The VFX Artists Podcast, hosted by Kofi Opoku-Ansah and Daniel Mark Miller is the spot for artists to share, learn and discover other artists in the VFX industry. We aim to bring artists from different levels and departments to discuss industry practice, software, processes, journey and more. We are a podcast made by artists for artists.

Creativity, Money and the Freelance Career, with Courtney Pryce | TVAP EP 4

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This week we caught up with Courtney Pryce. Industry veterans will know him from his years as Creative Specialist at Foundry.



We cover a lot of ground, beginning as a Runner and junior in "Rock & Roll" years of London VFX in the early 2000s, covering his time and Foundry and discussing secrets of financial stability as a freelance Compositor. 

Courtney worked with UK Film and TV industry Union, BECTU, to put together a suggested rate card for freelance and contract staff in VFX. We get to engage with the methodology and consequences of open disclosure of the often taboo subject of the pay scale.

Courtney also engaged strongly with the industry-wide discussion of racism sparked by the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. We don't shy away from tackling the issue of racism and nepotism in the workplace and there is a forthright but ultimately optimistic discussion.

Nevertheless, we never lost sight of Courtney's key skills as a solid professional compositor and reactive as he shares a wealth of knowledge that will benefit artists of all levels and from all backgrounds.

You won't want to miss out on this discussion!

00:00:00 : Intro - what to expect
00:18:17 : The Role of a Creative Specialist at Foundry
00:20:06 : When you're too comfortable
00:24:00 : Freelancing "Year Zero"
00:27:01 : Having kids as a freelancer
00:31:01 : Burnout
00:34:52 : VFX 

: methodology and controversy
00:43:41 : Black Lives Matter and Racism in the Industry 
00:54:25 : Projects most proud of. 

Creativity, Money and the Freelance Career, with Courtney Pryce | TVAP EP 48

Behind The Desk with Hugo Guerra | TVAP EP47

Behind The Desk with Hugo Guerra | TVAP EP47

Hugo Guerra, Director, VFX supervisor, and creator of Hugo's Desk.

In this episode, Kofi chats to Hugo about his career in the VFX industry. Uncovering decisions and steps that have made Hugo the Director and Supervisor he is today.

With an incredible industry footprint, Hugo has a huge voice across the VFX industry, and I felt it quite relevant to learn more about the man behind the glasses, or as our title says, 'Behind The Desk'.

In this episode, we discuss the creative and VFX industry in Portugal, and Sweden, remote working, industry overtime, Hugo's VFX journey in London during his time at The Mill, mistakes VFX artists to make when looking for work, steps they could take to protect themselves from being taken advantage of, best video games, movies, series of 2022, industry-wide issues, how we could tackle them, and many more.

It was a packed and insightful discussion worth listening to the end, as well as one to be shared!

A massive thank you to Hugo for his time and for being such a gem to the industry.

As always, if you liked this episode, please 👍 like, 📝 comment, 📢 subscribe, and 📣 share!

Listen to all episodes on our 

Building the Biggest VFX Asset Library in The World! ActionVFX CEO Rodolphe Pierre-Louis | TVAP EP46

Share Knowledge - Keep Learning with María Carriedo | TVAP EP43




You can find Hugo on the following platforms:




#thevfxartistspodcast #vfxpodcast #hugoguerra #hugosdesk




00:00:00 Coming up...
00:01:32 Introductions
00:03:11 Who is Hugo?
00:10:24 The Portuguese creative industry could be better
00:16:30 Reminiscing the London, Soho VFX industry in the 2000's
00:19:27 The unhealthy traits of the VFX industry - Overtime work
00:32:16 Chasing The Goal
00:37:05 How I ended up in the VFX & creative industry
00:39:37 Love-Hate relationship with the VFX industry
00:46:37 What I teach Nuke Compositors
00:49:49 What Junior compositors need to know when job seeking
01:02:41 Achieving targets on a creative journey
01:05:25 Films on Hugo's list for 2022
01:09:29 Where to find Hugo!
01:10:46 Thank you for watching! Subscribe!

I am pretty sure you've heard of Action VFX, I've used them in my own shots! So we managed to get the Founder and CEO on the show to talk about his career. It's a success story that very nearly wasn't!

This is a great one for any artists or filmmakers who are thinking of starting a business because Rodolphe has a lot of insight into how to turn FX talent into a business model, as shown by the widespread use of Action VFX elements in the industry. 

Join us and follow Rodolphe's journey from filmmaker to entrepreneur. After the interview I cheekily asked if I could get our subscribers a discount code and they very kindly agreed to a permanent 15% off for our listeners with the code "TVAP" !

AI in the VFX & Creative Industry: Impact, Issues & Solutions | TVAP EP45

Join us, as we discuss the impact of AI in the VFX & Creative industry. 

With the rise of platforms such as Midjourney, Dalle-2, and Stable Diffusion influencing artists, we bring forth this open discussion about what the impact could be for our industries if certain laws and rules aren't put into place to protect artists and creators worldwide. 

We look to touch on copyright ownership and rights, privacy, ethics, and more! 

Join us this Wednesday, Nov 2nd, 2022, for the discussion and to take part in our Q&A session with industry professionals in the VFX & creative industry. 

 - Realtime Supervisor at Untold Studios London

 - 3d artist, Animator & Graphic designer

 - Senior Lecturer & Course Leader for Concept Art at Staffordshire University

 - Company Owner / Creative Director (Visualisation for Film, Game & TV) at Bigtooth Studios

 - Writer // Director // Producer focused on integrating AI, UE5.

#thevfxartistspodcast #vfxpodcast #aiart #midjourney

This week it's been a real pleasure to meet Paul Miller and Marco Paolini - Software Developer and Product Manager behind the Oscar winning software, Boris Silhouette. 

Despite advances in AI, manual rotoscoping and invisible paintouts are still an essential bullwark of the VFX industry and not going away anytime soon.

We begin with their work on Elastic Reality (used on classic shows like Quantum Leap) a dtalk about how they have built Silhouette for artists who need to pain 100 stokes a second and export mattes accurate to better than a 16th of a pixel.

You can see some of Paul Miller's original design sketches for Silhouette

Recently Silhouette has expanded it's compositing toolset so we discuss their choices around this. Of course machine learning is something cannot avoid discussing both its promise and its limitations at the high end. 

In closing both Paul and Marco give some excellent career advice for anyone entering or advancing in the VFX and Software Development industries.

00:10:56 : Marco's Journey from Artist to Software 

00:14:01 : The Smallness of the Industry 

00:28:38 : The Decision to Add More Comp Features 

00:31:28 : Performance and Paul's Nightmares 

01:17:38 : Paul's Advice for Aspiring Developers 

01:22:41 : Marco's Advice for Getting into VFX and into Software 

(chapters powered by [Chaptered.app](https://Chaptered.app)) 

#Silhouette#Oscars#scitech#VFX#Podcast#rotoscoping#invisiblevfx As always, if you liked this episode, please like, comment, subscribe and share! Listen to all episodes on our website https://www.thevfxartistspodcast.com/

Powering Invisible VFX, with Paul Miller and Marco Paolini, creators of Boris Silhouette | TVAP EP44

In this episode, we chat to María Carriedo, CG Lead at Freefolk. Born in Mexico, María studied VFX at the prestigious Gnomon School in LA before working at Psyops on commercials. Since then she moved to London to work at The Mill before her current role. In this interview we learn about María's journey into VFX and her approach to continuous learning and development. 

As a lead María is involved in the hiring process so her showreel advice will be invaluable to any 3D Artists seeking new projects. While trained in Maya, María mostly works with Houdini so we discuss the merits of the 2 giants in the 3D industry as well as touching on Zbrush, Unreal and the new Solaris/Karma renderer in Houdini. 

There's a lot packed into this interview so you will want to check it out!

Einstein image credit: Smart Energy/The Mill, 

00:00:32 : Education and beginning of career 

00:14:34 : Showreel advice from the point of view of a hirer 

00:19:15 : What seniors can learn from new entrants 

00:20:33 : What qualities make a better 3D artist 

On-Set in Extreme Environments with Jörundur Rafn Arnarson | TVAP EP42

Jörundur Rafn Arnarson returns after exchanging the frozen mountains of Iceland for the Deserts for his recent VFX Supervisor role on "Rise of The Witches". 

We talk about how extreme environments influence filmmakers, the route from Compositing to VFX Supervision, "bad CGI", helicopters and much much more. 

With a Supervisor whose body of work ranges from Icelandic indie films to Cannes Palm D'Or, Triangle of Sadness to Prehistoric Planet to franchise blockbusters Dr Strange - Multiverse of Madness and Game of Thrones, You won't want to miss this one! 

As always, if you liked this episode, please like, comment, subscribe and share! 

00:03:43 : Triangle of Sadness
00:13:42 : The most sought after commodity on-set
00:16:03 : The mindset of extreme environments
00:23:15 : RIse of The Witches - a Saudi Arabian epic
00:28:07 : Dr Strange and Prehistoric Planet
00:36:25 : Issues I have with CG
00:45:45 : Guiding big and small budgets
00:49:17 : I will always cut out VFX if I can
00:53:04 : "Bad CGI"
01:26:04 : Advice for filmmakers using VFX for the first time.

On-Set in Extreme Environments with Jörundur Rafn Arnarson | TVAP EP4

How I manage being a VFX artist and a mother of two - Rebecca Holdstock  | TVAP EP41

In this episode, we chat to Rebecca Holdstock, senior matchmove and rotomation artist at Cinesite London about her VFX career, spiralling over a decade in some of London's well known and biggest studios, through to becoming a mother of two and the change that comes with being a working mother.

I had the privilege of working with Rebecca at Cinesite on The Witcher season 2, and for the first time in my life, I was working with a mother, who was signing on in the middle of the day, on a customised working hours.

This blew my mind, and triggered my interest in the topic to which we sat down to discus.

Becoming a working mother, or choosing to become a working mother in any industry is often times a big challenge and decision that affects women in all sorts of life and industries. Whilst Rebecca's story focuses on the VFX industry, it very much is relatable to all women and working mothers in every industry, and will be for every generation to come.

It therefore is a rightful and important subject to be discussing and brining it to light, to create awareness, and hopefully encourage and or prepare other women in the VFX and wider working industries.




00:00:00 Ident
00:00:05 Introductions
00:01:40 A bit about Rebecca
00:02:31 Journey into the VFX industry
00:09:32 Getting foot in the door of the VFX industry
00:13:19 Settling in the Matchmove department
00:23:49 Motherhood and being an artist in the VFX industry
00:31:59 Managing kids and shots during early days of covid
00:51:46 Planing to start a family, vs having kids unexpectedly
00:54:10 What can be improved for women working in the VFX industry
01:03:15 Advice to any artists looking to start a family
01:05:59 What should women look out for, when applying to join a VFX studio
01:10:51 Conclusion

As always, if you liked this episode, please like, comment, subscribe and share!

#vfxindustry #workingmom #vfxartist

How I manage being a VFX artist and a mother of two - Rebecca Holdstock | TVAP EP41

How We Created 3DEqualizer For The VFX Industry, with Rolf Schneider | TVAP EP40

In this episode, I had the biggest opportunity to chat to Rolf Schneider, owner of Science-D-Visions, about how he Created 3DEqualizer For The VFX Industry.

Looking back at the evolving digital scene in the 80's and 90's, we discuss working on the Commodore 64 and Amiga, to creating the first version of 3DEqualizer in 1996, to MPC and ILM purchasing their first licenses in 1996 and '97. We do a deep dive about the whole journey and how it all happened.

An episode not to be missed!

As always, if you liked this episode, please like, comment, subscribe and share!

3DE



00:00:00 Ident
00:00:05 Introducing Rolf
00:00:35 A bit about Rolf, his background and role at Science-D-Vision
00:02:15 Working on the Commodore & Amiga in the 80's
00:04:32 How we started building 3DEqualizer
00:07:06 Coming up with a name for 3DEqualizer
00:08:07 The team
00:11:35 Developing animation & (ray tracing) rendering software in the 80's
00:16:09 Getting the first studio to buy 3DEqualizer
00:22:42 Tools over interface?
00:27:07 Playing a major role in the VFX industry
00:32:17 The future of matchmove & motion tracking within 3DE alongside AI
00:36:40 Industries outside of VFX using 3DE
00:38:50 Is it easier to impliment tools into 3DE
00:42:52 How 3DE became the industry standard for the VFX industry
00:46:21 Best Wins till date
00:49:13 What keeps you going and innovative
00:53:01 What should the industry expect in the future
00:53:18 Appreciation & Conclusion

#3dequalizer #matchmove #rolfschneider

Being An Artist In The Chinese VFX Industry | TVAP EP39

In this episode, I chat to Yin Wu, a Junior CG Artist at The Mill, Shanghai, about his experience and journey into the Chinese VFX industry.

My curiosity of the Chinese industry, leads me to chase for comparisons between the U.K. VFX industry - Finding similarities and differences on topics like work-life-balance and how the industry differentiates itself between Beijing and Shanghai.

Yin's story is that of dedication and merit.

As a developing CG artist, with background in Blender, we dive in to find out why Blender stands out for him. We also discuss his transition into Unreal engine, and Houdini.

As always, if you liked this episode, please like, comment, subscribe and share!



https://www.linkedin.com/in/yin-wu-b8804aa9/

https://www.youtube.com/c/TheVFXArtistsPodcast


00:00:00 Ident
00:00:05 Intro
00:00:46 Get to know Yin
00:01:04 How I got into the VFX industry
00:05:20 Getting my first VFX job in China
00:06:44 Becoming an artist at The Mill Shanghai
00:10:06 A bigger picture of the VFX industry in China
00:11:04 Work-life-balance in the Chinese VFX industry
00:14:20 Regulations for better work-life balance in the Chinese VFX industry
00:15:33 Working in Blender
00:18:23 Inspiration behind the cityscape
00:19:55 Transition to Unreal Engine
00:21:49 Typical route to entry into the Chinese VFX industry
00:23:50 Freedom of career direction in the Chinese community
00:25:14 What inspired your journey into the creative industry
00:26:10 Need for change in the Chinese VFX industry
00:31:48 Advice for aspiring VFX artists
00:33:16 Commercials vs Film, Shanghai vs Beijing
00:34:31 Conclusion

#vfxpodcast #chinesevfxindustry #vfxartistchina

How I Became A VFX Coordinator | TVAP EP38

In this episode, we chat to Atem Kuol about how he became a VFX coordinator.

Starting up as a witness camera operator and venturing into VFX production before embarking on 'Death on the Nile' as assistant coordinator, Atem gives us the low down on his experiences and how he made it into the VFX industry from his early beginnings in the live TV industry.

One not to be missed, from anyone looking to understand what VFX coordinators do, and the ins and outs of how one gets to be one.

As always, if you liked this episode, please like, comment, subscribe and share!

Connect with Atem



00:00:00 Ident
00:00:05 Intro
00:00:10 A bit about Atem
00:03:19 The role of a VFX coordinator explained
00:06:54 VFX journey - The inspiration
00:10:01 What's the entry route for VFX coordinators
00:11:35 Coordinating alongside covid
00:13:01 Working with departments on a day-to-day basis
00:14:05 Coordinator's relationship & process with VFX vendors
00:16:10 What's the best way to understand every department's needs
00:19:02 Features or Episodics
00:20:14 Advice for aspiring coordinators
00:21:40 Advice for coodinators looking to move between vendor side and production company
00:22:43 Humble Beginnings Films
00:23:58 Conclusion

#vfxpodcast #vfxcoordinator #vfxcareer

The ups and downs of life as a compositor with Josh Parks | TVAP EP37

This week we catch up with Senior Compositor and trainer, Josh Parks for a lively discussion of all things tech, industry and career related.

Starting out as "The wildcard choice" for MPC's training program, he has built an impressive career with credits including: Jungle Book, Transformers: The Last Knight, Ready Player One, Wonder Woman, Guardians of the Galaxy, Lovecraft Country, Stranger Things and much more

We also talk about Josh's training materials and how building this from early in his journey in VFX has not only helped other artists, but also helped himself to grow as a compositor.

We also discuss Unreal, volume, machine learning and the future of the industry so you will want to check this one out!


00:00:05 : Introductions
00:04:33 : Machine learning and the black box
00:09:04 : The Mailing List
00:11:41 : How creating learning materials can help the creator
00:13:04 : Keying and Dan's worst interview ever
00:18:48 : Josh's route into the industry
00:22:15 : The ups and downs of life as a comper
00:37:18 : Ownership of art and Caravaggio getting client notes
00:51:00 : Unreal in Nuke
00:57:34 : 


01:07:12 : Outro and a bit of industry history

Rendered: 2022-07-24 20:30:49
Powered by [Chaptered.app](https://Chaptered.app)

Becoming a mother made me an efficient VFX Animator - Part 2 | TVAP EP36

Part 2 of our discussion with Christina Mandia continues, with this last part focusing on Christina's VFX industry journey, going all the way back to her first interests and influence, education, as well as showreel and general advice for current and aspiring mothers and animators.

Christina’s journey as a VFX animator, begun with an entry into the VFX industry as a runner, following the completion of an animator degree at Ravensbourne university, leading on to a progression into the matchmove department, and finally into the much anticipated department she’d always been aspiring for - animation.

We hope you find this episode useful as we did.

Special thanks to Christina for kindly taking time out to share her experiences with us.

Subscribe and turn notifications on to be alerted when part 2 comes out!

Find Christina on




As always, if you liked this episode, please like, comment, subscribe and share!




00:00:00 Welcome to Part 2
00:00:05 What inspired your interest in Animation and VFX
00:09:26 Thoughts on Runner's positions as part-entry into the VFX industry
00:20:20 Filmography review
00:29:41 Advice for animators, and transitioning artists into maternal roles

#vfxartist #animation #vfxcareer

Becoming a mother made me an efficient VFX Animator - Part 1 | TVAP EP35

This week, we have the amazing Christina Mandia, animator at Cinesite London, giving us an insight into how she tackles her maternal role, whilst being a better, more efficient animator.

Christina goes on to share some very important information on maternity leave pay for employees and freelancers through the government schemes, as well as employee entitlements. Some really useful info for employees and freelancers in any career.

Christina’s journey as a VFX animator, starts with an entry into the VFX industry as a runner, following the completion of an animator degree at Ravensbourne university, leading on to a progression into the matchmove department, and finally into the much anticipated department she’d always been aspiring for - animation.

In this two-part episode, Christina shares her journey, her expertise advice as an animator & mother, and gives invaluable advice for aspiring animators and aspiring & existing parents in the working industry, more specifically, the VFX industry.

We hope you find this episode useful as we did.

Special thanks to Christina for kindly taking time out to share her experiences with us.

Subscribe and turn notifications on to be alerted when part 2 comes out!

Find Christina on:



00:00:00 Intro
00:00:38 How it all started
00:07:04 Becoming pregnant as an artist
00:09:23 Deciding to speak to HR at 26 weeks of pregnancy
00:16:33 Confronting HR and recruiters about pregnancy
00:17:29 Maternity leave and pay laws in the U.K.
00:20:36 iAnimate during maternity leave
00:28:22 WFH - Mother's opinion
00:35:15 School!
00:39:36 Prove yourself and know your worth!
00:43:56 Hesitancy & Pressure on women choosing between work and starting a family
00:56:24 Getting back into work after Maternity leave

Perception - Behind the HUD & Title sequences of your favourite movies | TVAP EP34

In this episode, we chat to Jeremy Lasky & Danny Gonzalez, founders of Perception to learn more about the creation of what's become one of the most influential and important VFX & creative studios globally.

Perception has brought us title sequences and HUD's (heads up displays) for films such as Iron Man, Black Panther, Loki, Wandavision, Spiderman Homecoming, Eternals, and many more. In fact, the list is endless!

Title sequences and great HUD's play a great part in the story-telling of movies, as well as real-world applications, and Perception is at the forefront of some of the most cutting-edge and most successful ones.

In this episode, we learn about the reason behind the creation of the studio, the ins and outs, the hustle and the failures turned to wins.

As always, if you liked this episode, please like, comment, subscribe and share!

Visit 


00:00:00 Intro
00:00:16 Why we created Perception
00:08:47 Differentiating Perception from VFX studios
00:14:11 Considering ethical concerns when designing
00:16:18 Can too much creative freedom be negative?
00:17:30 Secret In-house technologies
00:19:14 How to stay original
00:21:25 Expanding offices beyond North America
00:23:06 Learning from mistakes
00:28:46 Aspirations for the next decade

Episode 48 Out Now!

Episodes

Creativity, Money and the Freelance Career, with Courtney Pryce | TVAP EP 48

Behind The Desk with Hugo Guerra | TVAP EP47

Building the Biggest VFX Asset Library in The World! ActionVFX CEO Rodolphe Pierre-Louis | TVAP EP46

AI in the VFX & Creative Industry: Impact, Issues & Solutions | TVAP EP45

Powering Invisible VFX, with Paul Miller and Marco Paolini, creators of Boris Silhouette | TVAP EP44

Share Knowledge - Keep Learning with María Carriedo | TVAP EP43

On-Set in Extreme Environments with Jörundur Rafn Arnarson | TVAP EP4

How I manage being a VFX artist and a mother of two - Rebecca Holdstock | TVAP EP41

How We Created 3DEqualizer For The VFX Industry, with Rolf Schneider | TVAP EP40

Being An Artist In The Chinese VFX Industry | TVAP EP39

How I Became A VFX Coordinator | TVAP EP38

The ups and downs of life as a compositor with Josh Parks | TVAP EP37

Becoming a mother made me an efficient VFX Animator - Part 2 | TVAP EP36

Becoming a mother made me an efficient VFX Animator - Part 1 | TVAP EP35

Perception - Behind the HUD & Title sequences of your favourite movies | TVAP EP34