Last thing first, first thing last. I like this Steve guy. While the production here is bad, I can clearly see someone who really wants to make a film, trying as hard as they can against overwhelming adversity, and just blowing past every stop sign on the road with a brick on the gas pedal. I feel like I'd get along with this guy, lol.
People don't really understand how Save Point works, and it's not because their stupid, it's just genuinely complicated, and takes some time and experience to fully appreciate.
I'll answer your questions as simply as I can, one at a time.
We do provide all the neccesary software tools and resources, along with training and instruction. The issue so far has been finding people that can sit down and study, work, focus. The Bottleneck is on the human end. Save Point has collected almost 200k worth of resources to date, via a variety of methods, and anyone who joins has full access to all of it, similar to a library system, and legal under the corporate umbrella. It's the same concept as a studio building an old west town set. If filmmakers are going to be coming through making westerns for the next 30 years, there is really no need to keep buying and building that same town over and over. The parent company buys it, and any employee or intern that comes through has free use of any corporate asset. Joining is free, and there is never any charge for anything. It's a 0 money system on the creator end, and on the audience end.
Unreal engine is free for all, and in fact, this video was what originally inspired me to make this system. The first time I watched it, I thought, this feels right, this feels like finally I'm seeing a company act like a human being.
Lastly, yes there is kind of an audition process. It's not so fixed as that sounds though. I would take a person with a strong desire to learn over a skilled person that was lazy, distracted, or had a bad attitude any day. Even the best of us need to be open to learning and improving every day, so I look for those people. Anyone who can match quality with our norms is welcome to come in and work on as much or as little as they like, and is given full credit publicly for anything they contribute.
Also I don't feel like you're hijacking my thread. I don't feel like any thread "belongs" to me, and more to the point, I'm on here to have conversations with people, so any responses are always welcome.
We have hit a roadblock in one area though, where for some reason, basically everyone that tries to join is without a graphics card, which is unfortunately a prerequisite of the new pipeline. These cards are shipping in record numbers, backordered for months, priced at double list even at wall mart, because so many people have ordered them. Yet somehow, 45 people have joined, and not one of them had a graphics card that could even handle one scene. I was shocked when 43 people in a row showed up with instruments. Almost all are gone now, because they just wanted me to put their song in a film, but 50 new tracks were being produced for every one minute of film I could put out with no help. I can't afford to send people 1200 dollar graphics cards, so this has been an issue. So far, I have produced every bit of film you've seen and far more solo. I keep telling people that I'll give them access to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of 3d models, environments, courses, and even spend hours a week tutoring them free of charge, but so far they just shrug and start playing "smoke on the water" and talking about how that's a more productive use of time.
In case the many posts I wrote about it were before your time here, just FYI, you are free to join, and just like anyone else, I'll supply you with resources, help you personally with the new software, etc. I don't mean some webpage, I mean I'll get on the phone and walk you through it step by step until you are getting the results I'm getting. When I started doing this, I thought people would appreciate the rarity of that, and a few have, but to be honest, it's been a bit underwhelming so far. It was help I really needed when I was trying to lean animation, and literally no one could be bothered to spend even an hour a week teaching me, working along side me, much less supply me with assets.
As far as who gets cut from the program, I only cut people who aren't serious about becoming a filmmaker. People show up and want to chat for a couple of days and get their name on a big product, but those are not my people. I work hard, I care a lot about this artform, and I'm looking to help others that feel the same, and are struggling like me to find a way forward.