CG Garage

The big wide world can be a scary place for neurodiverse people — but Exceptional Minds can help them find their place. Founded in 2011, this remarkable non-profit training academy trains individuals on the autism spectrum to become visual effects and animation professionals. It also runs its own studio, which has put graduates to work on Black Widow , Loki , and a whole animated segment for Sesam...

AJ Jefferies' art is unmistakable. Whether he's indulging in passion projects or designing campaigns for companies including Cadbury's, Virgin Atlantic, and MTV, this UK-based 3D illustrator and animator's work is eye-catching, playful, and colorful — and large, sometimes up to 10K in resolution. In this conversation with Chris, AJ breaks down his career so far, from how Toy Story inspired his ear...

Real-time CG is quickly taking over the film industry — but learning about its virtual cameras, lenses, and sets can be tricky. Tackling this is "Becoming a CG Pro," an online virtual production course aimed at filmmakers and CG artists hosted by Edward Dawson-Taylor and Jacqueline Cooper, a pair of VFX industry pros with credits on Jurassic World , The Jungle Book , and The Lion King . In this po...

Ruairidh "Roo" MacNeill's love for 3D modeling began with sandcastles in Lightwave—and now, he's working in London on blockbusters including Thor: Ragnarok, Alita: Battle Angel, and Wonder Woman 1984 . In this podcast, Roo brings fresh insight into the trends reshaping the way VFX are produced, with procedural tools such as Houdini removing the industry's reliance on hard-surface modelers. Roo giv...

In this week's podcast, Chris digs into the relationship between CG and archaeology with world-renowned archaeologist Bernard Frischer. Having studied Classics, Bernie discovered a passion for the past and led excavations of Horace's Villa in Licenza, Italy. At the same time, he maintained a keen interest in the evolution of computing technology and used it to reconstruct Rome for his Rome Reborn...

Liz Montes bumped into someone at an LA party—and landed a job at Digital Domain. Here, she worked alongside Chris on movies including Real Steel and Oblivion . Then she moved to visualization specialist The Third Floor, where she worked as a production manager and producer on blockbusters including Edge of Tomorrow , Solo: A Star Wars Story , and Avengers: Endgame . In this podcast, Liz talks abo...

Chris Harvey's brief encounters in biology and theater set him up perfectly for a thriving career in VFX. After taking an animation course, he went on to work on movies such as Chappie , TRON: Legacy , and Zero Dark Thirty . Then, he helped Neill Blomkamp launch independent production company Oats Studios and now he works as a freelance VFX supervisor. In this podcast, Chris talks about striking a...

Want to know the secrets of a successful VFX career? In this week's podcast, Andy Boyd tells Chris how he worked his way up from VFX artist to head of 3D at MPC and then became co-founder of his own company, Jamm VFX, moving from Johannesburg to London and Los Angeles in the process. Andy gives useful insights on getting noticed and securing promotions. He also talks through the nerve-wracking pro...

Introducing the CG Garage podcast's first-ever virtual guest: PHIA, AKA Sophia Bollinger. In the space of little over a year, PHIA's "The Virtual Reality Show" has amassed over 100,000 YouTube and Twitch subscribers who tune in to find out about the latest tech and trends in VR. At the same time, she's become a virtual celebrity, and running the show has become her full-time job. In this podcast,...

The globally renowned RealTime Conference couldn't have been founded by anyone other than Jean-Michel Blottière. From a young age, Jean-Michel has been at the heart of both the games and media industries, beginning with gaming magazines and TV series in his native France, and moving into CG and animation conferences via Imagina and FMX. Today, Jean-Michel runs the RealTime Conference, which has pr...

This week's podcast guest, Carlos Fueyo, checks all Chris' boxes for architecture, VFX, and real-time. After working alongside theoretical architecture legend Lebbeus Woods, Carlos provided stunning visual effects for movies including Priest , Super 8 , and Avengers: Age of Ultron . He then set himself up as a studio working on VFX, architectural, virtual reality, and real-time projects, including...

After making stop-motion videos as a kid and studying furniture design, Ross Denner found his way into VFX via stints at Bermuda Shorts and The Mill. He then moved from London to Los Angeles to work for MPC and now lives in New York, where he helped set up boutique studio ArtJail. Ross talks about how SideFX's versatile Houdini software is usurping Maya in traditional pipelines and empowering smal...

Over the past few years, Gravity Sketch has made its way into the workflows of everyone from individual artists to large corporations, including Ford and HP. This unique software allows designers to intuitively create and perfect their visions in a three-dimensional, virtual space. Gravity Sketch Co-Founder and CEO Seyi Sosanya talks about how his team used influences from outside computing, such...

No one knows the virtual world like Solomon Rogers. From an academic background, Sol decided to found his own company, REWIND , to specialize in creating immersive and meaningful VR experiences for an impressive array of companies, including HBO, Lyft, Sony, and Microsoft. In this podcast, Sol tells Chris how VR has evolved over the past decade, explains why we're yet to see good VR architecture,...

Patrick Osborne grew up with a passion for Nintendo, Jurassic Park, and Wavefront—and he got to see behind the scenes of movie merchandising via his dad's job as head of design at Kenner Toys. After attending the prestigious Ringling College of Art + Design, he joined Sony Imageworks, then Disney, and polished his skills as an animator. While at Disney, Patrick directed the short film "Feast," whi...

Hard-hitting documentaries and cutting-edge VFX rarely go together, but for David France's Welcome to Chechnya , it was necessary to marry the two. The film captures the flight of LGBTQ citizens from the Russian republic of Chechnya, where being gay can lead to beatings and murders. To preserve his subjects' anonymity while allowing the audience to connect with them emotionally, David turned to VF...

Originally hailing from Russia, Dmitry Vinnik's love for CG computer game cutscenes inspired him to learn 3D Studio and study at Vancouver Film School. He's gone on to work on VFX projects big and small, including Battlestar Galactica , Tron: Legacy , Final Destination 5, and Game of Thrones . Throughout his career, Dmitry has embraced technology and encouraged studios to use V-Ray—with spectacula...

What do NFTs mean for professional artists? That's the question Chris explores this week with returning podcast guest David Levy, whose concept art has helped define the look of big sci-fi movies, including Tron: Legacy , Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and the upcoming Avatar sequels. In this thought-provoking discussion, David talks about the potential NFTs have to revolutionize digital art an...

Since its launch in 2000, CG content marketplace Turbosquid has amassed almost 1 million 3D models and become a go-to source for VFX, games and much more. In this week's podcast, Turbosquid's VP of Business Development, Beau Perschall, and Chief Creative Officer, Dade Orgeron, join Chris to talk about this unforgettably named company. You'll learn how the company uses clever tech—including V-Ray A...

Chris' exploration of NFTs continues with returning guest and virtual architecture expert Alex Coulombe and podcast newbie Samuel Arsenault-Brassard. Samuel has set up the Museum of Other Realities to display virtual works of art but lacked a convenient way to monetize and distribute them. Enter NFTs, virtual worlds such as Somnium Space and marketplaces including SuperRare and Foundation. In this...

This week, Blur's Franck Balson and Gabe Askew join Chris to discuss the intricacies of cel-shading, which gives 3D visuals a unique cartoony look. You'll find out how Blur combined advanced hacks and simple techniques to create stylized animation for Love, Death & Robots episode "Suits," which features mech-touting farmers, and the frenetic trailer for Riot Games' Valorant . Franck also discusses...

Our exploration of how NFTs apply to CG artists continues with esteemed NYU Stern professor, David Yermack, an expert in cryptocurrency. But don't worry, you don't need a finance background to understand this. David breaks down key concepts behind NFTs in the most accessible way possible, so you can figure out how they factor in your world. We get into issues of ownership, the value of digital cop...

This week's podcast tells the fascinating story of Doug Wilkinson, who worked with Chris on Tron: Legacy and is now head of CG at global creative company Buck. Inspired by Jurassic Park , Doug helped create cutscenes for video games before moving from Boston to LA to join effects companies including Digital Domain, Sway and Buck. Doug recounts his numerous adventures in visual effects, including c...

Over the past 15 years, Matan Abel has worked on lots of cutting-edge VFX projects, including the game Call of Duty , numerous car commercials and movies such as 2012 , A Nightmare on Elm Street , The Last Airbender , Red Tails and Fast & Furious 5 . Now, Matan's getting into real-time via John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum's virtual pre-production and The Mandalorian's virtual sets. In this podcast...

NFTs — or Non-Fungible Tokens — have hit the headlines recently after digital artist Beeple sold a JPEG for $69 million. But there are many questions about this new way of selling art: Is it a scam? How easy is it for artists to make millions with NFTs? What does "fungible" even mean? In this podcast, digital artist and returning guest Sally Slade tells Chris everything she's learned about NFTs in...