And so what if there are enough shortcuts to allow a 12 years old to create stunning pictures ? In the end, that picture will be coming from his/her imagination. It will allow them to express what they have in mind. if they persevere, the result will be come closer to art than just a pretty picture. And if they study art, they will end up making art. My favorite metaphor for 3D graphics is photography. You can give a 12 years old a digital camera and he/she will take pictures easily. Some may even be interesting or stunning if they are lucky to be at teh right place and at the right time. But does that make them the equal to Ansel Adams or Tim McCurry ? Of course not... their tool is mostly the same, but their vision, their experience of photographed materials are vastly different. In the end, I think it is a good thing to enable a vast range of people to express themselves through any medium. While most will recreate the same imagery, some will discover a way to create images that would not have been possible by keeping tools arcane and reserved to an elite.

• agiel - www.linfa.net