Fast and magical
How frequent software updates encourage employees to develop superhuman speed
Political Critique, Ukraine, 31.08.2020
Software has been prone to more frequent updates in the last five years, especially in the domain of 3D computer graphics. Cinema 4D, one of the most popular software packages, for instance, had 9 versions in 2019, 5 versions in 2008 and just one annual update during its first four years from 1990 to 1994, while the number of versions issued for Spark AR1, augmented reality effects software, amounted to 18 just in 2020.
This pace of acceleration is explained by the enhancement of display cards. Graphics had been previously computed using central processing units, and now this task is more often performed by graphics processors included in the video cards. A CPU contains up to 24 cores while GPUs are made up of smaller multiple cores. So graphic cards can have greater computation capacity and speed or perform several tasks simultaneously.
But there is another side to this technological progress: those engaging in object and space simulation now spend much more time to learn, and not every employer is willing to pay for that time. Employers say that technology-related self-development requires time and this responsibility rests with the employee.
Programmed Variability
The idea of humanity now interacting with software which predetermines our actions is central to soft studies, an area researching software. Matthew Fuller, Noah Wardrip-Fruin and a number of other researchers in this domain proceed from the idea that a PC user does not interact with the device’s hardware2 or code directly. The user requires interfaces — various applications with which he/she can utilize the computer. With time, it is those applications, i.e. software and not hardware, that become increasingly influential. “The media are turning into software”, states Lev Manovich, yet another researcher of this direction, in his “Theories of Software Cultures.”
In his “The Algorithms of Our Lives” essay included in the edition Lev Manovich says: “[W]e have to recognize the fundamental variability of the real “action of software”3. The researcher emphasizes in his text that thanks to the practices introduced by Google the world is now dealing with web applications which are permanently beta versions, retaining the option of continuous changes. For example, Google Earth users almost never view the same Earth: the maps are regularly updated. Welcoming readers of the world which is always on the move, Lev Manovich writes in 2013 predominantly about websites, video games and mobile applications. In 2020 this velocity reached software updates installed on our computers. The need for continuous learning is one of the defining traits of the knowledge society unlike the industrial one: the software updates’ speed now forces employees to find their own ways of adjusting their pace virtually in every new project.
Having worked with 3D for over five years now, Oleksandr Hants uses it for art projects which he does not perceive as a source of income, and also uses them as a freelancer to earn money. He calls himself a generalist — a universal specialist not focusing on one 3D direction but following several at once. Oleksandr says that being a freelancer in this industry without mastering several programs is practically impossible since freelancers mostly do not have the resources to engage other experts so one needs to learn everything required on one’s own.
“Sometimes you are working at the studio and there is very little time for yourself. You can be required to be in office 24/7. At one studio where I had a job some employees worked the whole day and then remained to sleep there to resume work the following day at once. I try managing my time but, being a generalist, I spend a lot of time learning because I use several major fast-developing programs,” explains Oleksandr.
He works with Cinema 4D, software designed for 3D graphics creation and animation, and a number of applications to create models and textures, as well as video post-processing software (color correction etc.). Oleksandr says that he is trying to follow up on all software updates he uses but still does not keep track of all of them.
“Sometimes, when completing an order I encounter some update-related issues which the developers have not addressed yet, and the work is paused indefinitely. It may take a whole day to make appropriate settings for a 3D scene computation which will last 15 minutes. Not every customer can be made to understand this,” says Oleksandr.
Ihor Durniev has been studying 3D for three years now, mostly using Blender — free professional software for three-dimensional graphics, similar to Cinema 4D with which Ihor also works. Besides, he uses Substance Painter, software for 3D modeling textures, and has started studying Reality Capture to create 3D models using photographs and laser scans of the environment. According to Ihor who works as a freelancer, virtually every project requires research of extra materials.
“During the project discussion stage, I always envisage that it is going to take more time than usual. I do not tell the customer about this. So when I have a new job which presumably would take 30 hours, I add another 10 hours in case I make a mistake or need to research something,” Ihor explains.
He says that he does not update Blender every 2 weeks but does it about twice per month instead. As for new functionalities and tools, Ihor keeps track of them via dedicated newsletters and articles: monitoring great flows of software updates has now become a separate niche of journalism.
Apparatus Human
Fast rewinding the evolution of human labor in his “A Small Philosophy of Design”, Vilém Flusser starts with the primitive man who worked with their own hands; then proceeds to the instrumental man first discovering tools of labor, followed by discussions of the human-machine relations implying the Industrial age; and finally talking of the apparatus man who actually works with modern computers, or “apparatuses” as Flusser calls them.
Delving into those stages of development, the researcher focuses on the process of learning and substitutability of man in any given epoch. The instrumental man, for instance, changed the tools of labor when they failed, while the industrial man proved to be less durable in comparison with the machines they serviced, i.e. machines are more long-lived than the workers learning to operate them and then being replaced by subsequent workers. According to the media theoretician, the apparatus man can only function within a close horizontal interaction with the apparatus, and this requires continuous learning. Flusser’s factor of the future is a perennial school:
“This will be a space for people to study how apparatuses function so that the latter can replace them afterwards to transform life to culture. And the man of the future will learn using apparatuses, guided by the example of apparatuses and thanks to apparatuses.”4
Continuous learning nowadays is not just professional growth or an investment in tech skills with the potential for future monetization; this is a new form of interacting with technology where the permanent technical upgrading resonates with personal self-development at superhuman speed and frequency.
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So according to Flusser, the apparatus man needs to reconsider their relations with apparatuses in order to maintain this level of connection. Continuous learning nowadays is not just professional growth or an investment in tech skills with the potential for future monetization; this is a new form of interacting with technology where the permanent technical upgrading resonates with personal self-development at superhuman speed and frequency.
Continuous improvement is required not only of technical performers but team managers too. A freelancer and 3D artist, Masha Betsy worked her way from performer to process manager. Acting as art director without her own studio but uniting several other freelancers remotely, she is capable of taking on major projects. Keeping track of all the updates through her colleagues and friends, she thus avoids excessive immersion into technical details but remains aware of the relevant changes.
“Even if I outsource some task to an expert, I first try to figure out how the task will be done. This way, I land new customers and also expand my outlook and become a more effective director,” says Masha.
Dmytro Zinchenko is the founder of Cyber Light Game Studio, a Ukrainian computer games studio. Combining efforts with his brother and a number of employees, he is developing Bigfoot game. Dmytro says that 3D software updates are not of great importance for their team since they mostly use standard models. The game development framework they are using, Unreal Engine, is updated very often, and this does not cause any inconveniences, quite the opposite — the updates facilitate the employees’ work. But the responsibility for improving one’s own skills rests with each employee.
“All employees should improve their skills continuously. In a perfect scenario, every task assigned at work must require exertion. In other words, every working day should be more difficult than the previous one. The notion of “free time” is relative; it requires a definition: “free of what?”. People generally rest when their type of activity changes. So one needs to choose tasks which will be useful. Specifically for modelers5, being good at modeling is not the only important skill. It is essential to be knowledgeable in styles, cultures, to be familiar with various movies, games etc. Understandably, modelers are not going to watch movies and educational videos during their business hours. This would be financially detrimental to employers. Whatever the industry, self-development is the responsibility of specialists themselves. If you are not willing to self-educate, no one can save you,” thinks Dmytro.
Production everywhere and all the time
The brisk tools development promotes strong competition among software manufacturers. To be able to offer even more efficient versions to users, they must continue updating. The above-mentioned Blender, a free open-source application, issues updates every two weeks. This consistent product support is enabled for the developers by the community itself which provides regular financial support. This is indicative of changes which are deeply social at their core. So, having accepted the naturalness of those processes, we are facing the question: how does one adapt to this (variable) state of things?
“If the shift from the industrial society to the information society involved a shift from form to information flows, can we reduce these information flows to forms meaningful to a human?”6 — Lev Manovich attempts to describe a certain info-aesthetics using which the information humanity is able to deal with superhuman scopes of information that it itself produces. In other words, to find more intuitive forms. The dynamic 3D industry seems to be already operating those forms.
Game development platforms Unreal Engine and UNITY, for instance, use node7 programming — a type of visual programming that emerged in 1990s but is growing in popularity just at this moment. Users need not be skilled in any programming language: a character’s actions are programmed by attaching nodes and changing their setting. To grasp the process logic, it is of course necessary to go through a number of lessons — but this is not commensurate with learning a programming language. Yet another example of tool simplification is engagement of neural networks in object and space modeling: ultimately, the human will get rid of this work.
Those intuitive tools are easier for users. With some updates and simplifications, the time needed to develop a computer game can be reduced by several months. On the other hand, the tools are becoming more intricate in their internal processes, aggravating the black box problem: as we move forward, we have more trouble understanding how the algorithms work. We are finding ourselves in a position of dependence on software developers and owners — current and potential ones. According to Flusser, this magical being is reminiscent of a reversion to the primal times of pre-tool manufacturing, bringing us closer to nature:
“Like the primitive man who intruded the nature directly with his hands and thus made production omnipresent, functionaries of the future equipped with the smallest, tiniest and even invisible apparatuses will produce at all times and in all places.”8
Lera Malchenko
This text is part of Liquid Labour journalism project which is realized with the support of Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung in Ukraine.
Notes
1. ↑ This software is now used most frequently to create Instagram and Facebook filters. — Author’s note.
2. ↑ The term “hardware” is used to identify physical elements making up the computer: boards, wires, chips, while software is programs and applications installed on the computer. — Author’s note.
3. ↑ Lev Manovich, “Algorithms of Our Lives”, collection “Theories of Software Cultures”.
4, 8. ↑ V. Flusser, «On the State of Things — A Small Philosophy of Design”.
5. ↑ An employee creating 3D models. — Author’s note.
6. ↑ Lev Manovich, “Cultural Forms of Information Society”, collection “Theories of Software Cultures”.
7. ↑ Node is a basic algorithm building block in visual programming. Within the program it looks like a flat graphic shape, usually a rectangle. The algorithm is changed by attaching and disengaging nodes, and by changing their internal settings. — Author’s note.
