This week's guest is co-founder of FXGuide, arguably the first and foremost podcast and blog in our field. He also co-founded FXPhd which was my route into the industry so this was a massive honor for me. We dive deep into Neural Rendering (which Mike has been involved with since 1999) machine learning and practical applications within visual effects and filmmaking. We then discuss the ethics of machine learning  and art, why there won't "a metaverse" and some of the most likely applications of AR and VR. This raises some general points about the application of new technology which i ..read more

Inside VFX Recruitment with Melissa Blakey, Global Head of Talent at Crafty Apes | TVAP EP53 (P-1) For many VFX Recruitment is a bit of a black box - we send off our reels and CV and then hope for the best. This week we go behind the curtain with Crafty Apes, Global Head of talent, Melissa Blakey. We cover Melissa's own fascinating career - she started working on-set before moving into post and then worked for almost 20 years in VFX Production before moving into Recruitment! We discuss why she decided a career on set was not for her and start to unpick the way recruiters and VFX houses selec ..read more

This is a hot topic with "No AI" trending on Artstation and pending court cases we spoke to Director, Filmmaker and Game Designer Alvaro García Martínezwho has been heavily engaged with this topic. Alvaro worked as VFX Artist for 10 years at London's top studios before founding Mayhem Mirror, his own Game Design studio. So he has experience as an employee an independent creator and as an employer of artists. As Alvaro says, "I am not against AI, but against the unethical use of AI". But what does that mean? Tune in and join the debate! As always, if you liked this episode, please like, comm ..read more

I Sold Gum. Now I Blow Things Up! With Action VFX Founder and CEO Rodolphe Pierre-Louis | TVAP EP46 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 fil ..read more

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 our discussion  with their work on Elastic Reality (used on classic shows like Quantum Leap) and talk about how they have built Silhouette for artists who need to paint 100 stokes a second and export mattes accurate to better than a 16th of a pixel. Recently Sil ..read more

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 ..read more

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. Chapters: 00:00:00 Episode Overview 00:01:24 Intro 00:01:47 Introducing Baptiste 00:03:44 Weta ..read more

This week we meet Christopher Nichols, veteran VFX Supervisor and Director of the Chaos Group Labs. Chris’s career in computer graphics spans over 20 years, beginning in architecture and quickly moving to major motion pictures and later commercials at: Digital Domain, Sony Pictures, Method, Sway Studios and others.  As this is Daniel’s first time hosting the show it’s lucky that Chris is himself a veteran podcaster - helming CG Garage (where Kofi and Daniel are also appearing as guests) in addition to the Martini Giant film podcast. We take a whirlwind tour and learn about true real time ..read more

The Man Who Wrote The Book on Compositing with Ron Brinkman | TVAP EP56 When I embarked on my compositing journey, Ron Brinkmann's book, "The Art and Science of Digital Compositing," proved to be an invaluable resource. It provided a wealth of visual information and included a DVD with footage for hands-on practice. Even today, this book remains a seminal work and continues to be relevant for artists, thanks to its emphasis on developing the skill of visual perception. Therefore, it was a tremendous honor to have Ron Brinkmann as a guest on our show. He served as the Compositing Supervisor a ..read more

The Man Who Wrote The Book on Compositing with Ron Brinkman | TVAP EP56 When I embarked on my compositing journey, Ron Brinkmann's book, "The Art and Science of Digital Compositing," proved to be an invaluable resource. It provided a wealth of visual information and included a DVD with footage for hands-on practice. Even today, this book remains a seminal work and continues to be relevant for artists, thanks to its emphasis on developing the skill of visual perception. Therefore, it was a tremendous honor to have Ron Brinkmann as a guest on our show. He served as the Compositing Supervisor a ..read more