Cg Garage

VFX supervising Stranger Things is the latest in a series of remarkable achievements for Justin Mitchell. After trying his hand at acting and lighting, Justin moved into animation and VFX, scoring credits on Charmed and Final Destination 2. In 2008, Justin joined Scanline VFX, where he’s worked on a succession of incredible projects, including 2012, Super 8, Iron Man 3, Tomb Raider, Cosmos, and The Nevers. Justin talks about how he’s seen the industry shift since he started working in it, with Scanline expanding from 10 to 1,300 people, and the emergence of streaming platforms, virtual production, and artificial intelligence. He also reveals how he’s learned to lead a team and explains how he uses Scanline’s proprietary software to create and revise shots according to directors’ wishes.

Mike Romey, has an incredible talent for uniting the creative and technical aspects of productions. Before he’d even landed a full-time job, he’d already animated an advertisement, set up a curriculum, and created an interactive CD-ROM for a laser printer (yes, this was definitely the 90s). Then, his career took in successively bigger projects, from planetarium shows and Time Square electronic signage to content for Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Today, Mike has taken his talents to FuseFX, where he’s rebuilt the VFX studio’s pipeline with cutting-edge software and smart integrations. In this deep dive into his career, Mike reveals how he’s constantly innovated pipelines and tackled some (literally) huge challenges. He also talks about how he pioneered a virtual production system at Zoic Studios for TV series V and Once Upon a Time, and gives his thoughts on new trends in the VFX industry.

Isaac Irvin’s incredible VFX industry adventures have taken him across countries and over oceans. From enthusiastic beginnings at Texan TV stations, he moved to Scotland to work on TV series and game cinematics, before returning to the States to flit between studios including Digital Domain, Method, Marauder, and Psyop on projects such as Speed Racer, Iron Man 3, Robocop, and more. Today, Isaac has taken his big-screen VFX experience to the fast-paced, tech-heavy world of commercials. He talks about evolving from the limitations of software in the early days of VFX, to Real Steel’s perfect pipeline, up to the seemingly limitless possibilities of real-time rendering. He also talks about a nerve-wracking meeting at DD, and how he joined a particular VFX house at exactly the wrong time. Isaac is open and funny, and it’s clear that he’s lost none of his initial enthusiasm for all things VFX.

As an executive at Disney in the 90s, Bob Bacon witnessed the rise of CG, supporting the production of increasingly big-budget blockbusters, including Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, and Lilo and Stitch. He then joined Elton John for Gnomeo and Juliet and moved to Paramount for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water. Now, Bob is Head of Studio at Virtue Animation, a Web3-based company inspired by his time working for the late Kobe Bryant. Bob details how the traditional animation studio system works, how fragile it can be, and how he’s continually innovated new workflows that can deliver both creativity and cashflows. He finishes with insight into how NFTs and crypto are revolutionizing and democratizing the entertainment industry.

Sean Devereaux has fulfilled his childhood dream of making movies, and he started and sold a software company along the way. After being inspired by a viewing of The Wizard of Oz, Sean got a break at Digital Domain thanks to fellow alumni Jonathan Egstad. After working on movies including How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Vanilla Sky, he returned to Boston to found Zero VFX, which has created shots for American Hustle, The Equalizer, and Patriots Day. Sean also discovered the financial and practical benefits of cloud computing, leading to the development of Zync, which was subsequently bought by Google. Sean reflects on his incredible career with contagious enthusiasm and a knack for storytelling. He recounts some great stories involving directors Peter Berg and Antoine Fuqua, and reveals how his work ethic helped him get hired by Digital Domain. He also reveals some of the important life lessons he’s learned, from how to balance creativity and finances, to how to deal with directors.

After getting on-set experience for a Canadian TV series, Mathew Giampa picked up compositing roles on White Noise 2, Sucker Punch, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Green Lantern, and more. He then moved up to progressively more challenging VFX supervision work on The Joker (yes, there were visual effects in that movie!), Black Widow, The Suicide Squad, and the Cowboy Bebop TV series. Mathew talks about the joy of invisible VFX, moving between studios and countries to further his career, and some of the incredible projects he’s worked on. He also dispels some of the myths about the importance of color accuracy and security when working on Hollywood productions, and offers a compositor’s perspective on virtual production and real-time.

Thinking about starting your own VFX company? This week’s podcast guest, Marc Morissette, has done just that. After gaining experience and friendships at Digital Domain on projects including Peter Pan and Ghost Racer, Marc returned to his native Canada to form his own studio, Cluster. The company has taken on a variety of CG work, from a VR version of the Universal Studios globe for The Mummy to product shots and digital de-aging. Marc explains the reasons behind starting Cluster and his vision for the company. He also talks about how the VFX industry changed when multiple vendors started working on the same shows, and the effects of the pandemic on smaller studios. Finally, Marc discusses how real-time technology will transform the future of filmmaking, and its advantages for smaller studios.

This week Scott Kirvan shares his unique and in-depth understanding of the VFX pipeline, from on-set supervision to rendering the final frame. While working as a VFX programmer at Blur Studio, Scott developed Brazil R/S, the early ray-tracing renderer used on Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Sin City. That’s not all — he also VFX supervised movies including Swordfish and Jeepers Creepers. And he’s started Slaughter County Brewing, a successful craft beer producer. After a hiatus from the entertainment industry, Scott is now back on-set for I’m a Virgo, the upcoming Amazon TV series from Sorry to Bother You director Boots Riley. Scott reveals how he’s embracing a new suite of tools for VFX production, including real-time engines and virtual production technology, to get talent to believe they’re interacting with a 15-foot-tall teenager.

Eddie Smith is a MacGyver of the VFX industry. Over his career, he’s figured out how to unveil the president as the bad guy for G.I. Joe: Retaliation, explode characters into cubes for Tron: Legacy, destroy planets in Ender’s Game, all the way up to some spoiler-ific effects for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Eddie’s weapon of choice for VFX is Houdini, SideFX’s versatile node-based effects software. Eddie breaks down some of his favorite work and reveals how he’s often charged with figuring out the best way to tackle complex scenes. He also talks about how effects software has changed in his 14 years at Digital Domain, and the future for the industrious effects studio.

Originally from Bulgaria, Ioanna Ivanova was inspired by Pixar and Tangled to pursue a career in CG. Having studied at Bournemouth University in the UK, she subsequently moved to London where she works for INK, the inventive creative studio that’s rendered everything from funny furry planes to amazing Maseratis. In this inspirational podcast, Ioanna talks about the importance of networking and meeting people, and the benefits of working for smaller CG studios where you can have more creative input. She also discusses what INK’s been up to lately, including medical equipment visualization and a pet project she’s masterminded herself.

There’s a surprising amount of tech in Laika’s movies. The Portland, Oregon-based studio still makes use of its intricate hand-crafted stop-motion techniques, but it's increasingly augmenting them with CG elements, 3D printing, and even virtual production. Jeff Stringer, Laika’s director of production technology, reveals the advantages of combining the physical and the digital. Jeff also talks about his career in the entertainment industry, from his early days in theater projections to software sales, Atari arcade games, Starship Troopers, and Digital Domain, all the way up to how he got started at Laika. He gives some amazing insight into how a successful studio is built and run, and reveals how Laika is pushing its pipeline forward again with Wildwood, its next production.

Adam Sidwell is pioneering a new generation of entertainment. His CG career began working with Chris on I, Robot, and he went on to create effects for movies including King Kong, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, and Warcraft: The Beginning. Now, Adam has taken his modular approach to VFX into real-time to create AR, VR, and online content featuring Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, and Kaskade, through to Sonic the Hedgehog and Georges W. Bush and Clooney. In this podcast, Adam breaks down the story behind Future House Studios, the company he founded to create immersive, interactive experiences. He also talks about the pros and cons of working in real-time, the metaverse and NFTs, reveals why some shots in Avatar look better than others — and discusses making The Weeknd lick a frog.

CGarchitect has become a massive part of the global archviz community. The all-in-one site incorporates LinkedIn-style job listings, the latest industry insights, and a super-smart AI-powered gallery that curates impressive renders from thousands of submissions. And now, CGarchitect has become part of the Chaos family. In this podcast, Chris is joined by CGarchitect founder Jeff Mottle as he prepares to pass the mantle of running the site to Chaos’ Director of Creative and Communications, Lon Grohs. Jeff goes into detail on why he founded the site, how it works, and the exciting next steps for his career, while Lon talks about the future of CGarchitect, what it means for its community, and its first major change: to a completely free model for all users.

Darin Grant is back! And a lot has changed in the three years since the Animal Logic group chief technology officer and general VFX genius last recorded with Chris. As always, Darin offers expert industry insight into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on working from home, cloud computing, and how digital content is created and consumed. Darin also details his role as director of the Electronic Theater at this year’s SIGGRAPH conference. You’ll learn about some of the stunning and deeply moving entries in the computer graphics showcase, plus what physical and virtual attendees can expect. Listen to find out Darin’s interesting idea for blockchains, and to find out how Animal Logic is refocusing its VFX work on animation via movies including Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway and Super Pets.

Is Huxley the new Star Wars? This week, Chris chats to Ben Mauro, the film and game concept artist who single-handedly created Huxley, a comic book set in a richly detailed post-apocalyptic sci-fi universe. Thanks to the power of NFTs, Huxley has evolved beyond the pages of a graphic novel into something far bigger, with a film from Marvel producer Avi Arad in the works, plus trading cards, a potential TV series, and much more.  Ben talks about the incredible journey of Huxley, from how he found motivation and inspiration to single-handedly create the comic book, to how NFTs have empowered him to focus on the project, to its exciting future. Ben also shares his savvy knowledge of how NFTs work and gives his thoughts on how big media franchises are cashing in on their astonishing rise, as well as explaining how to avoid rugpulls.

Joining Chris for this week’s podcast is Matteo Santoro, an energetic, enthusiastic, and versatile filmmaker who might just be revolutionizing the way movies are made. After graduating from art college, Matteo created opening titles and VFX for film including The Incredible Hulk, Aliens vs Predator - Requiem, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. At the same time, he created his own sci-fi IPs, including the short film Offline and the feature Higher Power. Now, Matteo is working on SIFT, an ambitious sci-fi feature film constructed through NFTs, allowing fans to own parts of the movie and even shape its direction. Matteo discusses SIFT’s richly detailed world and how he built a practical robot to inhabit it. He also talks about The Sunflower Kid, a series of NFTs that aim to raise money for charity and promote world peace.

Judith Crow has seen both sides of the effects industry. After developing an enthusiasm for coding, she worked her way into Digital Domain, where she pioneered visual effects for Interview with the Vampire, Apollo 13, Titanic, and Fight Club. Then, she switched sides and took on a role with Houdini developer SideFX. In this podcast, Judith talks about everything from her early days in community arts curation to how she got her foot in the door at Digital Domain and created visual effects for major Hollywood movies. She also discusses Houdini’s meteoric rise from particle-specialist to do-it-all VFX software, revealing some of its more interesting use-cases and plans for its future.

This week’s podcast guest, Barbara Ford Grant, is particularly inspirational. Barbara’s pursuit of fine art led her into VFX, where she worked her way through companies including DreamWorks Animation, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Digital Domain, Walt Disney Studios, and immersive art platform Meow Wolf. She carved an enviable career path during this time, from digital artist to chief technology officer. Today, Barbara is president of Prysm Stages, a state-of-the-art virtual production facility, and she’s just become the first female chair of the Sci-Tech Oscar Awards Committee. In this podcast, she details her career and how she’s continually pushed VFX technology and pipelines forward. She also reveals why HBO’s content is so good, what exactly Meow Wolf does, and the changes needed for women to thrive in the VFX industry.