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.

From Matchmove Lead to Lighting TD - How I did it - Maik Pham Quang | TVAP EP21

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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
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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

Founding a Games Studio: VFX Entrepreneurs with Mohsen Mousavi and Hugh Behroozy | TVAP EP33

Have you got an idea for 
This week we catch a game you would love to bring to life?
up with VFX Supervisor, Mohsen Mousavi and Look Dev Artist, Hugh Behroozy who are doing exactly that with their new venture, Blinkmoon.

We discuss their impressive VFX careers and their time at Scanline, where they met and worked on projects such as Game of Thrones, The Meg, Guardians of The Galaxy and more...

Despite the wide availability of tools such as Unreal Engine and Unity, game dev is still hard - in this interview we learn why that is a good thing for those with the passion and dedication to follow through!

00:00:04 : Mohsen intro
00:01:40 : Hugh's career and teenage Second LIfe.
00:29:44 : Influences and inspiration
00:32:03 : Attracting the best talent
00:36:09 : Producing a game vs producing VFX: Agile and Waterfall
00:43:47 : Agile Plan vs No Plan
00:50:47 : Leaving VFX ?
00:57:20 : Learning how to learn

Not Your Starving Artist, with VFX Generalist Vicki Lau | TVAP EP32

In this episode, we chat to VFX generalist and author, Vicki Lau, about her take on being a female multi-disciplinary artist in the VFX industry.

We also find out why she chose to write two books about her experience in the VFX industry, titled 'Why I Do VFX' (The untold truths about working in visual effects) and 'Not your starving artist' (Making money in the arts).

Vicki also gives us a look into the misconception of the industry by the asian community, based on her own experience and what kept her determined to pursue her goals.

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




00:00:00 Intro
00:00:41 How I got into the VFX industry
00:07:50 Being a compositor for Postvis and finals
00:09:11 Volumetric and Stereoscopic compositing
00:11:19 Pros and cons of being a generalist
00:13:24 Pros and cons of being a postvis Compositor
00:15:57 Favourite shows worked on
00:16:32 Being an oriental woman in the VFX industry
00:19:01 VFX industry in Singapore
00:20:10 What drives you?
00:21:59 Teaching others
00:24:49 Why I wrote these VFX books
00:30:11 Benefits of putting your VFX industry experience into a book
00:31:20 Where to find Vicki's books
00:31:52 Words of advice
00:35:10 Conclusion



Becoming the Best Compositor You Can With Shonda Hunt | TVAP EP31

With credits including The Batman, Walking Dead: Worlds Beyond Thor, Love and Thunder its's no wonder we've been wanting to catch up with Freelance Compositor, Shonda Hunt. But in the end she got in touch with us after we asked about the issues facing mothers working in the VFX industry.

So in this two pronged interview Daniel and Shonda discuss the challenges of parenting while working compositing. We also discuss Shonda's career and inspirations. This interview gives valuable insights for working more efficiently in Foundry Nuke, building trust and credibility with producers and supervisors and tips for continual learning and improvement.

If you are interested in upping your compositing career you will not want to miss this one!

00:54 : How I got started
04:52 : Tutorials and Books
06:07 : Depper understanding
09:19 : Freelancing vs staff
28:33 : Advice to up your game
30:33 : Don't be afraid to test things out
31:32 : Read read read
33:50 : Custom tools and gizmos
37:35 : Being a parent in the VFX industry
40:44 : WFH and childcare
44:09 : Growing as an artist while working from home
45:24 : The value of blogging
49:37 : Hard greenscreens please!
56:30 : The value of feedback
58:45 : Becoming the go-to person for hard shots

Perspective of a Senior Houdini FX TD, with Baptiste Jaquemet | TVAP EP30

In this episode, we chat to Baptiste Jaquemet, a senior Houdini FX TD and generalist, about his journey into the VFX industry and how his journey has led him to work at the studio that inspired his interest in VFX - Weta.

Baptiste's journey is an interesting one, and we talk about his early beginnings, his love for Blender, and Houdini, negative experiences in the VFX industry, and his dreams for the future.

We hope you enjoy! You can find our audio podcast on your favourite podcast player.




00:00:00 Episode Overview
00:01:24 Intro
00:01:47 Introducing Baptiste
00:03:44 Weta
00:05:10 Who/What inspired your VFX journey
00:08:08 Realisation of creative interest
00:09:28 Journey into the industry
00:13:08 Dark aspects of the industry - Part 1
00:16:20 VFX industry in France
00:17:39 Working as a Freelancer vs Contract
00:20:48 Let's talk Houdini
00:31:20 Watch Baptiste's short film
00:36:50 Best methods for learning Houdini
00:39:24 Pro's & Cons of working at different studios, as an FX TD
00:41:34 creative freeedom when it comes to simulating real world physics
00:43:49 Importance of understanding real world physics
00:45:31 Shading and lighting as an FX TD
00:47:58 FX showreel advice
00:49:51 Dark aspects of the industry - Part 2
00:52:05 OOO and dreams
00:55:37 Conclusion
As always, if you liked this episode, please like, comment, subscribe and share!



Sean Cunningham Part 2, From Digital Domain to Indie Film and Rooster Teeth | TVAP EP29

In the second installment of our interview with veteran VFX Artist and filmmaker, Sean Cunningham we go into detail about the process used on the 1990's action movie True Lies for the missile sequence - featuring some of the earliest uses of Nuke digital compositing at Digital Domain as well as an early version of SideFX Houdini (Prisms).

We talk about his role supervising on Strange Days and working on Oh Brother Where Art Thou with the first use of full DI on feature film. We discuss how he raised funds, produced and distributed two indie feature films and his return to VFX.

It's a great tour for VFX artists interested in some of the early history of digital FX and the tools we use everyday as well as a case study in indie filmmaking.




00:00:05 : The Team on True Lies
00:00:05 : Marker 1
00:03:34 : The origin of the name "Nuke"
00:04:42 : Nuke always planned as a commercial project
00:06:43 : Th Pixel was sacred
00:07:56 : Talking through the workflow on a missile shot
00:09:09 : The use of Amigas at DD for playback
00:10:45 : Everybody would have to queue up their tests
00:21:39 : How FVX work teaches you to think about things
00:32:46 : Running out to film
00:33:30 : First time as Supervisor and the fear
00:35:00 : O Brother Where Art Thou - first film with end to end DI
00:35:31 : Working with Roger Deakins
00:41:13 : Presentation to PETA
00:42:28 : From Hollywood to indie filmmaking
00:45:50 : Fundraising first indie feature film
00:49:47 : Shooting in a small town
00:56:02 : Distribution
01:00:09 : After release - back to VFX
01:02:03 : A kidnapping
01:03:18 : Sick Boy - finally making a horror movie
01:08:06 : The response to Sick Boy
01:24:37 : Working at Rooster Teeth
01:28:12 : How to get out of a creative rut
01:29:44 : Remote work opportunities
01:32:31 : Final words and advice

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

From the Amiga to Houdini, Nuke and Digital Domain with Sean Cunningham Part 1  | TVAP EP28

We go all the way back the 1990's in this 2 part interview with Sean Cunningham, a veteran of the VFX industry whose credits as an FX Artists include films such as True Lies, Strange Days, The Fifth Element, Godzilla, Oh Brother Where Art Thou and who has directed and produced independent feature films in his own right.

This journey takes us from the excitement of the Commodore Amiga, missed proms, the inspiration of T2 and the founding days of James Cameron's Digital Domain studios.

We learn about the origins of industry standard tools SideFX Houdini and Foundry Nuke from someone who was using both in their earliest incarnations as SideFX Prisms and Digital Domain's in house compositing tool - Nuke.

We go deep and geeky so be warned.



00:00 : What to Expect
01:53 : Meet Sean Cunningham
03:01 : How I got started in the industry
05:29 : The importance of the Amiga for creative computing
07:00 : Sculpt 3D on the Amiga
07:52 : Lightwave
14:10 : The inspirational effect of T2
14:33 : First VFX online bulletin board
16:15 : T2 Comes out, a turning point
17:47 : Calarts
23:36 : : Metrolight Studios and Sexy Robot
28:07 : The Role of TD in the 1990's
31:05 : You had to build up an intuition - working without UI feedback
36:22 : Elastic Reality, morphs and splines
39:28 : James Cameron founds Digital Domain
42:05 : Digital Domain in Stan Winston's Creature Shop
42:53 : Stealing Artists and the pirate mentality
45:18 : True Lies
49:51 : Side FX Prisms (which became Houdini)
51:51 : Learning VFX software in the 1990's
58:06 : My Approach to learning at Digital Domain and since

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

An Unreal Engine Discussion, with Filipe Magalhães, Realtime Supervisor at NVIZ | TVAP EP27

In this episode, Kofi chats to Filipe Magalhães, Realtime supervisor at NVIZ about Unreal engine and all things realtime.

We do a deep dive into Unreal engine in the use for previs, VFX, and Virtual production, compare it to Unity, and retrace Filipe's journey into the industry.

Following up on that, we discus the education, diversity and representation in the VFX industry, neurodiversity and more.

A very well packed episode, not to be missed!

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

Listen to all episodes on our 


00:00:00 Episode Overview
00:02:05 intro
00:02:32 Introductions and a bit about Filipe
00:09:52 When did you realise you had a creative interest?
00:13:10 Differences between unreal and unity and why the previs/postvis, VFX and virtual production industries have adopted unreal over Unity
00:18:06 What do you generally use unreal for and how does the workflow differ between previs/postvis, VFX and or virtual production
00:32:33 What are the common requests/demands from directors and what does it take to provide the right tools and results in a fast environment
00:40:48 Non handheld virtual camera challenges in Unreal
00:42:44 What does Unreal lack or can be improved
00:48:23 How technical does one need to be when using unreal
00:55:44 Is non-realtime rendering a thing of the past
00:58:45 Favourite non-real time renderers and why
01:00:27 Achieving diversification and representation in the VFX industry
01:05:44 Assets and Unreal showreel advice
01:08:10 Career path advice
01:14:29 The importance of parental support in finding self
01:18:31 Conclusion

Episode 41 Out Now!

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