Welcome to another episode and today we sit down with two remarkable visionaries, Jess Loren and Erick Geisler, who are redefining the boundaries of digital realms and entertainment landscapes.

Jess Loren is a seasoned entertainment professional, tech entrepreneur, and internationally published author. As CEO and founding partner of To Whom It May Concern, a production services company, and Founder and CEO of Global Objects, she leads the charge in democratizing access to digital replicas of the world. With over 15 years of experience, she has overseen production & experiential projects for brands like Netflix, Hulu, Apple+, Microsoft and NVIDIA, and is a voting member of the Television Academy and a member of the Visual Effects Society. Jess's research on the brain's response to visual imagery continues to guide her work in virtual production, creative development, and experiential marketing.

Erick Geisler is a recognized technology leader and two-time Emmy winner serving as the Chief Technology Officer of Global Objects. With extensive expertise in innovative fields like Neural Radiance Fields (NeRFs), generative AI, LIDAR scanning, and photogrammetry, Erick spearheads the development of realistic digital environments, democratizing access to digital replicas of the world. A voting member of the Television Academy and a member of the Visual Effects Society, he combines his technical prowess and artistic vision to drive the success of various projects across diverse platforms. His leadership at Global Objects is shaping the future of digital experiences across multiple sectors.

Highlights of the Episode:
0:00 Introduction
0:16 Introduction of guest
1:10 Early inspirations in film and production
12:13 Jess' start as an entrepreneur
20:04 Focus on AI
26:22 An industry in flux
29:22 Work in LightCraft Jetset
31:56 Locations and other reasons for starting Global Objects
35:22 Hiring for artists
40:07 Going after things as an entrepreneur
47:16 Sharing in the visual effects community
48:51 Competition between the Amazon and the Trellis stage
57:17 Tech and LightCraft Jetset
1:06:12 Advice for working with your significant other
1:08:48 First Friday
1:12:26 Wrap up
1:12:51 Outro

Connecting with the Guest:
Jess Loren
Website: https://www.globalobjects.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessloren/

Erick Geisler
Website: https://www.globalobjects.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ejgeisler/

Connecting with CG Pro:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/
Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BecomeCGPro

VirtualProduction #VFX #Entrepreneurship

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Ped is a highly experienced 3D artist and CG supervisor with projects including The Witcher Season 3, War of the Worlds, and No Escape. After the standard “not sure what I want to do” phase faced by many school leavers, he decided to study games development, leaning into his natural creative promise. And then he discovered the world of CGI, quickly becoming entranced by the opportunities offered by digital image making.

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Join us as we sit down and chat with Alex Pearce, our upcoming Blender Course Instructor, and chat about his experience as a Senior Creative Technologist at Light Sail VR!

Alex oversees the technical side of Light Sail VR including virtual production, photo-real visual effects, 3D pre-visualization as well as augmenting 360 video and real-time game engine development efforts. Alex's many years of experience as an industry thought leader has enabled his success with major clients including Apple, Google, United Airlines, Kia, VMware and the NFL, to name a few!

Highlights of the Episode:
0:00 Introduction
0:14 Introduction of guest
1:33 Background
11:43 What is virtual production?
14:19 Getting started with CG
26:44 Why users should get professional one-on-one training with Blender
28:40 Where Blender comes in as a good companion to the workflow
35:05 How virtual production can work with digital marketing
39:08 How much and what do you need to scrap for good performance in VR
42:26 Top programs to get familiar with when starting virtual production
46:04 Plans to help minorities in the VP scene
48:12 Packaging and delivery process of a UE to VR HMD system
50:44 Efforts to help military veterans transition into the CG world
53:10 The cons of Octane
57:49 Return of VR and using 360 plates on LED walls
01:00:28 AI and non-player character conversations in Unreal Engine
01:02:05 Thoughts on volumetric video and Unreal Engine
01:07:18 Wrap up
01:07:39 Outro

Connecting with the Guest:
Website: http://lightsailvr.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexpearce3d/

Connecting with CG Pro:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/
Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BecomeCGPro

CG #VirtualProduction #Filmmaking

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Adam Valdez is a pioneering figure in the world of computer graphics and virtual production. With a career spanning several decades, Valdez has left an indelible mark on the industry. He first gained recognition for his work on iconic films such as Robocop and Jurassic Park, showcasing his talent and technical expertise.

Valdez's breakthrough came as an animation head on the critically acclaimed films The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), contributing to their visual effects success. His work continued to impress as a lead visual supervisor on notable films like 10,000 BC, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, John Carter, World War Z, and Maleficent.

However, it was his exceptional contributions to The Jungle Book (2016) that earned him widespread acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 89th Academy Awards. Valdez's dedication to pushing the boundaries of creativity led to his second Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects in 2020, for his work on The Lion King (2019), which was brought to life using Unreal Engine 5, with support from the Epic Games Mega Grant and VFX house MPC.

Valdez's expertise and passion have made him a sought-after director in the field of virtual production. His latest project, BRAVE CREATURES, exemplifies the power of Unreal Engine as it collaborates with VFX house MPC to deliver captivating animation and visual effects. With an illustrious career and a penchant for innovation, Adam Valdez continues to inspire and shape the world of computer graphics.

Highlights of the Episode:

0:00 Introduction

0:20 Introduction of guest

1:11 How did you get into computer graphics

07:37 Witnessing filmmakings' massive transition

11:56 AI is here

20:59 Applauding the idea of UV mapping going away

24:50 Buzzwords about Metaverse web three

30:24 Making Brave Creatures in unreal engine

35:44 What it's like making something of your own again

37:28 Top three programs to learn to compliment unreal Engine skills

43:41 What to focus on when starting or growing

48:07 Plans for a game based on Brave Creatures

50:57 An amazing world in prehistoric planet

01:02:06 Where VR is really great

01:05:00 Favorite mocap suit

01:10:06 What it's like winning an Oscar

01:12:45 Do you use storyboards when you come up with an idea

01:22:30 Career phases

01:23:48 A 3D tool that works in real time

01:30:25 Wrap up

01:30:52 Outro

Connecting with the Guest:

Website: https://www.mpcfilm.com/en/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-valdez-0102a11/

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BecomeCGPro

CG #VirtualProduction #Filmmaking

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Peter started his Visual Effects career in the mid 90s with Digital Domain. He worked on projects like Apollo 13, Titanic and Final Fantasy – The Spirits Within, until he found his was to Weta Digital in New Zealand.

As a Digital Matte and Concept Artist he created visuals for LOTR- The Two Towers, King Kong, Avatar amongst many other projects.

Switching tracks, Peter started working as VFX Art Director and also On Set VFX Supervisor in the early 2010s on a variety of long-form TV shows.

This led him to be hired as Virtual Art Director on Amazon's Rings of Power, a position he held for over 3 years over 2 seasons.

Peter is currently working on a high profile virtual production in Australia.

Highlights of the Episode:
0:00 Introduction
0:17 Introduction of guest
1:12 Background
16:23 Doing well at walking the line
19:30 Tools for photogrammetry
26:43 Team members for XR filmmaking
31:05 Flame sessions with clients in 3D environments
31:52 Unity vs Unreal
34:31 Guide to moving around different facets of visual effects and
virtual production
35:54 Seeing something that you should spend time on
38:04 Studies that leads to the industry
40:44 What do you do to keep on top of all the new technology
42:59 What the industry is looking like for entry level positions
48:10 Advice on keeping the passion through a long career
50:38 The right time to walk away from an opportunity
53:12 Getting perspective in the middle of a lot of noise
55:40 AI and how it's influencing production
01:01:48 Wrap up
01:02:24 Outro

Connecting with the Guest:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-baustaedter-3499/?originalSubdomain=nz
Art station: https://peterbaustaedter7.artstation.com/

Connecting with CG Pro:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/
Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BecomeCGPro

CG #VirtualProduction #VFX

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Peter Hyoguchi directed the first Super Bowl spot to utilize Virtual Production. He is a two-time recipient of the Epic MegaGrant for his sci-fi “Gods of Mars” proof-of-concept which created a propitiatory virtual production pipeline with a team of Oscar and Emmy-winning virtual effects artists whose credits include “Star Wars”, “X-Men”, “How to Train Your Dragon”, “Batman”, Quantum of Solace”, “The Dark Crystal” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”

Hyoguchi wrote and directed the dramatic feature “First, Last and Deposit” which won Best Drama at the New York Independent Festival and Best Feature at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival. It went on to air on IFC and Netflix.

At fifteen years-old, Peter won George Lucas’s youth film festival for his short sci-fi film “The Future’s Future”. Two years later Hyoguchi received an art grant to direct his first feature film, “No Exit” by Jean Paul Sartre.

Highlights of the Episode:

0:00 Introduction

0:36 Introduction of guest

2:17 Beginning of Peter’s journey

04:47 First you have to learn how to draw

11:43 Never short on inspiration

13:32 Finally got a video camera

15:22 Show Us the Future

16:54 First feature film

25:29 Lots of working at video stores and theaters

27:34 Mid twenties, writing screenplays

31:08 First time in CG

39:41 Access to the best filmmaking equipment and visual effects tools

41:59 If you had all of what we've got now back then

48:01 Advice to young filmmakers

49:21 How do you find where you belong?

55:43 Journey into virtual production and the Unreal Engine

01:09:50 Making everybody go back to school

01:12:02 What are you excited about doing next?

01:19:53 The story is everything

01:23:37 Stop everything and relearn everything

01:26:58 When are you making the movie of your life?

Quotes:

“People who are really successful in this business, they have that knowledge. They have this crazy encyclopedic knowledge of film history and film grammar.” - Peter Hyoguchi

Connecting with the Guest:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterhyoguchi/

Website: https://www.roninfilm.com/

Facebook: facebook.com/peterhyoguchi

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/becomecgpro

RSVP here for upcoming CG Pro Podcasts: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/cg-pro-39748423833

virtualproduction #indie #becomecgpro

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Onyi Udeh is a Los Angeles-based founder focused on using technology to help creatives tell their own stories through animation. He currently runs the largest animation community, Animation Club, in the world with 25k members; while building the first dedicated talent marketplace for animation services called ‘Pipeline’.

Onyi's past experiences include working for companies like Walt Disney Studios, Buzzfeed, and Apple. He also ran his own boutique animation studio, Kolanut Productions, which focused on telling stories rooted in African folklore.

He studied Information Technology at San Francisco State University and currently lives in Los Angeles

Highlights of the Episode:

0:00 Introduction

0:38 Introduction of guest

6:10 The Impact of Community

11:23 Keeping the Interest Alive

13:45 Falling Through Technology

30:01 The Pivotal Moments

36:52 How to Get on the Pipeline Platform

38:44 Where New Animators Should Start

45:12 Empowering the Community

58:22 How to Join Animation Club

108:47 Outro

Quotes: 3 quotes
“ I think not being, getting into visual effects specifically, and just the fact that you're not, you're not limited by the limitations of the real world.” - Onyi Udeh

“The gaming industry is expanding. And even a lot more animation talent, metaverse, you know, AR, VR, NFT, even education finance, everybody is kind of collectively looking for this talent.” - Onyi Udeh

“So for us, we saw this as a brilliant opportunity to build this animation ecosystem and truly democratize the process of animation. So anybody, no matter your background, your skill set could come on this platform and get a story told in animation.” - Onyi Udeh

“The gaming industry is expanding. And even a lot more animation talent, metaverse, you know, AR, VR, NFT, even education finance, everybody is kind of collectively looking for this talent.” - Onyi Udeh

“It's important to build those communities and those friendship and those networks because typically, once you have a great relationship and a friendship and you work with somebody, when they get an opportunity or a new project is coming up, tv, film or whatever recruiters typically ask, Well, who would you like to work with?” - Onyi Udeh

“People are now where visual effects was kind of people sitting on their own with headphones on, not interacting that much. This is now starting to change it to be more collaborative in real time. People actually work together more, which is great. And I think VFX artists love it. They kinda wanna be in the mix.” - Onyi Udeh

Connecting with the Guest:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/onyi-udeh-a570b032/

Website: https://pipelinebeta.splashthat.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ceonchairman?lang=en

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter:https://twitter.com/becomecgpro

RSVP here for upcoming CG Pro Podcasts: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/cg-pro-39748423833

virtualproduction

animation

becomecgpro

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Winbush is a multi-award-winning motion graphics artist with over 15 years of experience working in a wide range of mediums from television, movies, to virtual & augmented reality. Over his career, Winbush has done work for Epic Games, Marvel, Netflix, DC, Warner Bros, & Happy Madison to name a few. Notable works include Iron Man, Lego Batman 2, Lego Harry Potter, Transformers, NFL on FOX, Power Rangers, Fantastic Four, Deadliest Catch, and My Little Pony. In the education space, Winbush creates tutorials weekly through Youtube as well as speaks at conferences around the world for shows such as Adobe Max, Siggraph, NAB, and UnrealFest. Winbush is currently a part of the Youtube Black Voice Fund and was also recently awarded the MegaGrant by Epic games to further support his educational efforts. You can find more information about Winbush at JonathanWinbush.com

Highlights of the Episode:

0:13 Introduction

2:14 Jonathan's Story

3:44 Inspiration from movies

6:36 Jonathan's work on movies

8:11 Internship

11:13 Advice for breaking into the industry

15:22 Helping each other

17:03 Youtube career

21:09 Value of education

23:00 Unreal Five vs Unreal Four

26:41 Real time evolution

29:14 Time management

30:26 How to keep things interesting

33:59 Advancement in technology

35:44 Blender application

45:11 Future of green screen and unreal engine

46:40 Good complimentary platform

48:33 Prioritize to learn: Blender or Houdini

50:58 Definition of artist

56:05 Things to look out for

59:44 youtube.com/JonathanWimbush

1:01:37 Mocap

1:04:30 Unreal Fest

Quotes:
“ This stuff should be fun. Like it shouldn't feel like work cuz it's like if you don't enjoy what you're doing, then it's just gonna make your day drag on. But if you're enjoying what you're doing, then it's just like the days go just like that. Like I could literally sit behind a computer for like 20 hours with no break just because I enjoy what I'm doing.“ - Jonathan Winbush

“Nothing can replace hands-on training like your internship or coming in as a junior artist, but it's also important to build the foundation and the building blocks beforehand. So you never wanna go into just cold turkey, not knowing anything. ”- Jonathan Winbush on breaking into the industry

“I had artists that I was actually under, that anytime I had a question, like no one ever turned their back to me. Like the motion graphics community was just so opening and they were uplifting each other, like everybody was helping each other..”- Jonathan Winbush

“I realized that people are coming for the educational content. So I tried to focus more on that. And as you know, like being an educator it's a process. You learn as you go. You're not only learning the software, you're learning how to relay this information to people too, to keep it interesting. Make it so they can relate and be able to take something away from it” - Jonathan Winbush

“And so there's different types of mediums in artistry. You can be a traditional painter or jar, but that's an old school mentality. That's not the only thing that's out there. Like there's an artistry to programming, there's an artistry to sculpting.” - Jonathan Winbush on definition of an artist

Connecting with the Guest:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathanwinbush/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-winbush
Website: http://winbushimmersive.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/jonathanwinbush

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/becomecgpro

RSVP here for upcoming CG Pro Podcasts: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/cg-pro-39748423833

VirtualProduction

UnrealEngine

BecomeCGPro

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Luc Delamare is a virtual production cinematographer, supervisor, and visualization artist. Defined by his admiration for the convergence of technology and creativity, his passion is bridging the world of live action cinematography and virtual production. With both LED volume and CG cinematography experience, Luc’s work is grounded in reality thanks to his live action DP background. Enabled by his past experience as a vfx supervisor and compositor, he prides himself on speaking–and translating–the various cinematic languages required by today’s highly technical productions. Most importantly, Luc is fluent in Unreal Engine.Luc has served as a “VP DP” for directors TK McKamy and Warren Fu, as well as clients like Google, Blizzard, & Western Digital. In a past life as a visual effects supervisor, some of his previous clients included Apple, Nasa, Vivo, & 20th Century Fox. Having recently joined the world building lab, Impossible Objects, as Head of Technology, Luc now oversees IO’s implementation of new virtual production pipelines, with a special emphasis in visualization inside Unreal Engine.

Highlights of the Episode:

0:00 Introduction

2:05 Luc's story

3:34 What inspired Luc

6:08 Getting his first job

9:15 Softwares

15:10 Why unreal is standard

20:50 Recommendation to newbies

23:35 What helps with the process

28:02 Approaching a project

33:36 Managing storyboards

35:54 Favorite plugins

37:06 Combining tools

39:49 Developing your own assets

43:44 Customizing mesh

44:45 Virtual production

46:52 Green screen

49:10 How cinematography has helped

50:22 Tips for people who don't have a cinematography background

53:07 AI and Machine Learning

56:20 What is Luc excited/scared about

Quotes:
“ It became quickly clear to us that, you know, with the right mindset and the right approach, this tool is completely valid. “

Luc Delamare on Unreal Engine

“I will say that this would be hard advice, don't download any software without a goal in mind. You know you'll immediately shut it down. No one wants to watch tutorials without an end in sight. So do it to build something that makes you happy that if you enjoy being creative in that sense”- Luc Delamare

“It's more the mindset, you know, what can unreal help do to elevate this project? Because it's part of our pipeline cause we're not gonna be stubborn about things that just either aren't there yet or things that just may not make sense or things that the time is there to do this and do it a little slowly, then we can do it that way.”- Luc Delamare

“I was starting to understand that if you have this view and understand the tools at every end of the spectrum you know things can go a lot more smoothly and you can help communicate a story and just your ideas and in a lot more efficient manner.” - Luc Delamare

“For me it was groundbreaking because I could suddenly envision the way I would almost storyboard a movie or block a movie. I realized I could block the same way I blocked a live action commercial or narrative shoot. I could do the exact same thing in unreal.” - Luc Delamare

“The themes behind cinematography apply to any form of art, obviously. Of course it applies to virtual production and unreal engine as well. And so it's just another canvas to kind of explore this kind of thing that happens to be free. It happens to be a major tool that's kind of being explored in, in virtual production in general.” - Luc Delamare

Connecting with the Guest:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/luc_delamare

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luc-delamare
Website: https://lucdelamare.com/

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/becomecgpro

RSVP here for upcoming CG Pro Podcasts: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/cg-pro-39748423833

VirtualProduction

Cinematography

BecomeCGPro

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Designer, developer, and educator, Alex Coulombe is the CEO of Heavenue, a new high-fidelity cloud platform to connect performers with audiences across the metaverse. He also runs Agile Lens: Immersive Design, the award winning XR creative studio.

Alex has always had a passion for purposing emerging technology for creative visions. In 2010 he graduated from Syracuse University with a B. Arch (and Drama minor!) and after working for several architecture firms, when the Oculus DK1 hit the market, immersive tech became his focus. In 2013 while at the theatre planning consultancy Fisher Dachs Associates, he pioneered the world’s first use of VR for accurately testing sightlines and adjusting room design based on the results. Other early immersive creations include an equipment clearance checker for Hudson Yards’ The Shed, a projection mapping tool for Bravo Media and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and design mockups for the Park Avenue Armory’s production of Kenneth Branagh’s Macbeth. His work in highly-custom solutions grew and culminated in the formation of Agile Lens.

Recent architecture projects include David Geffen Hall, Brockman Hall for Opera, the Statue of Liberty Museum, and the Yale Schwarzman Center.

Recent theatre collaborations include the award-winning ghost speed-dating experience Ghosted AR, the Venice Film Festival live VR performance, Loveseat, and the ongoing OnBoard XR One Act Festival. By early 2021, Alex began to focus in earnest building a platform to serve the needs of performing artists in virtual space, and Heavenue was born. The first use of Heavenue was a collaboration with Actors Theatre of Louisville on Scrooge’s Ghost Encounter. The show included actor Ari Tarr performing live in performance capture equipment for audiences around the world engaged in a shared Unreal Engine scene through Meta Quest VR headsets in December 2021. The latest show is a reinterpretation of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, The Orchard, which opened June 7. Learn more at https://www.theorchardoffbroadway.com/

A rising thought leader, Alex and his work features in conferences around the world. He taught VR performance at NYU Tisch, Unity3D at the Syracuse University School of Architecture, and currently teaches Unreal Engine as an authorized partner of Epic Games. Alex has helped organize such events as the RealTime Conference, TCG National Conference, and the new 5th Wall Forum.

Highlights of the Episode:

0:00 Introduction

2:29 Alex's story

5:32 5 year program

7:24 Transitioning

12:51 Working in different environments

16:24 Development kit skills and programming

20:44 Advice for learning intimidating skills

24:21 Alex's company

29:16 Cloud computing and pixel streaming

34:07 What made Alex excited about Unreal Engine

41:00 VR and ARs in the future

44:01 Implant of hardwares

45:34 Improvements in metahumans

50:50 Types of theater would or wouldnt work

55:46 Alex's podcast

57:42 What is Alex excited about the future

59:28 AI's involvement in art

Quotes:
“ It's really good to have a goal, to have a particular experience that you want to create. “

Alex Coulombe

“You're gonna find something in that film that really excites you and you're gonna have those deadlines. And by the end of that process, you're gonna probably come out with something that's pretty impressive. And you might not have even thought that you could do that in such a short amount of”- Alex Coulombe

“I hear people say like I never wanna be a cyborg and it's like, we're kind of already cyborgs.

We rely on devices so much already.”- Alex Coulombe on hardware implants

“And I want as many people in the world to be able to have art affect them in that kind of way. And a lot of that accessibility and a lot of that democratization will come from having the technology, get to a point where it's ubiquitous and cheap and fast enough and frictionless enough that you can do something like put on sunglasses and instantly feel like you are having an experience like that.”- Alex Coulombe

Connecting with the Guest:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/heavenuexr

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcoulombe/
Website: https://www.agilelens.com/

The (Unofficial) Unreal Engine Podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/uepodcast/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAq1Tl1Upr0

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/becomecgpro

RSVP here for upcoming CG Pro Podcasts: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/cg-pro-39748423833

virtualproduction

ImmersiveExperiences

UnrealEngine

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Barbara Ford Grant is President, NEP Prysm Stages, a business of NEP Virtual Studios. She is responsible for growing NEP’s global network of permanent virtual production facilities, stage partnerships and client relationships in Film and TV, and for building solutions with her team to empower artists and storytelling.
Barbara has contributed to media and entertainment for nearly 30 years across both creative and technical aspects of film production. Her experience includes emerging technologies, large-scale production operations, research and development, visual effects, animation and enterprise level management.

Before joining NEP, Barbara was Chief Technology Officer at arts and entertainment company Meow Wolf overseeing the company’s mixed-reality platform and IT divisions. Before Meow Wolf, she served as SVP, Digital Production Services at HBO overseeing studio production and post-production operations and growth, and next-gen technologies. Prior to that, she worked at entertainment companies Digital Domain, Sony Pictures Imageworks, and DreamWorks Animation, where she enabled new digital human animation and rendering, digital story and post production workflows, and simulations technologies. Her credits include groundbreaking Film and TV productions Game of Thrones, Maleficent, Alice in Wonderland and the Shrek franchise.

Barbara has been active throughout her career in recognizing and mentoring current and new talent. She is a member of both the Television Academy and the Motion Picture Academy, currently serving as Chair of the Scientific and Technical Awards Committee, is a member of the Technology Committee of the Visual Effects Society, and recently worked as a strategy consultant to MovieLabs, a non-profit R&D joint venture providing universities, corporations, start-ups and others technical guidance and funding for innovative technologies in the distribution and use of motion pictures.

She studied Art History and Photography at the University of New Mexico and currently lives in Los Angeles with her family.

Highlights of the Episode:
0:23 Introduction to Barbara Ford Grant
1:19 Journey into visual effects
7:11 Coding
16:28 Starting in New Mexico
20:45 What it’s like working on….
24:16 Is it possible to retain creative spirit in a bigger institution
31:38 The hardest part to scale
34:10 Role as President of NEP Prysm Stages
39:02 Currently working in Production
40:43 Building tools independent of the engine
43:51 Having a healthy R&D team
48:41 Stage plans for the New York Metro area
48:56 Opportunities to see the Atlanta stage
50:19 Favorite aspects in virtual production
53:08 Machine learning AI tools coming out
1:01:39 A short film
1:02:57 Being multi disciplinary

Quotes:

"If you've been in visual effects this long nothing drives you’re more crazy than rebuilding the same asset over and over again for a different purpose." - Barbara Ford Grant

"The advantage of a big company is that they were the IP and the advantage of a small company is they were kind of a punk scrappy collective that kinda started the whole thing." - Barbara Ford Grant

"It's a sketch with technology, they're sketching out something that's never been sketched before and using some amounts of technology to help illustrate that."
- Barbara Ford Grant

“It's not about policy it's like what's necessary, what's actually gonna have the biggest impact.” - Barbara Ford Grant

“Maintaining our passions is important to our career growth.” - Barbara Ford Grant

Connecting with the Guest:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbaraanneford/
Instagram: @barbarafordgrant
Twitter: https://twitter.com/barbarafordgra1?lang=en

Connecting with CG Pro:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/
Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/edgevisualCG

RSVP here for upcoming CG Pro Podcasts: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/cg-pro-39748423833

virtualproduction

filmmaking

innovation

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For over 25 years, Brett Leonard has been at the forefront of the digital media revolution - whether it be as Director/ Writer of the groundbreaking hit film Lawnmower Man, which introduced the concept of Virtual Reality to popular culture - or being the first to pioneer modern stereoscopic techniques and photo-realistic CGI in his hit IMAX 3D film “T-Rex” - or introducing American audiences to Russell Crowe and many other talents both in front of and behind the camera.

Brett’s work as a visionary Director/Producer/Futurist has always pushed the edge of innovation in the entertainment industry, and continues to do so with a project slate at his company Studio Lightship, focused on creation of VX (Virtual eXperience) executed in a hybrid approach with Film and Television. Studio Lightship is dedicated to defining a process and platform for truly interactive narrative VX StoryWorlds for the emerging era of Immersive Entertainment. Brett is currently finishing two feature film projects he has directed- “Hollywood Rooftop”, the first film to be shot in both 360VR and traditional cinema - and “Triumph”, starring Academy Award Nominee Terrence Howard, star of the hit television series “Empire”, and RJ Mitte, star of the groundbreaking series “Breaking Bad”.

Highlights of the Episode:

0:00 Introduction

2:13 Tool technologies

5:12 What got you into movies

8:32 Super eight filmmaker

12:28 Advice for people breaking into the industry

15:56 Good way to understand filmmaking

19:58 Creating a narrative

22:10 Streaming services

23:33 Managing storytelling

29:27 The point of storytelling

32:04 Lawnmower Man reborn

36:05 Immersive environments

37:50 Healing Virtual Environments

46:19 Contrast in utopian vs dystopian storytelling

50:37 Immersive experience

55:15 Supporting the metaverse

58:30 Open source community is utopia

1:00:02 virtualpsychedelics.com

Quotes:

“ Now I will say that in order to break the mold, you gotta know what the mold is you're breaking. You have to know what good narrative is. Knowing how that works in the human conscious and unconscious. That's really important. - Brett Leonard

“I mean you don't even need to go to a college and get the tools. You can actually find those tools online. You could shoot with your phone, play around and really find out what works for you and your point of view as a storyteller.”- Brett Leonard

“Blade Runner is really a narrative environment more than it is a traditional plot. I mean, the plot is incredibly simple. You know, Android chases other Androids and finds out he's an Android. You don't watch that movie again and again, because of the plot, you watch that cause you're exploring a narrative environment that has such richness in it.”- Brett Leonard

Connecting with the Guest:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/directorleonard

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettleonard1/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brettleonard1/

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/becomecgpro

RSVP here for upcoming CG Pro Podcasts: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/cg-pro-39748423833

virtualproduction

storytelling

filmmaking

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Paul Debevec is Netflix’s Director of Research for Creative Algorithms and Technology, overseeing R&D for visual effects and virtual production with computer vision, graphics, and machine learning.

In 2002, his Light Stage 3 system surrounded actors with LEDs displaying images of virtual sets and environments for lighting-accurate compositing. Techniques from Paul’s work have been used to create key visual effects sequences in The Matrix, Spider-Man 2, Benjamin Button, Avatar, Gravity, Furious 7, Blade Runner: 2049, Gemini Man, Free Guy, and numerous video games.

Paul’s techniques for HDR imaging, image-based lighting, and photoreal digital actors have been recognized with two Academy Awards and the SMPTE Progress Medal. Paul is a Governor of the Visual Effects Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the Visual Effects Society, and an Adjunct Research Professor at the University of Southern California Computer Science.

More info at: www.debevec.org

Highlights of the Episode:
0:00 Introduction
1:52 Paul’s early days
7:39 Image based lighting and HDR
12:44 Some early adaptations
17:19 3D rendering in natural light
19:01 Rendering Synthetic Objects into Real Scenes
23:04 The Campanelli movie
27:56 Facade: Reconstructing polyhedra models
32:16 High dynamic range imaging
34:52 Light Stage: 360° of illumination
39:47 Real world image based lighting
42:08 Virtual HRI Maps software named after Arnold
46:52 LED lighting environment from 20 years ago
52:49 Optimal linear color correction matrices
55:53 Working on Light fields with Google
59:27 Exciting future for filmmaking
01:02:18 Democratizing new technology
01:05:02 Advice for aspiring filmmakers
01:09:17 Go to a Siggraph conference near you

Quotes:

“When I look at the kind of work that made Star Wars possible, that made The Matrix possible, that made Gravity possible. It's folks who had this creative vision and realized maybe the technology can meet it there; but then they really took technology where there wasn't any real solid reason to believe it was gonna be possible to do it. And they just made it happen anyway.” - Paul Debevec

“The goal is to try to create tools for filmmakers and every so often this beautiful marriage of art and technology comes together. There's things ripe for the picking that maybe no one's quite seen yet that they're gonna get, and it's gonna blow everybody away and it's gonna be the next Matrix or the next Gravity.”
- Paul Debevec

“LED panels that have a wider color gamut have worse color rendition, they light stuff funnier because they have to put the RGB LEDs further out in weird parts of the spectrum to do that. But it dramatically increases the polarization. I think we're not too far away from people releasing panels that will have that additional color and it, and it's probably gonna be white and we know how to drive it.”- Paul Debevec

“You can invert that matrix and apply the inverse of that matrix to your in-camera pixels in the frustum so that your frustum now looks like it has bad color rendition. So without having to separate foreground and background, you put it all through that post correction matrix. It fixes considerably three quarters of color rendition and skin looks a heck of a lot better.” - Paul Debevec

Connecting with the Guest:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/debfx
Website: http://www.pauldebevec.com/
Siggraph: https://www.siggraph.org/

Connecting with CG Pro:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/
Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/becomecgpro

RSVP here for upcoming CG Pro Podcasts: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/cg-pro-39748423833

virtualproduction

technology

filmmaking

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Have you ever considered what your story could do for others? And how it can change their lives forever. Dani Bellar Pilukas, Director of Physical Production at Lux Machina, who used to work as a Disney Imagineer, told stories through world building. With a theater background as an actress, she harnessed the power of storytelling into her work.

She created worlds that allow every delighted child, grandparent and person from all walks of life to become emotionally affected. In this episode, Dani will share her experiences on creating sets that evoke strong emotions and vibrant ambience. Her passion for theater will get you excited and curious about what she has planned next. Watch this episode now.

Highlights of the Episode:

0:00 Introduction

1:32 Dani's Story

8:46 Favorite Work of Art

12:52 Behind the scenes of production

14:18 Issues with working a new tool

18:55 Past experiences that helps creativity

21:13 Advice for producers

22:26 Dani's PA gig

26:57 Advice to how to learn the craft

29:52 Staying calm in the middle of chaos

31:55 Teamwork makes the dream work

35:51 Challenges, limitations and issues with volumes

37:11 Specific skill in order to get a job on an LED stage

41:10 Luck getting involved in the MSG sphere

42:09 Immersive audio

44:29 LED Domes

46:48 Director of physical production

48:21 Experience on Galaxy's Edge

52:20 Impact of the work

56:04 What excites you about the future of the industry

57:16 LED screens in the future

59:59 The purpose of reaching out to people

1:03:08 Opening Stage in Atlanta

Quotes:
“It's true. You all have capability. You're all smart enough. You could figure it out. We do it because it's interesting and because we want to do it and because it gives us an opportunity to tell bigger stories. I think most of us are storytellers.”

Dani Bellar Pilukas on pursuing a career in film

“And I think it's trusting the teams that are around me that really allows me to keep that calm and say, we are going to solve this because it is the only option and that doesn't mean we're going to get the thing that we a hundred percent wanted. We may have to solve it in a way that we get something similar to what we wanted. We may solve it in a way we get something better than what we wanted, but what we will do is we will solve it”

Dani Bellar Pilukas on teamwork

“I am not the strongest person for limitations and possibilities for the simple fact that I think everything is possible and limitations are able to be overcome.”

Dani Bellar Pilukas

“I mean, I'm a person who's willing to go into a space and watch a movie for 90 minutes and forget what's happening in the rest of the world. Maybe it teaches me something. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe I just laugh hysterically. I'm okay.”

Dani Bellar Pilukas

Connecting with the Guest:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danibellarstage/

Website: https://www.luxmc.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/i_fly_stuff

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/becomecgpro

RSVP here for upcoming CG Pro Podcasts: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/cg-pro-39748423833

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What sparks your interest? Is it a painting? A movie? A song probably? For James it was the movie, ‘Close Encounters Of The Third Kind’ by Steven Speilberg. James Blevins is an amazing product consultant. He has worked for Disney, Netflix and The Mandalorian.

When James was a kid, he was amazed by filmmaking & storytelling, and it gave him the inspiration he needed to work for the film industry. Fast forward to now, he has worked on amazing movies and has met many great movie making professionals.

Being a Production Consultant is not easy, however it can be very rewarding. You get to collaborate with client managers and project managers to make sure everything is in tip-top condition. So fix your aperture, eye on the lens and enjoy this exciting episode.

Highlights of the Episode:

0:00 Introduction

1:49 James' Story

5:59 What drew you towards film making

10:25 What inspires people

11:47 The growth of technologies

13:24 Unreal and V Cams

16:50 Connectivity and Collaboration

19:07 Curiosity of new technologies

20:31 Problems encountered filming Mandalorian

22:16 Enabling editorial

24:00 How much post ICV effects need

25:43 Connection between previs and virtual art department

28:56 The rise of mini studios

29:40 Moire Effect

32:58 Standard Pixel Pitch

34:09 Tech preparation

35:21 Standard distance of the camera from the wall

37:00 Magic Box

38:32 Resistance from the visual effects to virtual production

40:25 Bravery through resistance

41:45 Advice for people still in the traditional workflow

42:53 Brainstorming app

45:07 Needs in the industry

47:44 Brain bar

50:42 Spherical LED volume

53:54 What are you most excited about in virtual production?

55:24 Motion Grade

56:46 Broadcast Virtual Production

59:25 Future of green screen and unreal engine

1:03:17 The influence of AI

Quotes:
“I love those collaborations. I love to introduce people to each other and say, Hey, you know, everyone wants the same thing, which is to create this vision, which will then make it all the way to the viewer”

James Blevins

“Everyone needs to now jump into the pool and find out if it's for them. It's not gonna be for everyone. Because it is at this phase, there's some things that you really have to target and you really have to want the benefit that you get from the usage.”

James Blevins regarding the new technologies

“The best advice I ever got for setting up a shoot is to run it. This is from Clint Spillers, run it like it's a re-shoot or run it like it's pickups. That means that every department head meet they look at the pages. They understand because at reshoots everyone wants to leave anyway, so that they're all about efficiency. They're all about getting the right stuff on the stage, off the stage as quickly as possible.”

James Blevins on film preparation

“It'd be nice if we had this app called make a movie, which would go to a shared space where we could start to talk about a scene and people could add elements that supported a substantial amount of geometry.”

James Blevins

Connecting with the Guest:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-blevins-738b74/

Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0088320/

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/becomecgpro

RSVP here for upcoming CG Pro Podcasts: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/cg-pro-39748423833

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On top of being a filmmaker and graphic designer, Punn has lived his dream job—working for some of the most renowned studios in Hollywood. Some titles include Jurassic World, Mandalorian, and Jungle Book.

As a kid he was influenced by comic books but growing up in Thailand he deemed it impossible to work for Disney. But when he got into the United States, all doors of opportunity opened for him. He discovered his passion for art at an early age and this is what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Not able to fund his education, he went for the self-study route. He bought a book about computer software, worked his way through and the rest is history.

Being in the Visual Art Department is exciting. It's never been boring. You get to work with an amazing team, collaborate, and brainstorm ideas that fully translate into a perfect final product. Punn shares his experience and stories working as a visual artist. Don't miss this gem of an episode and listen now.

Highlights of the Episode:

00:00 Introduction

00:38 Introduction of Guests

02:17 Punn's story

10:20 The Pleasure of Learning and Finding things out

11:27 Knowing what to do early on

17:02 Passion for the industry

19:37 Fueled by passion

23:45 Generalist mindset

27:51 Having a good eye for visuals

30:14 Being coachable

32:25 When do virtual art and traditional art departments cross paths

34:52 What's the VAD like

39:56 Future of Photogrammetry

41:49 Previous output or final content

42:59 Does real-life production and filmmaking experience help in a previous role

44:10 What would a demo reel for a previous artist look like

46:17 Iterative workflow

49:14 CG character performance in the VAD

55:45 Collaborating with assets

58:29 Hard surface objects

1:00:00 Picking one aspect of unreal to really master

1:00:38 VAD Guilds

Quote:
"All in all, I feel like you can't just be a model or a texture artist, a lighter, a rigger, you have to embody that generalist mindset. You have to think about the end product, the whole thing as a whole."

Punn Wiantrakoon on the mindset you need to start in virtual production

Connecting with the Guest:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/punn-wiantrakoon/

Websites: https://punnw.com/

https://brokenstrong.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yes.punn.intended/

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1577222/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/becomecgpro

RSVP here for upcoming CG Pro Podcasts: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/cg-pro-39748423833

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There are professions where age is important, but with visual effects, it is never too late to become great and move up the ranks, which is proven by our guest Eran Dinur’s experience. According to him, “There is no limit to when you can start this.” So today we spoke to him about the VFX industry, changing careers, his book “The filmmaker's guide to Visual Effects”, and being an elder statesman for an industry thought to be dominated by younger people.

Eran’s career in visual effects started with a fascination for creating 3D natural scenery. Through his early works, he became well known as a Vue expert and innovator. He then joined ILM Singapore where he created visual effects for films such as Iron Man, Star Trek, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and Terminator Salvation.

After moving to New York, Eran worked at Framestore NY on Salt and Clash of the Titans and then Joined Brainstorm Digital, where he has been a senior VFX supervisor since 2011. In this capacity, Eran won a Primetime Emmy Award (Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting role, Boardwalk Empire), and two Visual Effects Society Awards (Outstanding Compositing and Outstanding Modeling in a Broadcast Program, Boardwalk Empire).

Eran has been leading the Brainstorm team on numerous film and TV projects, including The Wolf of Wall Street, Boardwalk Empire, The Greatest Showman, Wonder Wheel, Cafe Society, The Lost City of Z, Triple Nine, The Men Who Built America, Sons of Liberty, Delivery Man, The Heat, and The Immigrant.

Eran's book, The Filmmaker's Guide to Visual Effects, was published by Routledge/Focal in April 2017. It is a practical, detailed guide to visual effects for directors, producers, editors, cinematographers, and other film professionals, as well as film and VFX students.

Eran is passionate about teaching, learning, and sharing knowledge. He is an adjunct professor at the School of Visual Arts, has created several online courses at fxphd, and presented at various international conferences such as Siggraph, NAB, Fesmak, and Mundos Digitales.

This episode is packed full of knowledge. Tune in!

Highlights of the Episode:
0:00 Introduction
0:46 Introduction of guest
1:42 Journey into visual effects
02:30 TrueSpace is friendly to new users
05:55 Working as a professional musician studying CG
07:14 Getting an email from ILM Singapore
08:36 What's compositing?
09:53 Moving to New York and joining Brainstorm Digital
11:55 Is it too late to get into a new career?
14:47 Advice to somebody who’s considering a career transition
19:20 Eran’s second book
24:11 We’re imitating cameras
28:22 Evolution of technology and getting predictable results
35:28 Technology costs people knowledge sometimes
38:39 Real-time technology
45:18 Software that Eran would recommend people to start learning
50:14 Green or blue screen?
51:57 AI, machine learning, algorithms, deep fakes, and how they're helping visual effects
59:38 The filmmakers' guide to VFX: basic to fundamentals or does it go deep?
1:02:19 What makes a good visual effects supervisor?

Quotes:

“Just do stuff and post it wherever because you never know who’s gonna watch something that you did.” - Eran Dinur

“You can be an amazing CG artist or 2D artist and never go to school so you can literally start it at 40 or 50 if you want.” - Eran Dinur

“If you came from the on set experience you have to really understand what the artists are doing, if you come from the artist side you have to learn the on set experience” - Eran Dinur

Connecting with the Guest:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eran-dinur/
Website: https://www.erandinur.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/erandinur?lang=en

Connecting with CG Pro:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/
Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/becomecgpro

vfx

virtualproduction

becomecgpro

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Ray Tracing is overhyped. At least this is what most visual effects artists thought when it took an ungodly amount of hours to render a single frame, including Chris. Years ago, rendering architecture felt endless. Today, technology has caught up. Where ray tracing on any rig used to be requirement heavy, now clean rendering is possible on a laptop.

Chris has worked on massive films like After Tomorrow, I.Robot and Stealth, a film which presented an incredible amount of challenges in architecture rendering. He’s been involved in the visual effects industry for so long that he was one of the first to demo the ground-breaking car simulator that they eventually used on the visual masterpiece, Tron. Did we mention that he’s been around for a while? Chris probably bought the first license of VRay tracing software EVER.

Chris was one of the first ever to bring ray tracing into visual production. You could consider Chris Nichols a pioneer; a trailblazer even! He is the director of Chaos Labs, a group of like-minded creative individuals that are pushing the boundaries of the computer graphics industry to the next level. This is the episode where he talks about his knowledge and experience in the industry, along with the latest tools and technologies such as Houdini and the potential of VRay tracing as the visual rendering technology of the future. If you’re curious about what lies ahead for the visual effects industry, this is an amazing episode you need to watch.

Highlights of the Episode:

00:00 Introduction

00:33 Introduction of guest

01:43 Journey into visual effects

06:33 Ray Tracing

12:18 Career Advice

16:26 Working for different companies

22:20 Chaos Group Labs

23:24 Passion Project

32:58 Tracing process

36:59 How far has technology has come

41:03 USD and omniverse

50:00 Transitioning into software technologies

51:10 Potential of Blender

53:38 Trend of generalist

55:20 Houdini

59:54 Houdini General Edition or UAE plugin

1:03:49 Traditional animators

1:04:57 Outro

Quotes:

“What real time means to me is the experience of it and not necessarily just the rendering part of things” - Chris Nichols

Connecting with the Guest:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophernichols1/

Website: https://www.chaos.com/cg-labs
Twitter: https://twitter.com/redeyetales

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter:https://twitter.com/becomecgpro

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Erik Weaver is a specialist focused on the intersection of cloud and the M&E industry and is currently running Virtual & Adaptive production for the Entertainment Technology Center@the University of Southern California (ETC). Projects include Executive Producer on Ripple Effect and FatHead production focused on Virtual Production and ICVFX. Mr. Weaver graduated from the 3rd Unreal Fellowship.

Highlights of the Episode:

0:00 - Introduction
0:36 - Introduction of Guest
1:29 - What lead Erik to his career
4:00 - How did Erik get into Cloud Infrastructure
7:25 - Information about the new project
10:42 - Advice for people getting into filmmaking
14:07 - Advice for people getting into different fields of filmmaking
18:15 - Information Before Vs Information Today
20:14 - Color Science
23:39 - Best methods for shooting
28:41 - Pitching your story
30:01 - Meta Humans
31:13 - Project with Unreal
32:57 - Smaller stages
34:00 - New Technologies in virtual production
38:49 - LED Walls
42:48 - Role of Post-production
44:15 - Cloud Infrastructure workflow
49:56 - ARRND Scene
51:35 - Unreal 5
52:42 - Book for terminologies
54:14 - Machine Learning
56:19 - Extended Reality
58:37 - Outro

Quotes:

“Let's just go end-to-end, document the process, show what's going on, figure out what works, what doesn't actually work in practice.”

“This is like moving up in the evolutionary curve. We've absolutely opened Pandora's box and we're not going back from any of this. This isn't a fad, we're absolutely marching forward.” — Erik Weaver, on using LED screens in the film industry

Connecting with the Guest:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weavererik/
Website: https://fatheadshortfilm.com/team-1
Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/projectcloudetc

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/
Website:https://www.becomecgpro.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/edgevisualCG

Future

Creative

Virtual

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As a director, Scott Squires has done national commercials for HP, Intel and many other high profile companies. Scott has also directed specialty ride films, VR films, music videos and shorts. One of Scott’s commercials was selected by SHOOT Magazine as Best Work You May Never See. Scott Squires is always thinking of story and how to make the most of visuals and humor.

Squires has always been interested in pushing creative and technical boundaries. Scott co-founded Pixvana, a company that specializes in Virtual Reality. As CTO Scott prototyped most of our processes and tools, including using Unity and Unreal to explore VR interactions. He is listed on the 3 patents for video developments done there.

Join us in this episode as Scott Squires as he shows us the massive progress of Virtual Production over the years and how it can benefit you.

Highlights of the Episode:

1:11 - The inspiration to do visual effects
3:02 - What practical effects and old methods were like
6:46 - Developing a trained eye
8:37 - How films still hold up
11:06 - The ability to look outside of the problem
12:51 - The imbalance with modern CG
14:13 - Committing to your work process
16:15 - The base skill set needed for visual effects
18:46 - Getting an idea of the process before going in
20:34 - How virtual production opened up more specializations
21:36 - How people get exposed to more high level skills
24:00 - Transitioning to digital
31:14 - Most memorable ways to invent a shot
38:47 - Solving problems as a jack of all trades
40:42 - The interest in real time production
49:15 - The future of virtual production
50:43 - The inspiration to go independent

Quotes:

11:32 “When I’m looking at a problem I can say okay, we’ll go this other old fashioned route just to simplify something and make it look better, faster and easier.” - Scott Squires

1:03:41 “When it works well, it’s incredible. Both the 3D aspects, and even the 360 aspects. The only thing that’s related to that is light fields.” - Scott Squires

Connecting with the Guest:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottsquires/

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/
Website:https://www.becomecgpro.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BecomeCGPro

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Phil Galler is the principal and founder of Lux Machina Consulting, he strives to push the boundaries of technology and design in the entertainment industry.

Focusing on in-camera visual effects, real-time mixed reality, and the future of filmmaking and live broadcast, Phil has been fortunate enough to find himself at the crossroads of technological innovation and creativity.

Join us in this episode as Phil Galler shows us the method behind his success with Virtual Production.

Highlights of the Episode:

1:11 - The Origin Story

5:24 - How To Get Into Virtual Production

9:29 - Growth and Visibility

13:41 - The Beginning of the Pandemic

18:45 - Is Unreal 5 Ready for N Display?

26:33 - The Most Powerful 3D Software in the World

28:17 - How the Advent of Real Time changes things

33:04 - Best way to prepare to be a Virtual Production Supervisor

37:18 - Similarities on How to get the Knowledge

40:30 - The Prism Stage in Atlanta

44:15 - Behavior to Culture - the Software

47:10 - How to Approach Creative Environments

51:15 - How Duties are Divided

57:38 - Conclusion

Quotes:

“The biggest thing I learned in this adventure is that you won’t know if you don’t try.” - Phil Galler

“As long as we’re at the edge of technology, we’re always going to have problems." - Phil Galler

“The thing that separates the people who succeed and people who fail, if you’re succeeding you have the ability to communicate clearly about the problems you see and have an educated conversation about how to deal with them as opposed to having them bog you down.” - Phil Galler

Connecting with the Guest:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipgaller/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phil.galler

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phil2bb/

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BecomeCGPro

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Simon Che de Boer is a renowned virtual reality content creator and photogrammetrist. He is the founder of realityvirtual.co – a visual effects technology company streamlining real-world encapsulation. His work has received international recognition and has been featured on places such as Forbes, NVIDIA, Autodesk and Epic Games, and is often cited as the gold standard for photo-realistic digital-twin experiences.

Simon’s real-world encapsulation uses 3D photographic datasets to create ‘being there’ sensations for real-time VFX applications. Building on successful projects to digitise sites of cultural significance, including King Tutankhamun and Nefertari’s Tomb in Egypt, Simon explains how volumetric capture – the discipline of capturing moving 3D content (think holograms) – will enable people and businesses to produce and share immersive experiences.

Highlights of the Episode:

00:00 - Introduction
00:47 - Introduction of the guest
01:50 - Background of Simon Che de Boer
03:39 - What lead Simon to his career
07:19 - Tools to start in photogrammetry
10:54- Downloadable photogrammetry experience
13:40 - How many pictures to scan one painting
15:39 - Collecting data to teach AI to make the process easier
19:20 - Projects being used in the main program
21:27 - What to focus on the new technique
31:41 - Bringing it back to texture projection
34:15 - Recovering lost data
35:30 - Being mass accessible in the near future
39:29 - Thoughts on NFT’s and the Meta-verse
42:09 - How the Pandemic affected experiencing the world
44:49 - Early pandemic days in New Zealand
48:34 - Thoughts on Unreal Engine and Unity for Virtual Production
50:29 - Not having any prior experience
52:51 - A crowdsource solution
57:20 - Using VR to show the cost of war
1:02:30- Outro

Quotes:

“You don’t really know what you’ve lost until it’s gone.”
“If you’re De-Lighting photogrammetry, it’s way better to De-Light at the source of projection”
“I know it’s not the status quo, most parties kind of came into this classically trained. But for me, it’s been a journey.”

Connecting with the Guest:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-che-de-boer-2a49386a/
Website: http://www.realityvirtual.co/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SimonChedeBoer

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/
Website:https://www.becomecgpro.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BecomeCGPro

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For the past 17 years, Brian J. Pohl has experience being a visual effects artist, layout artist, and previs supervisor. A veteran of George Lucas’ pre-vis team and Industrial Light and Magic's art department, he is credited for creating or supervising previs on over twenty-seven feature films.

Pohl has also served six years within the software development industry; designing new tools that assist the digital artist's workflow. He can provide creative and managerial skills capable of directing small to large sized teams in either film or commercial production environments.

Currently, he works at Epic Games as a Technical Program Manager for the Media and Entertainment industry in order to provide artists and clients the training they need to integrate the Unreal Engine into their creative pipelines. He also acts as the academic Dean for the Unreal Engine Fellowship Program.

Highlights of the Episode:

00:00 - Introduction

01:23 - Introduction of the guest

02:11 - Background of the Brian Pohl

10:51 - Working at EPIC Games

13:03 - How EPIC took care of their employees through COVID

13:48 - The Fellowship: How EPIC made the company better

16:37- Creating opportunities through the fellowship

19:10 - Zero to Competent: 5 week fellowship

22:17 - Problems that the fellowship has conquered and their 2022 plans

26:57 - How Real-Time affected the Pre-visual workflow

33:42 - How animation studios get the value of Real-Time

35:25 - Why you should invest in a virtual production department

38:16 - Virtual Production in the Work-From-Home set-up

39:25 - Innovation as it happens

40:44 - The barrier to start Visual production is getting lower

44:15 - The surprising uses of Unreal Engine

48:21 - The rebirth of Virtual production with Unreal Engine

49:42 - How Virtual production departments will evolve in the future

53:55 - How green screen works in Unreal Engine

56:01 - How Unreal Engine Is affecting screen-writing

59:47 - Brian’s thoughts on the Meta-Verse

1:03:26 - Ability to have a multi-user session in the Meta-Verse

1:06:20 - Brian’s knowledge about audio in Unreal Engine 5

1:07:34 - Advice for those entering and re-entering virtual production

1:15:00 - Outro

Quotes:

“If you’re reskilling, feel encouraged. I don’t think the industry is leaving you behind if you are willing to take another step out. Right now, we are experiencing a drought of talent, so there’s huge opportunities for you if you want to learn this technology.”

“Choose an area of interest that excites you most. There’s nothing wrong with specializing.”

“You can make anything you want, you just have to detach yourself from your perfectionistic nature.”

Connecting with the Guest:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pohlbrian/

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/edgevisualCG

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This week, we are joined by William Faucher. He is a 3D artist who now focuses on bringing high quality tutorials about Unreal Engine on Youtube. Today, he will share with us the importance of learning the fundamentals, why he chose to Unreal Engine, The future landscape of virtual production, and more.

William has been in the entertainment industry for the past 11 years, starting as a 3D Modeler in the games industry, then becoming a Lighter, and DoP. The Canadian-born, Norway-based Unreal Artist is currently helping to create CG Spectrum's Realtime Technical Artist and Virtual Production course.

These days his main focus is creating consistent, high-quality content on Youtube. Make sure to subscribe to him after watching this to learn more about the beauty of Unreal Engine.

Highlights of the Episode:

00:00 - Introduction

00:14 - Introduction of the guest

01:02 - Background of the William Faucher

01:30 - The beauty of being a mentor

02:22 - Being a mentor keeps you on your toes

03:41 - You can’t be complacent with what you know

04:18 - Why you can now confidently render assets in Unreal Engine

06:41 - Where Unreal falls short

07:57 - The importance of learning the fundamentals

10:37 - How William started in the industry

12:30 - Being part of a community to grow

15:20 - William’s start in the real world and returning to work

19:27 - Making the right decision to stick with Unreal

22:16 - Taking up photography to supplement visual production

29:00 - The benefits of jumping around different industries

31:01 - Will Unity be better than Unreal in the future?

34:19 - How to know which programs to use

37:33 - Why William made his Masterchief video in Unreal

40:20 - Why displacement is handy

43:57 - Virtual production of the future

46:45 - The effect of Unreal Engine 5 on the Game and Film Industry

48:42 - The necessity of being a generalist

50:29 - The real answer on how to get started

52:22 - Why we need to standardize certain processes

53:30 - Why burning out is part of growing

54:44 -The best time to migrate to a new program

55:36 - How AI is affecting the visual production space

57:40 - Pro’s and Con’s of working remotely, overseas

1:00:15 - Plans about content creation

1:02:23 - Outro

Quotes:

“It was awesome to have someone critiquing your work on a daily basis, and someone who is actually very skilled and points out all the flaws.”

“Once your foot is in the door, you’re kind of set to go”

“If it makes your work faster, great; otherwise, don’t switch just for the sake of switching to be doing the trendy thing. If you’re capable and fast at working in Maya, stick with Maya.”

Connecting with the Guest:

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/williamfaucher
Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/will_faucher
Twitter: https://twitter.com/willfauchervfx
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamfaucher.vfx/

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/becomecgpro/

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In this week’s episode, we are joined by Joy Lea. Her background in the video game industry has led her to be in the world of virtual production. She has worked on the Lion King, the upcoming Avatar Sequels, and more. Joy shares her knowledge on how to get better at virtual production, things to be wary of when mixing kits, her thoughts on Unreal 5 and more.

Highlights of the Episode:

00:00 - Introduction

00:14 - Introduction guest

01:10 - Background of the guest

02:38 - Inspiration to get in the industry

04:23 - Working her way from indie titles to triple A games

06:20 - Breaking Into Today’s Virtual Production Industry

08:20 - How to find mentors in the industry

09:59 - The truth about passion-based jobs

11:14 - Working from home versus from the office

13:09 - How to improve your craft

15:18 - Thoughts on the Meta-verse

16:26 - Why all game engines are fundamentally the same

18:18 - Figuring out the bridges between the different game engines

21:54 - Advantages of virtual production

23:30 - Why virtual production isn’t that expensive

27:16 - Being careful with scales in the marketplace

27:35 - Mixing different kits and focusing on the shaders

30:34 - Current programs to work with

33:06 - Using Blender on a professional setting

33:46 - Adjustments when working in a big company

34:49 - The beauty of today’s free tools

36:33 - How to scale properly

38:33 - Transitioning from model making to the Virtual Art department

41:37 - Thoughts about Unreal 5

45:44 - Learning from other people's work

48:44 - Working with the camera department

50:00 - Collaboration with the scouts

52:31 - Fellowship experience

57:15 - How directors should prepare to meet with the Visual Arts Lead

59:25 - Closing Segment

Quotes:

The Unreal Marketplace has so much free stuff that you can just take it all, and keep it all and make a giant library over time, and build stuff. You don’t even have to make assets from scratch anymore, at this point.

Bricks can really determine scale in any sort of scene, just measure a brick and make sure it’s the right size.

Going back in time to learn how they did it back then will help you a lot when figuring out when to make a model efficient. It’s like learning how to do a really hard way in order to do it the easier way now.

You can learn so much by just taking other people’s work or other people’s sets. Take them, pull them apart, see how they do things, see how things look together… That’s all really useful.

Connecting with the Guest:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joyholle/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ggbaby/?hl=en

Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/joylea

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/edgevisualCG

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In this week’s episode, we have a proven XR content creator, VFX Technical Director in both Engineering and Design - Sally Slade. She contributed to the award-winning Virtual Production system used to create Disney’s The Lion King. She then designed and implemented a Vtubing app, Voltaku, and Vodcasto, the “Virtual Production in your Pocket”.

Sally shares her knowledge and experience from the start of being a Technical Director to discovering her passion in Vtubing.

Highlights of the Episode:

00:14 - Introduction guest
02:06 - Background of the guest
04:54 - Having the Technical Director position
06:10 - Discovering VR
07:36 - Birth of Vodcasto
13:22 - Working on a personal project
14:26 - All About Voltaku
17:20 - Marketing the actual product
18:30 - The brain trust of Voltaku
20:40 - Inspiration in Vtubing
23:40 - Finding Vodcasto
25:15 - Working for Lion King
32:21 - Lion king: Virtual Art Department
37:00 - Universal Avatar Descriptor File
39:23 - Definition of Metaverse
42:27 - Metaverse home -VR Chat
43:34 - Perspective in Unity
45:00 - Unity or Unreal
46:20 - Future of Vtubing
47:31 - AR Vtubing multiplayer
48:12 - Volumetrics effect in real-time
49:00 - Mixed Media
51:06 - 2020’s world’s fars
52:36 - Virtual Production Advances
56:21 - Vtubing on-the-go

Quotes:

It's cool to be on the radar of people like that without having had to put in 20 years’ time to get to interact with them.

It's very empowering you're able to do the two things you need to do to get the project off the ground. It's a great vibe of being self-reliant.

I just kind of tenaciously kept that vision alive until it was like an actual product.

You are the jet fuel, we've built the jet, and you are the fuel and let's go!

(I am) exciting to help make the tools that you enable people to create the art they want to create

Connecting with the Guest:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallyslade/
Website: https://www.voltaku.com/
Twitter: @SallyWroteThis

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/
Website:https://www.becomecgpro.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/edgevisualCG

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Highlights of the Episode:

01:22 - Background of the Guest

05:02 - Wearing different hats

07:30 - Tools and Technology

11:28 - Strategy when starting the company

14:41 - Swiss army knife for virtual production

19:50 - Marianna’s take on Metaverse

25:57 - Fascinating things during the pandemic

30:07 - What is virtual production?

34:28 - Resources you can learn virtual production and virtual effects

37:15 - Areas of Opportunities

42:32 - Blender tool

46:33 - Advents of Virtual Production

51:09 - How Marianna sees virtual production

Connecting with the Guest:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/da_vfx_chick

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianaacuna

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/edgevisualCG

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Erik “Wolfie” Wolford has worked in the film business since 1990. As a Director of Photography, Wolfie is known for excellent beauty lighting, an eye for color and composition, quick lighting setups, and a deep roster of “A Game” crew members whom he has worked with for years.

Wolfie came up through the lighting department ranks in the 90’s, lighting features, music videos and commercials with such legendary directors like Spike Jonze, Michel Gaundry, Francis Lawrence, Mc G, and even several rap videos for the infamous Death Row Records.

Wolfie has spent time in the lighting department on big budget features such as Shane Black’s Iron Man 3, JJ Abrams Star Trek: Into Darkness, and Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (Wolfie was brought in to do specialized miniature set lighting).

Highlights of the Episode:

00:00 - Introduction

02:34 - Background of the Guest

07:27 - Being a hacker to a filmmaker

14:23 - Green Screen work

18:03 - What is virtual production?

26:18 - How useful is Unreal Engine

33:21 - Improving workflow

42:00 - Wall Lighting

47:32 - Advice on Cinematography

55:04 - Lights and Shadows

1:01:19 - Best way for a DP to find virtual production jobs for work

Connecting with the Guest:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wolfiedreams/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-wolfie-wolford-19701520b/

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/edgevisualCG

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Alex Grey, a visual artist, author, teacher, and Vajrayana practitioner from the USA is known for creating spiritual and psychedelic paintings. Allyson Grey, a conceptual abstract painter has long been a mentor and influencer of the contemporary Visionary Art movement. Alex and his wife Allyson Grey are the co-founders of The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM), a non-profit organization in Wappingers Falls, New York.

Highlights of the Episode:

01:51 - Guest background

07:32 - Working in tandem

08:26 - Events transitioning to virtual

23:25 - Maintaining a connection

25:55 - The art of NFTs

38:42 - The gallery display for NFTs

40:58 - Emerging the ideas of art

49:22 - How distractions can benefit efficiency

55:17 - Adding value to digital NFTs

58:56 - The cutting edge advantage with special effects

104:50 - Communication through visual effects

109:13 - What we learned through collaboration

112:36 - Emerging technologies and closing remarks

Quotes:

“Love seems to be a magical ingredient that helps everything to move better.” - Alex Grey

“Children are so riveting when they’re so young and you just want to pay as much attention to them as you can.” - Allyson Grey

“It's kind of a really interesting time where the gaming community and the film community are colliding and being able to use the same technology to create not just a game in addition to a film but also in some cases just emerging being able to create a game film” - Edward Dawson-Taylor

Connecting with the Guest:

Website: https://www.alexgrey.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexgreycosm/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexgreycosm

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/edgevisualCG

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This week's guest is John Mclnnes, an award-winning producer, writer, and director working in movies, games, AR, VR, and XR for companies like Sony and Netflix. He first gained recognition as a screenwriter in writing Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, the biggest selling videogame of 2014. He won the Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscars) for his action/thriller script OUTSIDE THE WIRE which was produced and starred in by Actress Zoe Saldana (Guardians Of The Galaxy, Avatar, Star Trek).

John launched his own virtual production studio in 2020, MCINNES Studios. His journey in producing using the Unreal Engine started in 2015 with Call of Duty. From then on, he produced a real-time UE4 television pilot for Harry Shearer (The Simpsons, Spinal Tap), working with Epic Games, Cubic Motion, and Ninja Theory.

Today, his current clients include Sony and HTC Vive.

Highlights of the Episode:

00:35 - Intro of Guest

02:18 - Guest Background

07:24 - Bringing story elements in a multiplayer game

10:14 - Self-funding of VR Demos

15:14 - Writing the Call of Duty

18:16 - Earning money vs Getting out of the box

24:40 - Goal: Making 2d linear to 3d immersive

26:08 - Filmmaking and Game Engine

31:15 - Pitching a Movie and Pitching a new Pipeline of Technology

35:17 - Pitching a great story

37:17 - Knowing your audience

42:44 - The strength of the Industry

45:13 - Struggle of VR

47:01 - Mix of money and vision

47:33 - Talking about metaverse

48:59 - Investment culture in stories and content creators

50:17 - Real-time short films as a proof of concept

54:06 - Fundamental skill in making real-time films

56:34 - Knowing your Passion

59:25 - Real-time shorts films challenge

1:02:10 - Renaissance of Creativity

1:03:11 - Troubles in experimentation

Connecting with the Guest:

Website: https://www.macinnesstudios.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-macinnes-07a00145/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MacInnesStudios/

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1228815937315194/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3TN3MxlA8jRSmr-fXnKScg/featured?view_as=subscriber

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/macinnesstudios/

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/

Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/edgevisualCG

WritingStory #Filmmaking #GameEngine

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CG Podcast returns with a look into the world of Haz, a leader in the Virtual Production feature filmmaking space!

Hasraf Dulull or known as Haz is the co-founder of Haz Film. His career began as a CGI artist on video games and then work his way up from compositor to VFX Supervisor for Moving Picture Company. After working on numerous high-profile feature films, he transitions to directing and producing films. His first sci-fi indie feature film - The Beyond is the start of his big break. The movie premiered #2 on the iTunes charts and trending on Netflix.

He was later hired to direct the pilot for Disney's action-comedy miniseries - Fast Layne and was also credited as creative consultant on the entire series. In the midst of the pandemic, he got a chance to have another break in directing an animation film. He shows the connection between animation film and video games.

In the same year of 2020, HaZ was hailed by Epic Games as a pioneer in utilizing the latest in Unreal Engine and Virtual Production on his animated feature films in production.

Highlights of the Episode:

00:00 - Introduction
02:20 - Guest Background
08:59 - Big break in Visual Effect
10:25 - Working in the Television
11:30 - Building his career into directing
15:00 - Start of the Hollywood Journey as Director-Writer
17:20 - Taking a leap in producing own movie
20:00 - Financing own movie
20:59 - His highest selling movie
21:20 - Struggle of independent filmmakers
23:10 - Creating content and knowing your market
25:03 - Being realistic
28:57 - Directing for Disney
31:21 - An indie director in a mainstream tv network
33:00 - Getting the Executive Producer role
35:05 - Time Management
39:37 - Advantage of Freelancing
41:20 - New age of filmmaking
46:11 - Video Game Adaptation
48:27 - Director of Animation films
52:42 - Connection of Animation film and Video Games
58:08 - Idea of Metaverse
1:01:06 - Tips in getting in unreal engine
1:06:00 - Do not be afraid to ask
Quotes:
"Time management is a key factor if you want to be in the creative industry while you are still doing your own thing" - Haz Dulull

"I got to EP the show, all of that was because I wasn't afraid to just go the extra mile and not play by the "ah I just wait until they ask me something" - Haz Dulull

"Just don't be afraid to share your ideas" - Haz Dulull

"For me, the metaverse is an immersive version of the internet. An immersive place where anything can happen. There are no gatekeepers. It is very much like Ready Player One." -Haz

Connecting with the Guest:
Website: https://hazfilm.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HaZFilmStudio
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hazimation/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HaZ_Dulull

Connecting with CG Pro:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/
Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/edgevisualCG

Filmmaking #Animation #UnrealEngine

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Tupac Martir is the founder and Creative Director of Satore Studio. Vogue has described him as “the visual designer and creative director behind some of the most important events in the world.” He has provided production design, visuals, and lighting direction for the likes of Elton John, Beyoncé, Danny Boyle, the Coachella Music & Arts Festival, and Serpentine Gallery. Tupac is renowned within the fashion industry and has worked on groundbreaking shows for Alexander McQueen, Moschino, Alexander Wang, and Thomas Tait, among others. More recently, he directed and produced the award-winning performative reality piece Cosmos Within Us.

Highlights of the Episode:

01:13 - Guest Background

07:31 - What inspires Tupac

13:28 - Finding a great mentor

17:17 - Digital Art

22:08 - Figuring out on paper first

23:54 - Coding and Programming

26:01 - Offered a job at 10 years old

31:10 - Taking a different career path

34:51 - Favorite projects relating to real time graphics

37:47 - Unreal Engine 3 and Notch real time graphic engines

39:44 - Early exploration of real time graphic

45:20 - Essence of creativity

50:18 - Cosmo

54:23 - Gaining 3 days of programming

Quotes:

“I never worry about not doing right because she (mother) had so much trust and had so much belief that I would find a path.” - Tupac Martir

“It’s more about finding what I didn’t want to do than finding out what I did want to do.” Edward Dawson - Taylor

Connecting with the Guest:

Website: https://satorestudio.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tupacmartir/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tmartir?lang=de

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/
Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/edgevisualCG

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CGPRO Podcast Guest Bio:

A cinematographer & creative technologist with a varied background in production, post-production visual effects, product design, and technology. Bridging technology and storytelling for all forms of content and products leading to valuable insight into trends in various markets.

Currently, project focus: virtual production, real-time experiences, creative direction, experiential and immersive, real-time game engine pipelines, 3D scanning, photogrammetry, LBE, augmented reality, and virtual reality. Marketing and consulting.

Highlights of the Episode:

01:35 - Background of the guest

09:00 - How skateboarding unlocks your creativity and passion

14:09 - Educate yourself to get started

18:22 - Taking advantage of Free Trial and free license applications

20:12 - Technical artist vs Traditional artist

25:37 - Learning the basics of Unreal Engine tool makes your life easier

33:45 - Innovation happening in virtual effects

37:09 - Building your skills and make people see it

41:19 - Finding the right people to point you in the right direction

46:32 - Maintaining your career

50:15 - Why you should be avoiding burnout

55:01 - UK studios vs US studios

57:39 - Camera person vs Virtual Effects person

1:04:02 - Tips for VP Demo reels

Quotes:

“If you put yourself out there, it's going to get to someone at some point, someone's going to see something. Recognize it whatever it is and you never know where that opportunity may drop.” - Jim Geduldick

“Building your skills and then also putting it in front of people and making sure people can see it because if you just have really amazing skills but nobody ever sees it, then you'll be in your bedroom forever and you'll never have the opportunity.” - Edward Dawson-Taylor

“Try to learn something every day. Even if it’s just a little bit every day but the consistency of that adds up to incredible things.” -Edward Dawson-Taylor

Connecting with the Guest:

Website: https://www.dimensionstudio.co/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dimensionstudio/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dimensionstudio

Connecting with CG Pro:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/becomecgpro
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomecgpro/
Website: https://www.becomecgpro.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/edgevisualCG

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Nick brings two decades of professional experience in visual effects, immersive media, and administration to the Digital Media Department at Drexel University. He will be discussing Virtual Production and its accessibility to everyone for a broad application of industries and ideas.

00:01:00:00 Inspiration for getting into the VFX industry

00:14:23:00 What is Virtual Production

00:17:13:00 Anyone with a home gaming machine is able to work in virtual production

00:22:09:00 Star Wars /ILM is leading the charge of this new technology

00:33:43:00 "The most important thing to take away is the pioneering spirit."

00:38:00:00 Using existing or cheaper equipment and software such as scaleable displays which helps align cheaper projectors

00:55:00:00 What will tech be like in ten years?

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Aruna is currently a Creative Director and Visual Effects Supervisor at Digital Domain. VFX Veteran, author and more. He has worked and supervised in multiple countries and has excelled in creating beautiful content for high profile feature films, episodic television, VR, AR, and most recently, video games. Projects include Avengers, Maleficent, Star Trek, and Hellboy. His book Enclosure is a science fiction novel that goes through his predictions of where technology is headed.

Get his book on Amazon today! Next week the Audible version is ready :) amzn.to/3tvpTuM

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Bruce is a seasoned movie veteran from the production side. Here he shares his journey, what makes a great producer, and how to be a great artist from a production point of view.

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Kevin Mack, academy award winning VFX supervisor and world renowned artist joins us for this exciting episode. We talk about Kevins journey through art department, into VFX, pioneering CG, becoming an honorary neuroscientist and how that influenced both his work and the science community itself. A remarkable man and an inspiration on many levels. This was a true pleasure.

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In this episode we meet Scott Rosecrans. A very talented veteran CG artist and Virtual Production supervisor, at the core of Zoic Studios Virtual Production department. We talk about the evolution of Virtual Production, the many things that it is, what its like to actually work on on it, how to get into it, how it can help production and much more. Scott highlights some real projects that have used VP and adds his thoughts on the future.

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Story. The tech is all important but the story is king. Join Josh Hayes story industry veteran, boarding over 5000 commercials and 50 movies, working on Lone Ranger, Rango and many more. He has worked with the best of the best. We discuss story pre-production and how Unreal Engine is taking the world of film by storm. (note this was a video podcast so a couple of the moments we discuss may not make as much sense in audio, but hopefully still cool overall, and mostly it is a discussion). Video version available on our YT channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS1yUJv_E16JHe1y3ms3vEg

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WritingStory #Filmmaking #GameEngine

Filmmaking #Animation #UnrealEngine