[strogonoff]

> What is Amazon's interest in this?

Look up AWS Thinkbox.

Creatives have been rendering on AWS GPUs for a while now with automation tools like Brenda (in case of Blender), and Amazon is clearly looking to capture that market with a more comprehensive and user-friendly solution locked into their infrastructure. Would help sell more computing resources and all that.

They have folks like SideFX and Autodesk on board, and a year ago I thought I’d seen Adobe but it’s not listed—either my memory is playing tricks on me, or Adobe left to compete with a platform of their own.

[harperlee]

The less money you spend on a paid blender alternative yhe more you have to spend on Amazon; this is a very well known strategy of commoditizing your complement: https://www.gwern.net/Complement

[strogonoff]

What do you mean by “paid blender alternative”? How does spending less money on it increase my AWS bill?

[steve_adams_86]

If you free up software subscription money, you can afford more AWS services

[strogonoff]

Ah, thanks (I could not parse the sentence somehow).

For an indie producer this is true in some ways.

From the point of view of AWS, if you have spent multiple thousands of dollars on a Houdini FX license you may in fact have more you could give them than a one-person indie shop on Blender, but knowing AWS’s pricing they will surely not mind getting both.

I wonder if Blender guys kindly told Amazon that they won’t spend time implementing or reviewing features required for various Thinkbox integrations unless Amazon forks over some support money.