Being a VFX artist at some of the top VFX studios in the world, with Simon Legrand | TVAP EP13

This week we meet Christopher Nichols, veteran VFX Supervisor and Director of the Chaos Group Labs. Chris’s career in computer graphics spans over 20 years, beginning in architecture and quickly moving to major motion pictures and later commercials at: Digital Domain, Sony Pictures, Method, Sway Studios and others.

As this is Daniel’s first time hosting the show it’s lucky that Chris is himself a veteran podcaster - helming CG Garage (where Kofi and Daniel are also appearing as guests) in addition to the Martini Giant film podcast.

We take a whirlwind tour and learn about true real time ray tracing, how to become a VFX Supervisor and how to rob a bank with V-Ray.

Becoming a VFX Supervisor, Realtime, Virtual Production with Chaos Group Labs Director: Chris Nichols | TVAP EP14

Being a black artist in the games and VFX industry, pre-rendered cinematics vs unreal engine | TVAP EP15

In this episode, we chat to Floyd Billingy, a U.K. based realtime supervisor and environment artist for the games and VFX industry about his transition into the industry, how he became an environment artist and a realtime supervisor, as well as how black artists perceive and feel about working in the gaming and VFX industry.



Floyd's career is colourful, and it's led him to be part of artists who have brought us some great cinematics and video games for some incredible AAA games, such as Gears of War, Diablo II Resurrected, War of the Spark, Throne of Eldraine and more.

Of course, we couldn't talk about video games, without talking about unreal engine. We go on to discuss the evolution of unreal engine, as well as discuss pre-rendered cinematics versus realtime workflow, and how life was life for video game artists before unreal engine.




00:00 - What to expect in this episode
1:45 - Host intro
2:08 - Journey as a student into entering the industry
5:26 - First industry job
6:03 - Working at Rare studios
7:26 - Working in mobile video game industry and living abroad
8:08 - Working at Splash damage
10:17 - Transitioning from the game industry into the vfx and animation industry
12:30 - What/who inspired the moving into the gaming and vfx industry
14:35 - What’s the role of an environment artist
15:54 - How competitive is it when trying to get into thee gaming or vfx industry
18:33 - What’s the difference between environments for games vs cinematics
22:45 - Titles/credits of shows worked on
27:08 - Unreal engine
31:39 - Diversity in the industry
40:19 - Highlights of working in the industry so far
41:34 - Advice from an industry professional
43:09 - Conclusion



#vfxpodcast #unrealengine #diablo2resurrected

Becoming a VFX Supervisor, Realtime, Virtual Production with Chaos Group Labs Director: Chris Nichols | TVAP EP14

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Being a black artist in the games and VFX industry, pre-rendered cinematics vs unreal engine, with Floyd Billingy | TVAP EP15