In this episode of the podcast, Allan McKay sits down with Olivio Sarikas, a renowned AI expert and YouTuber, to dive deep into the world of AI image generation. Olivio shares his extensive knowledge and experience working with various AI tools, providing valuable insights for both beginners and advanced users. The conversation covers a wide range of topics, from getting started with AI image generation to exploring the latest advancements in the field. Olivio offers practical advice on navigating the learning curve, finding the right tools, and unleashing your creativity with AI. He also discusses the potential career opportunities in the AI industry and shares his thoughts on the future of AI in art and media production. Whether you're an artist, a content creator, or simply curious about AI, this episode is packed with actionable tips and inspiring ideas to help you stay ahead of the curve.

Key Takeaways:

1. AI image generation tools offer a wide range of possibilities for artists, content creators, and businesses.
2. Experimenting with different AI tools and techniques can help you find your unique style and unleash your creativity.
3. Joining AI communities on Discord and Reddit is a great way to learn, get support, and stay up-to-date with the latest advancements.
4. Custom training models and datasets can open up new opportunities for creating specific styles and assets.
5. Embracing the fluidity and randomness of AI can lead to unexpected and inspiring results.
6. AI is becoming an essential tool in various industries, and developing AI skills can enhance your employability and career prospects.

Follow Olivio

• Olivio's Twitter
• Olivio's YouTube
• Olivio's Instagram

Mentioned Tools, Websites, and Resources:

• Midjourney
• Stable Diffusion
• DALL-E
• Krita
• ControlNet
• Automatic1111
• ComfyUI
• InvokeAI
• OpenArt
• Civitai
• Hugging Face
• GitHub
• DreamShaper
• Juggernaut
• Chilloutmix
• RealViz
• RevAnimated
• Patreon

In the latest episode, I'm excited to spotlight David Wahlberg, an esteemed 2D Pipeline Supervisor and Comp Supervisor at Important Looking Pirates VFX in Stockholm, Sweden. With an expansive career of over 17 years, David has traversed the globe, contributing his vast skills to studios in Stockholm, Oslo, London, Sydney and Wellington. His work encompasses roles as a comp supervisor, senior compositor, and a pioneer in developing tools and plugins for Nuke, leveraging his programming expertise in C++ and Python to advance the VFX industry.

David's portfolio boasts participation in major productions such as "The Book of Boba Fett", "The Mandalorian", "Star Wars" sequels, "The Hobbit" series, and more. He is also the founder of Pixelmania, a company at the forefront of AI-powered VFX tools, showcasing his passion for merging technology with visual effects. For insights into David's influential work and Pixelmania's innovative tools, visit www.pixelmania.se.

Join us as we dive into the world of visual effects with David Wahlberg, exploring the blend of art and technology that defines his career and contributions to some of the most iconic visuals in film and television.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1996338/

https://pixelmania.se/

https://www.ilpvfx.com/

Quick updates on many things happening in 2024 and on the Podcast! Resuming back to the normal Podcast starting next week but thought I would share views on AI, the industry as it is right now in Q1 of 2024 and more!

Karen Heston is a VFX Supervisor on feature films and episodic tv. They began their VFX career at commercial houses in NYC on the night shift; while finishing their MFA in computer art by day. 

Starting as a Flame artist, they led VFX teams and engaged with creatives from storyboards to finals. On-set supervision and taking projects from pre-production through post remains their passion today. Karen’s projects include titles like GREEN LANTERN, BEASTS OF NO NATION, OCEAN’S EIGHT, and most recently GEN V.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews VFX Supervisor Karen Heston about their creative journey as a VFX Supervisor on GEN V, the spinoff of THE BOYS; as well as their experience studying cinematography at NYU, switching to visual effects, the learning experience as a the main vendor on Cary Fukunaga’s BEASTS OF NO NATION, and so much more!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/445.

Josh Rosenbaum is a Producer at Waypoint Entertainment. 

Josh majored in Business Administration at the USC Marshall School of Business and minored in Music Industry through the USC Thornton School of Music. Before he joined Waypoint Entertainment, he worked as an Agent Trainee at William Morris.

After joining Waypoint Entertainment in 2015, he worked his way up from being a Production Coordinator to now a Producer. Since joining Waypoint, he worked on titles like THE FAVOURITE, CUCKOO, MID90S, HOSTILES.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Producer at Waypoint Entertainment Josh Rosenbaum about his start in the entertainment business at William Morris; why relationships and strategy are the most important tools in building a career; how a production company chooses VFX vendors; why AI will never replace storytellers (including VFX artists); the behind-the-scenes of CUCKOO (to be released in 2024) – and so much more!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/444.

With 15 years in the VFX business, Jonas Ussing has  supervisor credits on several feature and television titles, including the Netflix series THE RAIN. Jonas has furthermore earned nominations for an Emmy and a Danish Academy Award.

In 2012, Jonas was nominated for an Emmy for his work on INSIDE THE HUMAN BODY. In 2014, he directed a short film ZOMBIEHAGEN which he also wrote. 

During 2023, Jonas launched his own YouTube Channel The Movie Rabbit Hole. He released two videos that have immediately gone viral in the VFX community, in which he talks about the collective publicity stunt in Hollywood on the subject of “NO CGI”. He does a deep dive into those projects that claim they used “no CGI” in the making, like TOP GUN: MAVERICK, BLADERUNNER, FAST 5 and STRANGER THINGS. 

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews VFX Supervisor Jonas Ussing about the dangerous marketing rhetoric encouraged by studios about “No CGI” in films like TOP GUN: MAVERICK, BLADERUNNER, FAST 5; the inspiration behind Jonas YouTube Channel The Movie Rabbit Hole and the viral videos on the subject; the reaction of the VFX community to his content; surviving Hollywood Labor Strikes of 2023, whether VFX artists will ever get unionized – and so much more!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/443.

Infinite-Realities (IR) specializes in digital humans. Founded in 2007, IR has been developing static and motion scanning systems for over 15 years.

Lee Perry-Smith is the original Founder of Infinite-Realities. As CEO, he has led various large scale project developments. He has a deep passion for human scanning and the ongoing pursuit of the perfect digital human.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Founder of Infinite-Realities Lee Perry-Smith about his passion for digital humans and scanning technology, the inspiration for his launching of Infinite-Realities; his first feature film project STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS; 3D Gaussian Splatting, 4D capture, Artificial Intelligence – and so much more!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/442.

Kat Montagu is the Head of Writing for Film, Television and Games Program at the Vancouver Film School. She has taught for over 20 years in VFS’s Writing and Film Production Departments. Her Career Launch class has prepared countless VFS graduates to work on feature films, in the writers’ rooms of tv series and in video game studios. Kat has been named a VFS Instructor of the Year three times.

Kat is also the author of the best stilling book The Dreaded Curse: Screenplay Formatting for Film and Television. This twist on the how-to guide demonstrates best practices through a riotous story of two witches loosely inspired by her own family history, and is used to teach screenwriting at film schools and universities globally. 

She is also the Senior Story Editor for Crazy8s and produced many short films and co-produced indie feature film THE PRODIGAL DAD.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Kat Montagu, the Head of Writing at the Vancouver Film School – as well as Writer and Producer – about finding passion for writing, the importance of the emotional journey in every story, what makes for a compelling story, why every department in film and tv production is involved in storytelling; as well as her own writing and teaching career at the Vancouver Film School.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/441.

Kris A. Truini was born in Middletown, Connecticut, and was raised in Italy until the age of 15. There, he first discovered his passion for film when he was 8 years old and has been making videos ever since. With little to no help for his first videos, he had to explore and learn as much as possible on every aspect involved in completing a film from start to finish. He acquired a good knowledge of software such as 3DS Max, After Effects, Photoshop, Premiere, Final Cut Pro X, FL Studio, along with other 3D applications, tracking programs and non-linear editors. 

At the age of 15, he left his parents to go continue his school studies in the United States. He began to make tutorials and short videos posted on YouTube in the channel Kriscoart Productions. In the summer of 2010, he attended a film school at Maine Media Workshops. 

After graduating high school in 2012, he moved to Florida to enroll in Full Sail University. There he continued to make videos and short films. One of his directing teachers offered him the position of Director of Photography, Editor, and Music Composer for his short REVERSE. His next short SPECULUM was a Finalist at the 2013 StartFest Florida Film Festival.

Kriscoart currently has over 436 Subscribers.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Kris Truini, the Creator of a successful YouTube Channel Kriscoart, about the inspiration for his Channel, the importance of building a supportive creative community, how to get over creative blocks, the future of AI, why both self-doubt and perseverance are part of the creative process, and so much more!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/440.

Rob Nederhorst is a veteran of the VFX industry. As a VFX Supervisor, he’s worked on titles like JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM, THE CONJURING, GHOSTBUSTERS, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, and so many others.

Rob has deep knowledge in compositing, lighting, 3D, 2D and programming. In addition, he does his own photography (https://www.flickr.com/photos/71678094@N00/) and teaches at University of Southern California. 

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews VFX Supervisor Robert Nederhorst about his viral Generative AI Webinar for SAG-AFTRA Membership and the feedback that followed; the current CGI backlash and why the best visual effects are invisible; why AI will never replace VFX artists and why 2024 will be a year abundant with opportunities – and so much more!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/439.

Eric Wachtman is a CG / VFX Supervisor and Art Director at LAIKA where he’s been working for nearly 20 years. Prior to that, he served as the Director of CG / Visual Effects and Art Director at the Cartoon Network.

LAIKA was founded in 2005 in Oregon and is guided by the vision of its President & CEO Travis Knight. Located just outside Portland, Oregon, LAIKA was awarded a Scientific and Technology Oscar® for its innovation in 3D printing in 2016. 

Its five films – MISSING LINK (2019); KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS (2016); THE BOXTROLLS (2014); PARANORMAN (2012), and CORALINE (2009) – were all nominated for Oscars® and PGA Awards as Outstanding Animated Film. 

MISSING LINK was the first LAIKA film to win the Golden Globe® for Best Animated Feature and was awarded two Visual Effects Society (VES) awards for Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature and Outstanding Animated Character, and received seven Annie Award nominations. KUBO received a second Oscar® nomination for Outstanding Visual Effects and won the BAFTA Award, as well as three Annie Awards, the National Board of Review's Best Animated Feature citation, and 19 regional and critics’ group awards. THE BOXTROLLS earned Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe Award nominations and 13 Annie Award nominations, more than any other film that year. PARANORMAN garnered BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, and GLAAD Media Award nominations, won two Annie Awards, and was cited as the year’s best animated film by 14 critics’ groups. CORALINE earned Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Critics’ Choice nominations and was named one of the year’s 10 Best Films by the American Film Institute (AFI). 

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews the CG / VFX Supervisor at LAIKA Eric Wachtman about his experience working on award-winning titles of CAROLINE and PARANORMAN, his leadership in founding the Portland Chapter of VES, how curiosity and passion drives one’s VFX career, the secret to winning reels and so much more!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/438.

Alex Wang is a VFX Supervisor. He started his career in visual effects at The Orphanage on THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, right after graduating from Ringling College of Art and Design in 2003. He then joined Image Movers Digital to work on THE CHRISTMAS CAROL and MARS NEEDS MOMS.

In 2010, Alex joined Digital Domain for TRON LEGACY, and then he worked on TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, JACK THE GIANT SLAYER and FURIOUS 7. He also served as a CG Supervisor on FAST AND FURIOUS 7 and then VFX Supervisor on DEADPOOL.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews VFX Supervisor Alex Wang about creating the post-apocalyptic practical and visual effects of the Emmy-nominated HBO show THE LAST OF US, the skills of a VFX Supervisor, staying relevant by keeping up with technology, how AI is changing VFX pipelines and so much more!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/437.

Freelance is such a big topic in visual effects! For those of you starting in the industry, you’re probably wondering how to get your foot in the door. Ultimately, 2024 will be a very busy year. That means that those of you who are good should be ready to turn down work. 

The first thing you need to think about is how you’re positioning yourself in the business: What are the special skills that you have that allow you to stand out from others? We are in a problem solving business. Positioning means that you know how to sell yourself – by providing solutions to the potential employer – as well as understand your worth. You need to be aware of what you bring to the table and how to sell yourself. (That also means that you’re aware of what you’re not good at, which gives you room for improvement.)

You also need to understand the needs of your employer. You show that understanding by providing a reel that sums up your best work – and is very heavily catered to the specific task that the employer is looking to fill. In addition, your cover letter must mention the position you’re applying for and your understanding of what the position entails. That allows you to position yourself as the go-to person for this role.

In this Episode, you’ll learn about:

• How to create a winning reel that guarantees a chance for a job interview;

• Where to find available work – and how to apply for those jobs;

• How to do successful outreach to potential employers or human resources departments;

• How to identify the most in-demand skills and innovate in new technology.

One of the advantages of 2024 is widely available remote job opportunities. That means that you can live anywhere. By living in a cheaper area, you’re able to lower your overhead and actually enjoy your lifestyle. That also means that nowadays you can work for any studio you want. Remember: It’s not just about being skilled as a VFX Artist – it’s about the right artist for the right job, at the right time.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay gives critical insight into how to find remote work and freelance work in 2024, how to be successful at outreach to potential employers, how to create a winning reel that guarantees employment, how to work for a dream studio remotely – and so much more!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/436.