldt said he didn't mind, that he was ready to try. This website chronicles that effort.
Practically all feature films produced today that use animation or visual effects are Linux-based. It often surprises people outside the film industry that there's nothing remarkable about Linux being used to produce movies, that it's the normal O.S. found on studio desktops and renderfarms. Linux represents perhaps 95% of feature animation and visual effects systems. Windows and Macintosh are niche platforms at studios such as Disney, DreamWorks? and ILM. Having learned that, people are further surprised that (with the exception of CinePaint) the tools used on Linux for feature filmmaking are proprietary. It's closed tools running on an open platform.
There are Free Open Source Software (FOSS) tools for filmmakers, but their commercial counterparts have had more time and resources put into their development. Still, FOSS tools continue to improve.
Practically all major films in theaters today used some FOSS (that is, Linux) during production. The question is, what will be the first significant film to be 100% FOSS-based? The goal of the FossMovieProject is to create that achievement. Further, it is to guide others on the path and document the obstacles overcome.
- FOSS Movie Software Robin Rowe 11/23/05
- FOSS Movie Hardware Christian Einfeldt 12/12/05