Small studio owners....

How many hours per week does your producer spend manually updating spreadsheets to match what's actually happening in the render folders?

https://redd.it/1qkjjbd
@vfxbackup

What's your desk setup?

Thought this might be a fun question to pick some brains across the industry. For about the past decade I've rocked identical dual monitors with a Wacom Intuos. At first it was 24" Dell Ultrasharps, then I briefly had some old HP 30" monitors that were like 2.5k. Then I arrived at my current setup, dual 27" 4k BenQ displays. I rock Nuke with my viewer on one monitor, and everything else on the other. I also switched to the large Intuos a few years ago and just span that across both displays. The aspect ratio is off but I've just gotten used to it. As a comper I mostly use it for pushing garbage mattes around and the occasional paint node in Nuke, or to give my mouse hand a break (I'm a lefty but use my mouse as a righty. Bow before me).

My displays are hooked up to both my Mac Studio—which I use for personal computing, video editing (Resolve), and Silhouette—and my PC, which has my own Nuke license, and what I use for PCoIP connections to wherever I'm working. I also game on it, which largely ends up being one monitor.

Lately I've been sorta coveting the 1-monitor life. And one of my BenQ's has been giving me some issues with flickering and refusing to accept incoming signals or bring up the menu, leading me to believe it's an issue with the board (they're out of warranty). I've been eying the LG Ultrafine 6k (32") as a bit of a simplification, both in terms of Mac use (6k at 32" or 5k at 27" are the ideal DPI for macOS scaling), and in terms of PC gaming: just having a single monitor directly in front of me.

My couple of questions would be, if anyone has experience with this... would I feel too constricted in Nuke? I figured I'd switch to the floating layout, so I could resize my viewer as needed and just pop open node controls as necessary (I actually used Nuke this way 1,000 years ago). But I keep thinking "my viewer would never be 27." I also wonder how the PCoIP setup might go. A single 6k is still more pixels to drive than two 4k's. Anyone have any experience with this? I should also note that I live in Nebraska and usually connect to studios on the west coast, so I average about a 50ms ping.

I've also pondered other setups like rocking a large Cintiq in the front with another 4k up top... I have a little 16" Cintiq and panning around a node graph on it is quite fun. But I'd always have the issue of having my viewer on the non-Cintiq and constantly needing to bring the viewer down for roto/paint, which could get annoying after a while.

I dunno. Curious if anyone has anything out of the ordinary and absolutely loves it. Nothing is particularly wrong with my setup, other than the slowly-dying BenQ. Just thinking out loud.

Desk and Cat Tax (sorry for the clutter):

Artwork by Jake Warr \(see below\)

Theo says check your grain.

Linky goodness to artwork

https://redd.it/1qkkybp
@vfxbackup

Would you be interested to convert VDB files to GLB easily ?

So let me explain. I'm a developper and recently found a way to easily convert VDB to any mesh format. Some of you probably already know how to do it but i would like to simplify the process by creating a website that will do it for you.

This website would allow you to convert your vdbs files into GLB or any other mesh format conserving the animations and allow you to have a mesh render of the VFX you just made. You will be allowed to choose the precision of the result so you could choose if you better want a low poly result or a very close to the source. You will also be able to set materials to the result.

You may have to watch an ad while the conversion is being made so i can pay the electricity bill.

I'll give an exemple of what it could look like in the comments.

https://redd.it/1qklixd
@vfxbackup

James Cameron:"Movies Without Actors, Without Artists"

https://redd.it/1qkmp9a
@vfxbackup

Which one do you expect to win?
https://redd.it/1qkph63
@vfxbackup

What's a difference between VFX and animation? You can do both?

Looking at company like Sony Pictures Imageworks, they do both VFX for live action movies and animation for animated movies. So you all technically can work not only in VFX, but in Animation as well? For me VFX looks just like, realistic animation. Is there a difference? I don't work in animation or vfx, I am just a curious guy.

https://redd.it/1qkrk45
@vfxbackup

"Obrigado" - [Audio-reactive TD patch + AE]

https://redd.it/1qktzsm
@vfxbackup

I want to move out of Vancouver, to another film hub or a city with VFX jobs. Where should I go? What was your experience?

TLDR: Senior Lighting TD, 10 years experience on big projects at big studios, looking to relocate out of Vancouver and to another vfx hub for something new. Where do I begin ?

For once it’s not for lack of work, but more for personal reasons. I want to switch it up and take a contract somewhere else for a while. My mental health has been chronically suffering for may years now. I love Vancouver and seems like we have a lot of Vfx and animation work keeping us busy lately. I am a senior Lighting artist, with experience in both vfx and animation, and doing comp as well for a few shows.

I’ve been working in this industry 10 years already, and don’t feel excited about the work we do anymore. I’ve lost all sense of purpose and passion lately and it’s showing.
I’ve worked at all the big studios (ILM Sony MPC Dneg) and have a great portfolio with very complex and versatile projects. Im very hireable and confident I could find work anywhere.
Personally and professionally I just lost my spark over the last few years, and I need to get that spark back by doing something spontaneous and different and funny enough the timing lines up to do this

- i am getting evicted in 2 months because of building renovations, loosing my beloved apartment.
- my current work contract is not going to be extended and the project is wrapping in a month ish
- to top it off, I am heartbroken and freshly single as of this year.

A series of annoying events to all happen simultaneously but the time has never been better for a fresh start. Let’s pack up and move to London, or Sydney or LA or anywhere I can get a decently paying vfx or anim job. I don’t care. I have Canadian citizenship and an expired EU passport… what’s out there? what’s my best option?

How do I start planning or prepping for something like this? I don’t have any solid contacts outside of the city. Does applying online even work? Find Job first and then move? Or move first and then find work?

What was your experience moving for a vfx job and finding vfx gigs thereafter? How is the industry in your city? What did you enjoy and what was hard?

Should I go for it? Or suck it up and keep rotating around studios here in Vancouver? Am I doomed in this industry anyways?

I’m worried I’ll completely lose myself and be miserable here forever if I don’t change something soon. Need advice.

Congrats if you made it this far reading my late night trains of thought as I attempt to get my life together. . . Any input or stories or ideas is welcome

https://redd.it/1qkq280
@vfxbackup

Looking for references

https://redd.it/1ql07pd
@vfxbackup

(for creatives) AI slop is ruining online creative spaces - so I built a human only one.

Art saved my life. To return the favor, I built www.NewBohemia.art \- a first-of-its-kind human-only creative community. Storytelling was my escape from an abusive home, my self-therapy, my craft, my North star. But in February 2022 with the advent of generative AI, I assumed it was all over, or at least the beginning of the end.

I descended into a soulcrushing yearlong depression and watched as things only got predictably worse. However, the desire to create never left me. In fact, it only grew. After spending enough time in darkness, I decided to pick myself up, dust myself off and fight. Over the course of 6 months, I built this platform.

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but this was a real labor of love.

Living up to its name, it has a warm, inviting arthouse aesthetic and an intensive verification system to ensure a genuine, human space for creatives of all mediums.

There’s a community chat lounge, group and private inboxes, business inquiry profile button for potential clientele/commissions individual creative medium labels, uploads for all mediums (images, writing, music, photography, film, stand-up comedy, sculptors and multimedia), noncreative accounts, likes, comments, reporting, a galleria par excellence, and an extensive anti-AI monitoring apparatus.

If you are sick of seeing nonstop clankerslop online and tired of wondering if your hard work, passion and god-given talent will ever be falsely accused of being similarly synthetic, then yep, this is exactly the right place for you.

If you are an aspiring artist of any kind, such as a burgeoning writer, who wants to participate in the early days of a revolutionary new platform for the kind of instant exposure you won't get on more established older ones, then this is exactly the right place for you.

We also just added an exciting new feature where the gallery page will show 3 random works from our entire gallery at the topmast with every refresh, thereby guaranteeing constant daily exposure for literally every creative on our platform.

To sum it up; It’s free, it’s human-only, and it exists so real creatives finally have a community they can truly call home.

P.S., we are data-safe with legally binding protections for artists that explicitly prohibit scraping, automated data collection, and are unable to sell or license your work to third parties. AI training on your content is explicitly prohibited under our Terms of Service. All artwork served through access-controlled, time-limited links, plus rate limits and anti-scrape monitoring. For any other questions, concerns or if you just want the full infodump on our verification process, legal policies, my personal backstory or our general approach on keeping the site AI-free as humanly possible, please visit:

 www.newbohemia.art/faq

 www.newbohemia.art/about

(Adults 18+ only.)

And If you want to share your art in our rapidly growing, unique, human-only creativity platform, please head over to-

 www.newbohemia.art/signup

https://redd.it/1qkzj8v
@vfxbackup

Where to hire VFX for Self Produced Sci-Fi Horror Short?

I am looking to bring someone on to a short that I’ve been working on that is in post production. The short is kind of in the black mirror dark comedy genre. It’s about a guy talking to trickster interdimensional beings who are telling him that he must build a device to save the world from destruction.

We have a few shots that require a VFX artist. As

1. A whip around of an asteroid in space and shown approaching earth

2. Add in some shooting stars/meteorites in a tilt shot up into the night sky

3. A tik tok or reels style interface over vertical video

4. News channel interface, scroll, etc.

Does anyone know where to find someone/somewhere to hire or bring on to self funded projects? An ideal person would be located in Chicago area or Midwest USA, as we are looking to focus on Midwest based and genre based festivals as one of the main goals has been networking to get funding for future projects. But that’s not required.

If anyone knows where to look or is interested in chatting and seeing if we can find a fit, reply or send a pm. I’m happy to go into more detail

https://redd.it/1ql6neo
@vfxbackup

Do You Think CGI Has Regressed In Cinema?
https://www.danlalondefilms.com/post/do-you-think-cgi-has-regressed-in-cinema

https://redd.it/1ql6qnv
@vfxbackup

Is VFX Coordinator a role suitable for a recent VFX graduate?

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some career advice.

I recently discovered the VFX Coordinator role, and the more I learn about it, the more it feels aligned with my interests and long-term goals in the VFX/film industry.

I’m about to graduate in VFX / CG, and I was wondering: is this a role that a recent graduate could realistically start in, or is it generally a position meant for people with more industry or on-set experience?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who works as a VFX Coordinator or has insight into how people usually break into this role.

Thanks in advance!

https://redd.it/1qlildi
@vfxbackup

I think all the joy has gone out of VFX

I was lucky enough to start out in VFX in the 80's. We didn't have much, to start with we had two 30 sec digital disks, capable of adding a single layer with a matte (Abekas A64 & A53). Also, that layer was a single frame, no moving image, so to add a moving image you had to write a macro to grab a freeze frame of the fill, then the matte, and then record it to the other disk. If you messed it up then BLAM, you'd destroyed your work. no undos, no going back. 

Then along came Quantel's Henry. Five minutes (Wow!! a whole 5 minutes!) of storage (at SD). You could add five layers at a time, with moving mattes and fills. Also you could archive the job to D1 digital tape, allowing you to revisit jobs. Still no undo though.

Also, at the time we didn't know what we were doing, we didn't know what was and wasn't possible. I often had pre-production meetings where the director would describe what they wanted and I wouldn't have a clue how to achieve it. We muddled through, though.

This lead to creativity, trying to come up with a way to achieve effects that hadn't been done before.

For example, one job I did was for a trailer for the X Files. The director had a shot of Mulder and Scully looking up at the sky, and he wanted to add an X-shaped space ship. We ended up making a model of the space ship out of cardboard (about a metre across), and moving it under a caption camera to try and match the movement we wanted. I had an emergency lamp in my car that flashed a red light, so that went under the camera and I tracked it in to the "space ship". 

This promo went on to win a gold ProMax award for "Best use of 3d"  as the head of department thought it must have come from our fledgling 3d.

We're now in the mid-90's and Flame appeared on the market. The first demo I had of it had the software in French. The original Flame had the reels running from right to left "to maintain compatability with Steenbecks" (Film editing machines). Why on earth they thought this was important, all the film editors I know have been the least tech-savvy people.

Gradually, 3d improved and became more realistic. Flame (and this newcomer, After Effects) got more and more tools. More ability and more choices for production to achieve their vision.

And then, it all become commonplace. Anything is possible, to the point where directors don't need to pre-produce VFX, anything they want is acheivable. for less and less money. There's barely any production now that doesn't have any post production done on it. Directors don't need to plan ahead. If you shoot something and there's something you don't like, then it can always be "fixed in post". You don't need to make any decisions, anything can be changed. And it's cheaper than ever before.

With AI now, or in the near future, it gets to the point where no decisions need to be made in advance. You don't need to have any clear idea of what you want, it can all be changed.

One job I did got a centre spread in a national newspaper, it was so groungbreaking. Can you imagine that happening now?

When I went to see Terminator 2 I remember during the scene when the T2 morphed from the lino into his human form, a guy behind me went "no way!" You don't get that these days.

VFX used to be fun and exciting, you'd make something no-one had seen before and people (literally) went "wow!" Now it's all taken for granted. 

The joy and the fun has gone.

https://redd.it/1qlyb1v
@vfxbackup

Mari vs Substance Painter in 2026?

Hi guys, Im a generalist, so texturing isn't my speciality or anything! However, I have noticed that Substance Painter has been improving considerably in recent years. Don't get me wrong, Mari hasn't stood still, but it feels like each time I update Substance, I have a whole new arsenal of tools at my disposal.

I can totally still see how Mari is better for the super hero and BIG assets where you need to go in with a fine brush. But, how close is Substance to it now?

I honestly feel like it's getting to the point in production where 90% of the assets, at least, I would tackle with Substance Painter. It's just so much faster. There's literally a library of scans built into the software now, with almost 15,000 materials! Insane.

https://redd.it/1qlxwei
@vfxbackup

Hilariously bad AI movie from Korea

https://redd.it/1qlqi60
@vfxbackup

Liquid Honey Flow | Houdini FLIP + Karma Render

https://redd.it/1qmcga3
@vfxbackup

a VFX short i made w/ Blender & Fusion [Davinci Resolve]

https://redd.it/1qqt42w
@vfxbackup

Birds in Element3D - Poop in Blender - Comp in AE

https://redd.it/1qqayxp
@vfxbackup

F1 - Behind the VFX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_XJSaWMMo0

https://redd.it/1qqzpkr
@vfxbackup

Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston on AI Stealing Actors’ Faces 🎭🤖

https://redd.it/1qqzz5j
@vfxbackup