Share Knowledge - Keep Learning with María Carriedo | TVAP EP43

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 

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

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!

How VFX Changes your view of the World, with Arpita Venugopal Head of FX at One of Us | TVAP EP22

In this episode we meet with Arpita Venugopal, Head of FX at One of Us and a highly accomplished Houdini Artist.

We talk about her career in FX and how it has increased her appreciation for the beauty in the World. She gives advice for showreels and applications based on her role as a Head of Department and in recruitment. We discuss managing artists, her favourite projects, her plant-based Instagram @platefulofbliss and what makes SideFX Houdini so powerful in the field of FX in particular.

You will not want to miss this one and if you are an FXTD or aspiring FX-TD you may want to take notes!



https://www.instagram.com/platefulofbliss/



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

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Episodes

Share Knowledge - Keep Learning with María Carriedo | TVAP EP43

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

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

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

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

How VFX changes your view of the World, with Arpita Venugopal Head of FX at One of Us | TVAP EP22