AI in A:M

We are the developers of Animation:Master (A:M), the 3D animation computer program that revolutionized the industry during its time in the sun at the turning of the millennium. For a decade A:M led the industry in innovation & implementation, rising like a rocket, fueled by enthusiasm & naïve optimism, though ultimately those were not enough in a pre-AI world; but A:M did not go away; it still has a loyal userbase and company structure behind it, albeit volunteers.

Though the concepts embedded in A:M were the most advanced in the world at the time, its operation still required a level of artistic ability beyond the grasp of most people. Combined with the very limited number of animation jobs in the entertainment industry, plus heavy competition & price insensitivity, even though the product actually was able to break through a lot of barriers, the sheer weight of better capitalized competitors and a naturally monopolistic marketplace, A:M was inevitability pushed into irrelevance.

However, A:M wasn't abandoned and the technology never became obsolete; it was simply waiting for AI to catch up with it to augment the talent of the users, and more importantly, allow the concepts inherent in the technology to be used in a wider context, other applications with wider market opportunities. Being able to train a robot by telling and showing it what to do will become increasingly important, and A:M would allow both a virtual and practical environment to do so. Also, many other applications will emerge that we can only imagine at this time.

Back-in-the-day, A:M demonstrations would pack the aisles and attract the press like flies; everybody wants to make a movie on their kitchen table. Even though the number of potential customers in this market is limited, there is real growth opportunities in related markets such as robotics, visual interfaces & remote control. Our strategy would be to integrate emerging voice input, natural language processing, vision, speech synthesis, motion capture, physics, Machine Learning, and whatever else, into A:M then hit the road again, demonstrating A:M online and at tradeshows, gaining attention & press, and dangling the intriguing potential applications in front of those who stop to see what the commotion is all about.

Having been involved in software development of this difficulty for decades, we are intimately aware of the costs & bottlenecks; therefore, rather than using employees, we would utilize established freelancer resources that could bring us unlimited contract-based personnel from around the world. There is also no need for brick & mortar offices, nor a centralized location; all management would be through telecommunication. The codebase would be made Open Source, with all the advantages & difficulties that entails. The few fulltime staff would also work remotely on remote servers. Though we have experience recruiting & maintaining staff, and know the incentives required, the exact nature of those incentives are at your discretion to meet your investment criteria; perhaps the best way is for you to offer us your standard contract for a $10 million seed. Development would take two years, however, rapid prototyping and teaser-marketing would provide indications along the way of the success we can expect and what directions we should go.

Martin Hash

State Bar, WA #40551

Certified Public Accountant, WA #28570

Professional Engineer, WA #48328 

Assistant Physician, MO #2018001369

USPTO Patent Agent, #59431

Ph.D. Computer Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 2001-05

J.D. Lewis & Clark Law School, Portland, OR, 2005-08

M.D. St. George's University School of Medicine, Grenada, WI, 2011-15

“Higher Education in Medical Sciences” (MS), Northumbria University, Newcastle, England, 2011-12

M.S. Engineering & Computer Science, OHSU, Beaverton, OR, 1985-87

M.B.A. University of Portland, Portland, OR, 1981-83

B.S. Electrical & Electronic Engineering, California State University, Sacramento, 1976-80

2012-current Pursuing goals related to my organization, “Renaissance Myn”

2009-11 Magazine Writer: iPhone Life, 3D World, ERB Journal, Transitions Abroad

2008-09 Attorney, Clark County Volunteer Lawyers Program, Vancouver, WA; Robert Russell Law Offices

2007-08 Board Member, WSUV: Computer Science Industry Advisory

1993-07 CEO/CFO/COO, Animation Software, Vancouver, WA

1993 Software Development Manager, Microsoft, Redmond, WA

1992 Videogame Programmer, Will Vinton Studios, Portland, OR

1987-91 Software Developer, Hash Software, Vancouver, WA

1980-87 Software/Hardware Engineer, Hewlett Packard, Camas, WA

Computer Science 101, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 8/2003-5/2004

Selected “15 Top CGI Pioneers” by Animation Magazine, December 2000

Selected “Leaders in CGI/Digital Effects,” by Animation Magazine, December 1996

Selected “CGI Visionaries,” by Animation Magazine, November 1996

Profiled in Wired magazine, “Real Fake” by Daryll Fogel, June 1996

Patent: Hewlett Packard “DeskJet” printer, EP 0313204 A2, 1987

“Hardware Accelerated Patch Splitting,” Systems: New Generation, 2005

“General Algorithmic Texture Antialiasing,” Art+Math=X Conference at the Univ of Colorado, 2005

“3D Animation Streaming,” IDEA05, 2005 

“Maintaining Consistent 3D Display Rates with Splines,” Internet and Multimedia Systems, 2005 

“Preloading and Precedence Lists for Smooth Playback,” QSHINE, 2004

Author of 23 books, including fiction, nonfiction, children's, technical, users manuals

Writer/Producer 3 feature-length motion pictures and many shorts. Voice actor.

Traveled to 100+ countries, lived abroad for 5 years. 

Native English, intermediate Spanish, beginning German