Re:Sorry to see them go... (Score 1)

Actually, discreetodesk gear composites at 8 or 12bit, not 16. Their next gen desktop software will go to 32bit, but the software was originally written with SGI's 12bit limit in mind, so even the linux versions are currently capped at 12bit. as for 8 bit being enough for most work, this is quickly becoming untrue as well. After Effects allows users to work at 32bit, as do most 3d software packages, so it's possible (and extremely advantageous, if also very slow) to set up a full 32bit pipeline. Spiderman 2 was done this way, and most features now prefer to work at 12bit or higher. NTSC/PAL video remains the last holdout in the 8 bit space, and even then we tend to work at 10 or 12 bit whenever possible.