This is the personal blog of Ben Houston (bio here), a 3D computer graphics software developer. I've worked on projects like Web3DSurvey, Three.js, Deadline, Krakaota, and Exocortex VFX plugins. I'm also an entrepreneur, having founded Land of Assets, Threekit, Clara.io, Exocortex, and Frantic Films Software.
As AI coding agents become increasingly capable, we need to rethink our code organization and documentation practices. Here's why traditional "human-first" coding approaches are becoming obsolete and how to structure your projects for optimal AI compatibility.
Ben Houston • March 5, 2025
Why I have been using TanStack/Start instead of Remix or Next.js for recent React projects.
Ben Houston • February 18, 2025
Open Core combines the viral growth of open source with the revenue potential of enterprise software – but most founders get the balance wrong. Drawing from my experience building both open source and enterprise products, I explain why this model particularly shines for developer tools, and how to execute it without alienating either developers or paying customers.
Ben Houston • December 20, 2024
How I wrote the first version of Krakatoa at Frantic Films to render Doc Bailey's SPORE images for Stay, and how the renderer later reached Avatar, Harry Potter, and Exocortex Fury.
Ben Houston • December 6, 2024
After learning the hard way that chasing startups and SMBs was a dead end, I discovered why the path to sustainable SaaS growth lies in mastering enterprise sales and the 'land and expand' strategy.
Ben Houston • December 5, 2024
In 2002, I joined Frantic Films to write fluid simulation software. A small scheduler I built for those sims became Deadline, a render farm manager used by Blizzard, major VFX studios, and considered by the Academy for Sci Tech Awards.
Ben Houston • December 5, 2024
How a pioneering web-based 3D editor pivoted from visual effects to enterprise product visualization.
Ben Houston • December 4, 2024
A startup journey can naturally be split into two phases, each driven by a different question: survival and then maybe scale.
Ben Houston • December 2, 2024
I moved my projects from Kubernetes to Google Cloud Run because I did not want to pay for cluster operations, idle capacity, and job-running infrastructure.
Ben Houston • November 5, 2024
RISC-V is currently quite slow compared to modern CPUs in 2024.
Ben Houston • October 23, 2024
Graph-based materials, while innovative and flexible, pose significant costs for run-time dynamic loading in Web and Games. We delve into these costs and propose alternative solutions.
Ben Houston • May 30, 2023
Web3DSurvey is a tool for 3D web developers that tracks and aggregates WebGL, WebGL2, and WebGPU capabilities providing valuable insights into real-world support for these features.
Ben Houston • March 22, 2023