‘It kicks ass. It really does.’

That’s called cutting to the chase, and Ian Pearson, executive creative consultant for Mainframe, is good at it. He’s referring to a new series called Beast Wars (working title). It’s based on Hasbro’s hot Transformer toys and it’s the second and latest cgi series from Alliance/Mainframe, producers of ReBoot.

And while it would be quite easy to get bogged down in the hardware of it all – the speed, the storage, the studio – Pearson’s more interested in leap-frogging the logistics. While you can’t very well take the c out of cgi, the technology, Pearson says, is secondary.

‘It’s not about the computers, the computers are never going to be the issue. If you’ve got the money you can buy all the computers you want, but you could have a trillion dollars and not find the right people.’

People, more specifically a lack thereof, are a real concern at Mainframe of late. With ReBoot heading into a third season, production underway on 26 episodes of Beast Wars for delivery in late summer, and a host of projects in the hopper, Pearson says he’s still looking for 22 animators and plans to take the staffing issue into his own hands. While he’s found his favorite animators in Canada, at Oakville, Ont.’s Sheridan College in particular, the supply can’t keep up with his demand. He hopes to start an in-house training school taking eight to 16 students at a time.

‘I’d prefer to bring Canadians in because not only has Canada got a strong history in computer graphics, but it’s got a massive history of traditional animation. I think in the past it might have been true to say you could survive in computer animation with a limited artistic background, but that’s changed. If you haven’t got the art background, you aren’t going to survive. We’re doing a lot more than tumbling logos.’

Not only does Canada train great animators, but according to Pearson, Canada’s stance in digital animation circles is second to none. ‘I think we’re the leaders, quite honestly,’ he says.

‘Most of the people in the industry are Canadian, even in America. The Canadian government has put a lot of money into research and development, and that’s why Alias and Softimage and Vertigo are all based here. Canada’s very well poised in what’s becoming a global market.’

That global market, he predicts, is also about to face a whole new level of production. While the competition he envisioned for ReBoot, the first 100% computer-animated series, didn’t materialize as he thought it would (he originally predicted a slew of wannabes by year two), he predicts the success of Disney’s Toy Story might open a few eyes.

‘ReBoot wasn’t a great success in America. It was dying in its spot on abc. But what I think Toy Story has done is it has opened the wallets of investors. A lot of people couldn’t work out how we did it before, how we could produce so much footage. Now people are much more confident in investing millions in hardware.’

That kind of mindset made Beast Wars a bit of ‘an easier ride’ for Pearson. He says the biggest hurdle in producing ReBoot was simply convincing people it could be done.

‘There were a lot of people who didn’t want the status quo changed. They wanted, and still do want, computer graphics to be a mystic medium. Americans, especially, don’t like leaps of faith. They like steady progression and growth in their industry.

‘So, I think people would have liked to have seen a more steady progression into long-form because we’ve all got access to basically the same software and we all basically float on the same off-the-shelf platforms.

‘There’ll be a time when the computers are getting faster and faster where it will be difficult to see why something for a feature costs so much money. You know, especially when you see it on a Saturday morning cartoon’

The initial ‘slugging and pausing’ that went into the startup for ReBoot has been a blessing in terms of startup for the new series. Two seasons worth of work has produced a streamlined production process, valuable time-saving proprietary software, and animators who’ve been honed and put through their paces.

‘We’ve had to do episodes in three weeks before, and that’s without a storyboard or anything. We’re getting quite good at this. With computer animation, once the staff get up to a level of confidence and ability, computer animation is easier than traditional animation. Now it’s nice to see some of the more experienced guys here because you can tell they don’t care about the computer anymore. They just grab the character by the scruff of the neck and ram him into whatever shape they want.’

Since the hardware is better and cheaper now than it was at the time of ReBoot’s origins, and since they’ve had time to intensify the production process, Pearson says the cost per episode for Beast Wars is ‘considerably less’ than it was for ReBoot.

Beast Wars also differs from ReBoot in a number of creative realms. With a very focused audience (‘It’s boys. It’s totally for boys.’) and free from some of abc’s confinements in terms of violence and conflict, Pearson calls Beast Wars a ‘breath of fresh air.’

‘For the guys here working on Beast Wars, the scripts are great after some of the troubles we had with the ReBoot scripts. There’s more action. A character can stand up and say `you’re a baddie’ and shoot a missile. I think Beast Wars is just going to go out and just kick ass. It’s what the kids want. It’s action right from start to finish, it’s unbelievable. I think some people won’t be happy with the series, but I think it will be a massive success because it’s not kidding anyone.’

Pearson says that while some people thought Beast Wars might just move into the ReBoot space and hardware, it’s a completely separate production line. They’ve taken over a new 17,000-square-foot studio in the same building and put in 38 new workstations and about 40 rendering stations. While still looking for an extra 22, more than 30 new animators have been hired. Larry Ditillio and Bob Forward, an outside team of experienced scriptwriters, are busy penciling away and production on the first two episodes has already begun.

As to other irons in the Mainframe fire, the anticipated ReBoot feature has been put on hold until the third season is underway. Pearson says that being cut loose from abc means some big creative changes for the series, ones which have to be ‘rationalized’ before any further work is done on the feature script.

In the meantime, the company is negotiating to produce five rides for imax, including a ride based on ReBoot, and Pearson himself has a project in development for adults.

‘It’s being shelved until I get all these other projects up and running, but I’ve got a feature and hopefully a primetime series in development with someone down in Hollywood.’

So with a very busy slate on his hands, Pearson’s still left wondering where to find the people. He says if the imax rides happen before the summer he’ll be looking to add about 50 more animation staff plus staff for support and production. And they can’t be just any old people, says Pearson. They’ve got to be computer-savvy with an eye for the screen and the soul of an artist.

‘We need people who can learn that they are animators and not button-pushers.’ And he needs them now.