The times, they are a’changing, and nowhere is this more apparent than in post houses where new technology is affecting change. Venerable, 20-year old Post Effects is one of the companies straight-forwardly announcing a change. “We’re in essence a new company,” said president Mike Fayette. “We have the same people but in different roles.”
Toward that end, Post Effects has begun upgrading almost its entire facility by purchasing a dozen new, high-end workstations, and reconfigurating its staff of 30 by changing the status or trimming a third.
Said Fayette: “We’re finding a place in the new workstation-based world we live in by making a long- term deal with Avid to purchase Express Pros, Adrenalines, Avid DS Nitris, ProTools and SoftImage.”
An Adrenaline, an Express Pro and an Avid DS Nitris will be delivered this week; the remaining nine workstations will arrive within the next 30 days.
Clients, for the most part, won’t see a huge change, Fayette said. “We have most of the same people only in different roles. All of the key creatives are still here.”
By making sure “the people I’ve got matched this new world,” some employees were put on “indefinite layoffs,” some changed their permanent status to freelance or a commission basis but are still part of the company, and some left.
“We tried to find a balance between our financial needs and their needs,” said Fayette, considered a high-tech guru.
In another area, Post Effects revised and expanded its Orad CyberSet, the only one in the area, with the acquisition of a new product called Cybergraphics. It is one of the first generations of 3D animation tools that Fayette likens to a flight simulator. “It will create high-end 3D animation we’re known for in real time,” Fayette explained.
Post Effects will have everything in place by fall “and will hit the ground running,” buoyed by the anticipation of a sizable amount of new business from television shows and visual education, Fayette noted.
Post Effects is located at 400 W. Erie St., phone, 312/944-1690.
