In this episode, I chat to VFX Comp Supervisor Ruth Meridjen about the state of the VFX industry in 2024 and the impact of the pandemic on production. The slow ramp-up of production and the greenlighting of projects are discussed. The future of the industry and the role of AI in filmmaking are examined, with a focus on the limitations and regulations surrounding AI. The importance of storytelling and the need for more unique and diverse stories are emphasized, as well as the need for VFX to...

Exploitation of VFX Artists - With Senior CG Generalist Mark Woodcock | TVAP EP58 In this episode, I chat to senior CG Generalist Mark Woodcock about the exploitation of Artists in the VFX industry, following his recent and ongoing dispute with IXOR Visual FX. Mark joins the podcast to enlighten us, for the purpose of informing and educating other artists in order to be aware and avoid similar situations. We hope you find this episode useful, and would encourage artists to fight and speak...

The health of the VFX industry in 2024, with foudner of MOTUS Kurt Maclachlan | TVAP EP57 In this episode, I chat to Kurt Maclachlan about the status of the VFX in 2024. We discuss where things are at currently, what needs to be done for a better future of the VFX industry and more! 00:00 Introduction and Background 02:48 Causes of the Strikes 04:29 Key Concerns for Actors and Writers 04:59 Impact on VFX Artists 06:06 Duration of the Strikes 07:48 Current State of the Industry 08:09 Hiring...

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...

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...

In this episode with Matt Merkovich of The Matchmoving Company, we talk about the importance of 3D tracking/matchmove in the VFX industry and what it means to be a matchmove artist. Matt is an expert user of Syntheyes and has been a great influencer in getting it where it is today.  He also uses it for almost all of his work, spiralling almost three decades in the VFX industry. Matt believes #Syntheyes is by far the best 3D tracking software out there and has by far "the best 2D tracking...

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...

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...

In the first episode of 2023, we felt it quite important to start the year right, by bringing you some much necessary tips from a VFX recruiter, should you be looking to take on a new role. We are therefore pleased to have Sophie Maydon, former VFX Global Head of HR, Recruitment and PR at DNEG (Double Negative), and Director, VFX Talent & Recruitment Consultant  at her firm PXL Talent Sophie has over a decade's experience recruiting 100's of VFX and animation artists across many levels...

 This week we catch up with a rising star in the industry, Rishabh Laheja, a Junior Digital Compositor at MPC.  Realizing that a career in IT was not for him. Rishabh began studying nights and eventually putting together a compositing showreel with the help of working industry teachers and mentors he reached out to via Linkedin. Launching his new career exactly in the middle of the Covid lockdowns. Rishabh won a remote role at MPC Bangalore and has already worked as a compositor on huge...

What does it take to be a lighting artist? with Jasmine Katatikarn | TVAP EP49 This week we catch up with Jasmine Katatikarn, lighting artist and co-founder of the Academy of Animated Art. We discuss finding your career path at any stage in life, what it takes to be a lighting artist, what makes a successful lighting application to top VFX, and animation studios, working in the VFX and animation as a woman and POC, diversity in the industry and more. Without a doubt, we also go on to find...

This week we caught up with Courtney Pryce. The industry veterans know him from his years as a Creative Specialist at Foundry. We cover a lot of ground, beginning in the "Rock&Roll" years of London VFX in the early 2000s. Also covering the role of the Creative Specialist and the secrets of financial stability as a 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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

In this episode, we chat to María Carriedo, CG Lead at Freefolk and former colleague of Daniel's at The Mill. 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...