CG Garage

Will 2026 be the year of the ultimate industry reckoning or a digital renaissance? Hosts Chris and Daniel are joined by guests James Blevins and Erick Geisler for a deep dive into the "mild, medium, and spicy" predictions that will define the next year. As the dust settles on early AI experiments, the group moves past the "Will Smith eating spaghetti" era of novelty to discuss the professionalizat...

From disrupting the print industry with the original Macintosh to building bespoke tech for Premier League teams, Ivan Reel has always lived at the bleeding edge of media. Now the Head of Studio Technology at StradaXR, Reel traces his evolution from graphic designer to virtual production leader, sharing insights from his time managing Sony's pivot to digital workflows and his inspiring choice to r...

Why does the superhero spinoff Gen V often look more visceral and grounded than its blockbuster feature film counterparts? The answer lies in the unique philosophy of Visual Effects Supervisor Karen Heston, who joins Chris and Daniel to reveal the analog soul beating beneath the show's digital surface. Heston traces her journey from the chemical smells of a black-and-white darkroom to the high-pre...

Ben Mauro is one of the industry's most respected concept artists, known for defining the look of blockbusters like Halo Infinite, but his latest venture is a masterclass in how artists can successfully build and own their own intellectual property. Ben returns to the podcast to break down the journey of expanding his independent sci-fi universe, Huxley , from a passion project into a high-end gra...

AI is revolutionizing cinematic lighting control with Beeble AI's Switchlight. Founder Hoon Kim explains how his tool, originally a general AI concept, became a powerful VFX asset by tackling the difficult process of relighting. Switchlight "unlights" any video footage to figure out the fundamental physical properties, like the shape (normals) and texture (metalness/roughness) of objects, and then...

Visual effects veteran Dennis Berardi joins the podcast to discuss the resurrection of his legendary studio, Mr. X, and his latest collaboration with Guillermo del Toro on Frankenstein . Dennis shares the technical and artistic challenges behind the film, detailing how his team blended massive physical builds with digital artistry to create the film's "invisible" effects. From creating expansive A...

The anonymous "VFX soldier in the trenches" who took on the studios is back, and the fight he started is far from over. Two legends of the VFX labor rights movement, Daniel Lay (the formerly VFX Soldier ) and veteran exec Scott Ross , join Chris and Daniel Thron to revisit the pivotal moment their fight began. The conversation goes back 10+ years to when the VFX Soldier blog became the rallying cr...

What was it like to be inside Softimage during the Microsoft acquisition? How did Bill Gates' "big pivot" to the internet change everything overnight? Industry veteran David Morin joins Chris to share his fascinating origin story, from programming with punch cards and an 8-year art detour to working with ILM on Jurassic Park and navigating the seismic shifts at Softimage, Microsoft, Avid, and Auto...

For our special Halloween episode, we sit down with VFX Supervisor Gabriel Regentin to discuss his work with Ingenuity Studios on the smash-hit horror film, Weapons . Gabriel details his close collaboration with director Zach Cregger, whose primary goal was to ensure every visual effect felt 100% "in-camera" and unquestionably real. He shares the challenge of creating the film's signature terrifyi...

Returning to the podcast for his fourth appearance, director Tim Miller, the creative force behind the blockbuster hit Deadpool and the acclaimed anthologies Love, Death & Robots and Secret Level, pulls back the curtain on the unpredictable reality of a Hollywood career. In a candid discussion, Miller unpacks the delicate balance of luck and perseverance that defines success, the misconceptions su...

After nearly 20 years dedicated to James Cameron's groundbreaking Avatar saga, virtual production supervising stage operator Dan Fowler joins host Chris Nichols in the garage for a deep dive into his incredible 30-year career. Dan recounts his journey from being the drummer in a 90s hair metal band to becoming a key operator on one of the most technologically advanced film sets in history. This co...

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235529/ Ever wonder how the scrappy, sarcastic world of Murderbot was brought to life? Veteran Visual Effects Supervisor Sean Faden pulls back the curtain on the hit Apple TV+ series, revealing the innovative and often hilarious journey of its creation. He shares the origin story of his involvement, detailing a highly collaborative process that began nearly a year bef...

A few months back, on episode 510, we debated whether James Cameron is an all-powerful maverick who answers to no one. VFX legend and Digital Domain co-founder Scott Ross heard the discussion and had a clear message for us: "You got it wrong." According to Scott, the idea that Cameron operates completely free from studio influence is a fantasy, especially when a quarter-billion dollars is on the l...

Computer graphics pioneer Ken Perlin invented Perlin noise, a foundational tool used in nearly every area of computer graphics. In this episode of CG Garage, Ken shares his unique journey, starting with a childhood love for both art and mathematics. He recounts how his early work on the film Tron inspired him to invent Perlin noise and the foundational concepts of shaders, a breakthrough that laid...

This week, we sit down with acclaimed cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw , the first woman ever to shoot on IMAX for the film Sinner . She discusses her unique journey into filmmaking, including her work in 16mm on The Last Showgirl and her credits on major studio projects like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Marvel's Loki . Autumn highlights the vital importance of finding a creative commun...

Episode 515 marks the very first CG Garage Podcast episode under the Monstrous Moonshine banner, and it's a big reset moment. Chris is joined by longtime collaborator Daniel Thron and new producer/coordinator Lily Nichols to introduce this new chapter. Together, they reflect on the origins of the Monstrous Moonshine name, its ties to both 1970s cinema and mathematics, and why it represents the kin...

This episode marks the final CG Garage podcast under the Chaos umbrella. The next chapter of the show will launch under a new banner, continuing the conversations that explore the art, craft, and future of filmmaking. Armen Kevorkian joins Chris to reflect on his long career in visual effects, from his early start as an intern on Star Trek: Voyager and Deep Space Nine to becoming the president of...

At SIGGRAPH 2025, Chaos unveils major updates to Vantage and Arena that significantly expand real-time ray tracing workflows. Product managers Simeon Balabanov and Georgi Zhekov join Chris to break down the new capabilities, including native USD and MaterialX support, Gaussian splats with ray-traced lighting, volumetric caches, and a streamlined pipeline that keeps the same asset across previs, vi...

In this episode, Chris chats with Susan O'Neal, a long-time force in the visual effects industry, about her remarkable career journey and insights into the evolving VFX world. Susan recounts starting as employee #24 at Digital Domain in the early '90s, working on landmark projects like Titanic , and moving through various studios such as Lightstorm, A52, CIS, Zoic, and Riot. Along the way, she wor...

VFX veterans Chad Wanstreet and Allan McKay join Chris to talk about their new startup, Version Zero, a company aimed at automating the mundane tasks that bog down visual effects work. Born out of years of frustration with tedious jobs like roto, paint, plate cleanup, and matchmove, Version Zero helps artists and studios save time and focus on the creative parts of production. Chad and Allan share...

We're trying something new this week and taking a break from the usual interview format. This episode kicks off a roundtable discussion format that we plan to revisit every few months. Chris is joined in person by Daniel Thron and James Blevins, both CG Garage podcast veterans, for a relaxed but sharp conversation about recent events in technology and the movie industry. The group starts with Jame...

Marti Romances, co-founder and creative director of Territory Studio San Fransisco, joins the podcast to share his journey from designing DVD menus in Spain to creating iconic futuristic interfaces for blockbuster films like P rometheus , The Martian , Guardians of the Galaxy , and Captain America: The Winter Soldier . With roots in multimedia and motion graphics, Marti explains how his early pass...

Michael Ralla joins the podcast to share his journey through the world of visual effects, with a focus on his latest project as VFX Supervisor on the film Sinners . He discusses how he worked closely with cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw, whose fearless approach to lighting and darkness pushed the creative envelope. The episode features a deep conversation about the differences between film a...

Jess Loren, CEO and co-founder of Global Objects, joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about the future of immersive content and the creative tech reshaping the industry. A force to be reckoned with, Jess has a sharp pulse on where things are headed, and she doesn't hold back when discussing the current state of Hollywood. She talks candidly about the challenges studios and creators face today...

Johnson Yan, a trailblazer in real-time 3D graphics, joins the podcast to recount his remarkable journey from the earliest days of computer graphics and flight simulation. Starting in the late 1970s, Johnson tackled fundamental challenges like texture mapping, anti-aliasing, translucency, and scalability, long before today's GPU technology emerged. He shares insights into his pioneering work at Si...