"It costs about $20,000, and we've developed a host like this at the same time." Lei Shengli said.

"What about this software? What's the price? Chen Zhiwen asked again.

"It hasn't been decided yet, but the initial price won't be very cheap, because according to the hardware needs, there is no way to go through, and potential customers, that is, comic companies like Disney." Lei Shengli paused and said: "But if we wait until the performance of home computers is improved several times, it is estimated that in about 5 years, many high-end civilian computers will be able to run this software, and at that time, many advertising design companies, printing companies, or some related industries may buy our software on a large scale." ”

"So confident?" Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile.

"Yes, because of our software, we can improve work efficiency, I have worked with Disney's painter team before, many duplicate portraits can be directly transferred, they only need to change the changes on the line, which almost doubles their efficiency, and the painting on the computer, if you draw wrong, you can also delete it again and continue to paint, but it doesn't work on paper, you can only redraw if you are wrong, that is, the more complex the content of the painting, the more cost-effective it is to operate with computer software, the more time-saving, It can also make these painters more energy-saving, so in the long run, it is inevitable that this kind of painting software will replace simple labor. Lei Shengli said.

"It's really nice to be able to save a painter's time." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, "Disney, do you intend to buy it?" ”

"Eisner didn't have a clear reply, but they took a few sets, presumably to do a test." Lei Shengli said.

"Well, although I'm also the owner of Disney, but I won't interfere in this matter, if Eisner thinks it's not cost-effective to buy this set of things, it may really not be in line with the market, or rather, the cost performance is still not cost-effective at the moment." Chen Zhiwen said.

In the future, it is inevitable that painting software will replace manual labor, and the meaning of the existence of painters is not only to paint, painting is just one of their abilities, but more importantly, it is the imagination and how to show better comics, these two points cannot be replaced by computers, but computers can help them get rid of tedious hand-drawing and improve efficiency.

Even because of the improvement of computer computing power, the animation movies or cartoons edited by computers appeared in front of the world, before that, because of the huge amount of painting work, the picture quality and coordination ability of cartoons are very poor, and after the popularization of computer painting, all kinds of smooth pictures will really appear.

However, as the first generation of painting software, the performance is the most primary, there will definitely be many shortcomings, and the cost is also the top priority, Chen Zhiwen can naturally arrange Disney to buy a batch, but this will not promote the further optimization of the Midea team, only by receiving the recognition of the market, then it can develop and continue to iterate.

"Chen Sheng, rest assured, I understand this very well, I also have absolute confidence, although in terms of function, the current Photoshop has not reached a very high level, but at least in saving the painter's working time, there is no problem, even if you save a thousand dollars a month, two years will basically earn back the cost, the most important thing is that this can greatly improve efficiency, if you can let a company like Disney, develop your own comics or TV movies earlier, In fact, the benefits that can be brought to customers will be higher, which may be dozens of times the value of itself. Lei Shengli said with a smile.

"Your analysis is very good, and it makes sense. Then you let your men, on this ground, see if they can convince Eisner. Chen Zhiwen nodded with a light smile and said.

If you can save time, it will be of great significance, for example, the "Lion King" movie, if it can come out even half a year in advance, hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office plus the peripherals, plus the follow-up impact, this potential income may be in the unit of 100 million US dollars, compared to this value, the purchase of these painting software and hardware is nothing.

For large companies, money may not be a big deal, but time is particularly important, especially for financial, technology, cultural and other enterprises. Previously, "Beauty and the Beast", as far as Chen Zhiwen knows, took nearly two years to shoot and complete, because of Eisner's high requirements, many of the drawing books were forced to be redrawn, and if you can use a computer, it will be too time-saving.

"It should be fine, but we still have to wait, and it is still being tested internally, and maybe it can be optimized a little more." Lei Shengli said that the boss only made a request for this software, but he didn't know what the specific situation was, so he could only rely on his own people to explore.

"Okay, if this market can be won, we can also take a step closer in the computer field, and you also need to focus on what needs are in the market, any corresponding development-related software." Chen Zhiwen said that although it is only a niche software, it is actually more difficult to develop such software than word, and with this ability and experience, it will be much easier to optimize or develop other software in the future.

The software part, like Internet companies, has a certain first-mover advantage, the first-mover software will cultivate user habits, register patents to block competitors, and can also give priority to subsequent updates based on market feedback.

"Yes, we're also developing software that is in demand for a lot of the market." Lei Shengli said, as a large scale of electronics and software companies, Midea is not completely dependent on Chen Zhiwen, in the field of games, Midea began to create new games by itself a long time ago, most of them ended in failure in the early days, but in the past two years, with the accumulation of experience, there has gradually been a little achievement, that is, compared with the boss arranged a few models, there is a bit of a gap, and the same is true in terms of software, Midea itself is also constantly launching various software, testing market reactions, and even home appliances, are also in their own hands, Try kitchen appliances, simple household appliances, and more.

"Then give it a try, I'll see how this software goes, and draw an animated person." Chen Zhiwen said to an engineer operating the computer.

"Chen Sheng, I don't know who to paint? This can also have a contrast, to see if we draw a portrait? The engineer asked.

"Looking for a Hong Kong female star, right? Draw whoever you like. Chen Zhiwen smiled and said, which also made the people around him laugh softly, but the engineer who operated the machine suddenly collapsed, he was only 30 years old, and it was normal to like female stars, but at this time, it would be embarrassing to draw it in front of the boss and so many colleagues.

"Just Honggu." Chen Zhiwen also suddenly thought that this was a bit embarrassing, and said for him.

"Okay." After receiving an accurate answer, the operator immediately began the operation.

Everyone watched from behind, and about ten minutes later, a comic character similar to Honggu was born in the computer.

"It's like." Chen Zhiwen nodded, and asked again: "Then if I want her to move, such as the simplest speech, just move her mouth and eyebrows, how soon can you try to complete it." ”

It doesn't matter if you can draw it, many interested painting masters can also draw quickly, but if you want to draw an action, then normal painting needs to be redrawn, but the computer can copy and paste.

"Okay." The operator agreed, and then a quick mouse and keyboard cooperated, and after a while, he created another dozen paintings, each painting has a different mouth shape, and then said: "These paintings, if they are played in a chain by means of animation, they can reflect the effect of movement, but a dozen may not be enough, it takes hundreds of them, and if I draw them all, it may take two hours." ”

"Two hours is already very fast, and it's good." Chen Zhiwen nodded, let people paint, it is estimated that it will not be able to draw in 24 hours, and the hands will have to be broken, and then with the labor cost of the United States, it will definitely be a loss for the company. As long as you draw more, it is also cost-effective to buy your own equipment at one time, and you can change your mistakes in drawing.

"You can show me some other features." Lei Shengli saw that the boss was very satisfied, so he said again.

"Okay, Mr. Chen, now I'm going to show our software's ability to modify photos," the operator added.

Chen Zhiwen and others are also watching from behind, PS At the time of initial research and development, Chen Zhiwen demanded that the ability to modify photos must be there, because this function is too rebellious, and I don't know how many media may need this function.

However, after looking at it for a while, Chen Zhiwen also found that although the current PS can still modify the photo, the degree of "simulation" after the change is obviously not very satisfactory, but this is also normal, how can the first generation be so strong, a good software and even various industrial hardware, in fact, are the results of countless people after using it, after summarizing the problem, and then slowly changing it.

After reading PS, Chen Zhiwen and Lei Shengli came to an office at the top of the building alone.

"The construction speed of the Midea Building is estimated to be completed in more than a year, and you will have your own office in Central." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said that even during the real estate crisis, Chen Zhiwen still demolished the Hilton to build a headquarters for Midea, and he could not affect the development of Midea because of a little bit of real estate market interests.

"Actually, I'm not in a hurry, it's the same everywhere." Lei Shengli said with a smile.

"Well, if there is a good one, we still have to use it, just like we have money, we have to spend it." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said: "Lao Lei, this time I came to the United States, in addition to coming to see the PS software, there is another thing, I want the game department of the United States to develop another game, called The King of Fighters." ”

PS: Ask for a monthly pass at the beginning of the month (end of this chapter)