MMST 3ds Max Class Blog

You may have seen that Rhythm & Hues filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy this week.  If not, here's the article from Variety. (Tragic to me since they were the first, and maybe the best to bring cg animals to life.)  This follows on Digital Domain's bankruptcy last Fall, and much other news about declining profitability in the VFX industry.  They were among the best players of the last decade.  I don't know how well VFX divisions are doing at Sony, ILM, Dreamworks/PDI or Pixar.  Lucasfilm et al. and Pixar are now part of Disney.  At the same time we see a proliferation of newer smaller specialized houses making contributions to feature films. 

Is it just about cost pressures and an over-reliance on proprietary tools?  Or are we seeing a too familiar consolidation a la airlines, media, and other mega-corp ownership?  Any  thoughts?