CG Garage

Sebastian Sylwan has a wealth of experience, having been CTO at Weta Digital, Scanline, and Felix & Paul Studios, as well as Director of Technology at Digital Domain. He's spent his career at the intersection of art and technology, helping world-class teams push the boundaries of visual effects, immersive media, and real-time workflows. In this episode, he reflects on the challenges of innovating...

Scott Ross, legendary VFX executive and co-founder of Digital Domain, joins the podcast for an unfiltered conversation about the state of the film industry and the visual effects business. With decades of experience and a reputation for telling it like it is, Scott digs into the systemic challenges facing Hollywood—from broken economic models in studio filmmaking to the relentless pressure on VFX...

Joshua Lastine, an entertainment lawyer, returns to the podcast to break down the rapidly changing legal and business landscape of the film industry. As AI tools reshape content creation, streaming platforms redefine distribution, and independent filmmakers leverage new technology, Joshua explains how contracts, intellectual property, and revenue models are evolving. He dives into the legal implic...

Oliver Markowski, Head of 3D at RISE, returns to the podcast to dive deep into the latest advancements in VFX technology. Since his last appearance, the industry has seen major shifts, and Oliver shares insights on how USD and MaterialX have evolved, shaping how studios exchange data and build pipelines. He discusses the adoption of USD across the industry, from major VFX houses to tech giants lik...

Eric Barba, Academy Award-winning VFX supervisor, returns to the podcast to discuss his latest work on Alien: Romulus , directed by Fede Álvarez, for which he is nominated for an Oscar in 2025. He shares the challenges of bringing the world of Alien to life, from balancing practical effects with cutting-edge VFX to ensuring the film stays true to Ridley Scott's iconic franchise. Eric dives into th...

In the special 500th episode of the CG Garage podcast, Steve Preeg, one of the first-ever guests of the show, returns to reflect on a decade of change in the visual effects industry. An Academy Award-winning VFX supervisor known for his groundbreaking work on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and TRON: Legacy , Steve shares how both the industry and his own career have evolved since his last app...

Jake Maymudes, visual effects supervisor and CEO of Wylie Co., shares his experiences working on major projects like  Dune: Part One , Dune: Part Two , and Alien: Romulus . Jake discusses the creative and technical challenges involved in creating the stunning visuals for these films, from complex simulations to photoreal environments. He also reflects on his journey through the visual effects indu...

Todd Perry, a veteran visual effects supervisor with decades of experience in the industry, shares his journey from his early fascination with Star Wars to becoming a key figure in VFX. Todd discusses how he transitioned from experimenting with stop-motion and early computer graphics to landing his first major jobs at Imageworks and Weta, working on projects like The Lord of the Rings: The Two Tow...

Andy Boyd, co-founder of Jam, shares insights into his studio's journey over the past decade and their ability to adapt to changing industry dynamics. Andy reflects on his studio's blend of commercial and long-form projects, including Brothers , a feature film featuring a photoreal CG orangutan, now available on Amazon Prime. He discusses the challenges of creating realistic fur and how transition...

Jason Smith, the senior visual effects supervisor on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power , joins the podcast to discuss his award-winning career in visual effects. With nearly 25 years at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Jason's achievements include an Oscar nomination and a Sci-Tech Award from the Academy for his groundbreaking work on Blockparty, a rigging tool used to bring countless creat...

Jo Plaete, a pioneer in digital humans and chief innovation officer at Metaphysic, joins the podcast to discuss his company's groundbreaking work on the newly released film Here , now in theaters. Jo traces his journey from his early career in computer graphics and visual effects, working on films like Where the Wild Things Are and Aladdin , to creating cutting-edge AI-driven tools that enable pho...

Daniel Thron, Erick Schiele, and James Blevins join Chris to discuss their work on the short film Ray Tracing FTW . Directed by Daniel, the film pushed the boundaries of virtual production, and Erick's production design had to work both digitally and practically, ensuring consistency across virtual environments and physical sets. James, with his expertise in virtual production, shares how they ove...

Jared Sandrew, a 3D supervisor at Disney and visual effects veteran, joins the podcast to discuss his career journey, from growing up around the pioneering technology of digital colorization to becoming a key figure in stereoscopic 3D conversion for blockbuster films. Jared shares fascinating stories about his time at Legend 3D, where he worked on major projects like A lice in Wonderland and Shrek...

Line producers Debbie Kennard and Ron Eli Cohen discuss their work on the short film Ray Tracing FTW and offer an insider's perspective on the art of film production. Debbie shares her story, from her beginnings as John Carpenter's PA on The Thing to becoming a trusted line producer in Hollywood, while Ron talks about transitioning from acting to producing, with credits like The Dark Knight Rises...

In this episode, Richard Crudo, the cinematographer, and Esther Woodworth, the 1st Assistant Camera for the Ray Tracing FTW short film, share their journey working on the groundbreaking project. We take a deep dive into the dynamics of the camera crew, exploring how different departments like lighting and grip collaborate to bring a director's vision to life. Esther provides insight into her passi...

Matthias Christen, the main 3D artist from The Scope on Ray Tracing FTW , shares his fascinating journey from traditional analog painting to becoming an expert in 3D and virtual production. Starting with a passion for drawing, Matthias entered the advertising industry, where he honed his skills in Photoshop and Illustrator before transitioning into 3D work. He talks about his growth at The Scope,...

In this episode, Chris sits down with AJ Wedding, founder of Orbital Studios, to discuss how the Chaos Innovation Lab used his studio to film Ray Tracing FTW using Project Arena. AJ shares how his early fascination with virtual production, inspired by his work on The Mandalorian , led him to launch Orbital Studios during the pandemic. He explains the challenges of building a virtual production stu...

It's been seven years since Ed Ulbrich last appeared on the CG Garage podcast — and a lot has changed. The man who digitally aged Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and resurrected late rapper 2Pac as an on-stage hologram is now chief content officer and president of production at metaphysic.ai, which is using AI tools to create photorealistic digital humans in real time for movies...

Kevin Tod Haug has always been destined for a career in VFX. From a young age, he analyzed movies and TV series to work out how they were made. He joined the industry and saw it transform from electro-mechanical to digital via movies and TV series, including Tron and Star Trek: The Next Generation . He then became a full VFX supervisor on movies including Fight Club , The Cell , Panic Room , and Q...

Ian Dawson's dream of a Jarvis-style computing interface seems to be coming true. This multi-talented CG veteran began his career in graphic design, before moving into producing and creating flying logos throughout the 90s. He then moved into advertising, and title sequences and VFX sequences for movies including the Iron Man trilogy , Star Wars: Rogue One , and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol...

Get ready to dive into the magical world of virtual production with the one and only Gary Marshall, Vice President of Virtual Production at Nant Studios. In this episode, Chris chats with Gary, a true wizard in the visual effects industry, who's been behind some of the most jaw-dropping movie moments you've ever seen. From running film reels around London as a newbie at the iconic Moving Picture C...

Alex and Tim Porter have the perfect skillset of a VFX power couple. Alex has a background in interior design, which she leveraged into user experience and virtual spaces. Tim, meanwhile, has worked in games and VFX, beginning as an artist but gravitating towards developing tools and scripts that make it easy to create complicated environments and characters. Together, Alex and Tim have establishe...

Erick Giesler has seen the filmmaking industry change right from the very start. As a child, he acted in TV shows, but found that he was more fascinated with what was happening behind the camera. He learned how to create VFX, beginning on SGIs, then moving to software such as Electric Image, 3ds Max, and V-Ray, and helping to create VFX for movies including Independence Day , Titanic , and The Day...

Todd Terrazas has been part of the AI revolution since the beginning. He started out developing a system to automatically triage 911 calls and then was part of the development team behind the first wave of AI-powered chatbots. Today, Todd has founded FRBC.ai, which empowers storytellers with AI tools. He's also the mastermind of the AI LA Community, which in turn hosts the AI on the Lot summit. To...

A love of computing, music, and cinema has propelled Jeff Kleiser's career from the earliest days of VFX on movies including Tron , Flight of the Navigator , Stargate , Judge Dredd , Surrogates , and many more. Along the way, he's helped the late, great Doug Trumbull create eye-popping film-based projects for Luxor hotels and Radio City's 3D Christmas movie. Jeff talks through his career, and how...