There is a rule of production: "Good, Fast and Cheap; you get to pick two, because it won't be the third one". I have been a subcontractor of the Guerrilla Wanderers, an LA production company currently working out of the New Jersey/New York area. They hired me to do some animation and 3D work. I was very excited to be a part of this project and to work with the Guerrilla Wanderers. I had seen their work before, and had previously been tempted by another job with them.
In my years of working in Visual Effects I have often been faced with the "Fix it in Post" challenges presented by many independent filmmakers. These days, people assume that, with the advent of the personal computer and After Effects, creating complex visual effects at the last minute is as easy and cheap as pushing a button or loading a plug-in. And after spending mind-bending hours trying to get After Effects to create "Lord of the Rings" effects on a Tuesday night budget, these filmmakers often fail and end up posting an ad on Craigslist looking for someone to do their effects for them for whatever meager pennies are left in their already spent budget.
