Doug Roble is the Senior Director of Software R&D at Digital Domain and leads a world-class team of software developers. An original member of Digital Domain, Doug has been writing software and conducting research to advance the artistry and technology for feature films since the studio’s inception.

Doug was awarded two Academy Sci-Tech Awards: one for “Track”, an integrated software program that extracts critical 2D and 3D information about a scene and the camera used to film it; and the second for his work on the fluid simulation system at Digital Domain which incorporates innovative algorithms and refined adaptations of published methods to achieve large-scale water effects.

He has participated in SIGGRAPH nearly continuously, in one form or another, for 25 years, including leading multiple courses, papers and presentations. An accomplished orator and advocate of technological advancement, Doug speaks regularly at premier conferences and events including TED 2019, and keynotes at the Symposium on Computer Animation and the DigiPro Conference. Also, he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Graphics Tools for several years.

Doug is an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the Visual Effects branch. He is the chair of the Sci/Tech Awards and a member of the Sci/Tech Council.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay and Doug Roble discuss the future of visual effects, machine learning, digital humans — and what it means for VFX Artists.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/290/.

JangaFX was founded in 2016 by Nick Seavert, an entrepreneur who is well versed in both startups and real-time VFX. JangaFX was initially bootstrapped with credit cards, software sales, and many thousands of man hours instead of outside investments. The company’s core motive is to provide real-time VFX tools to artists and designers who work in video game or film industries. 

The first tool by JangaFX called VectorayGen was released in 2017. EmberGen is a standalone real-time volumetric fluid simulation tool built for generating flipbooks, image sequences, and VDB files.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Nick Seavert about his starting JangaFX and the challenges he experienced, the multiple applications of EmberGen and the company’s collaboration with Otoy.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/289/.

Lux Machina Consulting is a design, management and technical consulting firm focused on complex, large scale live shows, film production and installations.

Lux Machina uses innovative techniques and technologies from various markets to connect artists with their audiences like never before. The company prides itself on the balance between technical and artistic decisions, and works to maximize their clients’ resources to build their visions effectively and efficiently.

Since its inception, Lux Machina has collaborated on such groundbreaking projects as The Mandalorian, The Irishman, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Rogue One; as well as consulted for clients that include Lucasfilm, Epic Games, ARRI Camera and many others.

In this Podcast, Allan interviews the team at Lux Machina -- Co-CEO Phil Galler and CTO Kris Murray -- about the company’s history, its most groundbreaking projects, as well as the biggest challenges and the future of virtual production.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/288/.

A lot of us quit doing what we love for the wrong reasons, because other people poison our minds by telling us we have to go get “a real career”. When we aren’t getting that traction in the beginning (which is normal in our career), we start feeding off these doubts instilled in our minds and we give up too soon. 

But we are all on our own journey. If others are projecting their fears or failures onto us, -- instead of supporting us -- why would we want that around? You’re the average of five people with whom you spend the most time with. So always be surrounded by people who are better than you, those who inspire and encourage you to do better, to do more. And when you have such a support system -- then the sky's the limit!

In this Podcast, Allan McKay discusses the importance of having a support system that makes you average up, not down; how and where to find it and how to overcome the inner critic that holds you back.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/287/.

If you aren’t willing to do the work -- and be anything else than an artist -- then you are going to fail. And that’s the brutal truth! That is because you aren’t just an artist. Being an artist is just your skill or your trade. You still need to do the other stuff. 

The reason so many people give up on their career is because they give up the minute it gets tough. You need to learn to manage yourself to be able to step up and look at what is working and what isn’t. Make no mistake: You are a business, you have a reputation. You are a brand. 

In this Podcast, Allan McKay confronts the excuses with which artists sabotage their careers and gives advice on how to make a choice to confront those excuses -- and to actually succeed! 

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/286/.

Beeple is Mike Winkelmann, a graphic designer from Charleston, SC, USA who does a variety of digital artwork including short films, Creative Commons VJ loops, everydays and VR / AR work.  

After he began releasing a set of widely used Creative Commons VJ loops he has worked on concert visuals for Justin Bieber, One Direction, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Zedd, deadmau5 and many more.   

One of the originators of the current "everyday" movement in 3D graphics, he has been creating a picture everyday from start to finish and posting it online for over ten years without missing a single day. Mike has also created several short films which have screened at a variety of festivals.

Allan McKay interviews Beeple about finding inspiration for his daily art, the importance of discipline, building an audience and the myth of perfection.  

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/285/.

There is an example in marketing: If you have a migraine and you head to a pharmacy, you’ll see one medicine that says, “Cures All Aches and Pains” and another that says, “Cures All Migraines”. They both do the same thing and they’re made by the same company. But their marketers know that the medicine that’s the most specific -- is the one that will stand out.

Meanwhile, a lot of artists have this gut reaction that specializing is bad and that it’s better to generalize as much as you can. The truth is that you can specialize in multiple things but what you’re really trying to do is to stand out. By specializing, you aren’t eliminating opportunity -- you’re eliminating competition.

Sometimes to be exceptional, you need to get specific. And there are different ways to stand out in your industry or how people remember you. It’s about getting your client confident that you’ll get the job done on time. Your messaging can change with every single client. When it comes to having a conversation, you can find out what their specific problem is -- and plant that seed that you’re the person to solve that problem. 

In this Podcast, Allan talks about the importance of specializing, how to have different niches, how to adjust those niches for different clients -- and how to become memorable as the go-to person for a specific job. 

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/284/.

Hugo Guerra is a Portuguese born award-winning Director and VFX Supervisor. After finishing his Fine Arts degree, he worked in Portugal and Sweden before moving to the UK where he was a freelancer for several years. 

He joined The Mill in 2010 as a VFX Supervisor and as Head of the Nuke Department. Over that time, Hugo was a Lead Artist and Onset Supervisor for several productions, including Codemaster's Bodycount, Ubisoft's Rainbow Six, the VES awarded Audi “Hummingbird”, Activision's Call of Duty, and BBC Music God Only Knows among others.

In 2014, Hugo joined Fire Without Smoke as a Director and Visual Effects Supervisor, working on trailers for CCP, Ubisoft, Deep Silver, Square Enix, Sony, Warhammer and many others.

Most recently Hugo worked as a VFX Supervisor for Sony Playstation San Diego and is currently working as a Film Director for Rebellion Games. 

He is also a Visual Effects Society Jury member and created Hugo's Desk, the largest YouTube channel about Nuke compositing.

In this Podcast, Allan McKay and Hugo Guerra tackle the subjects of having a business mentality as an artist, learning to negotiate and the importance of knowing your worth.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/283/.

Most of us initially set small goals that we find socially acceptable. We’re too afraid to set bigger goals, or we don’t have them anymore because we find them to be impossible. The goals that we do say outloud are the ones that we find socially acceptable, without being laughed at. And that sucks! We’re afraid to dream big or to dream what we aspire to be.  And it’s not because we decided that we weren’t good enough. It’s because others decided that we weren’t good enough. 

What if we stopped others from pushing their fears and insecurities, their limited mindsets onto our hopes and dreams? And what if we decided that dreams are also as good as the strategy we put in place and its execution? 

In this Podcast, Allan McKay shares his expertise about how to set your Someday Goals and how to stay focused and actually achieve them.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/282/.

A native Californian, David Tanaka attended the University of California at Berkeley where in 1989 he earned his bachelor's degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis in Film Theory. Upon graduating, he worked for post-production facilities throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, quickly gaining experience through corporate advertising and industrial documentary assignments.

In 1990, he joined Industrial Light & Magic, Lucas Digital Ltd., and served as a Senior Visual Effects Editor for fifteen years. His credits include Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump and Star Wars. In 2005, he accepted a Staff Post-Production Editor position for Pixar Animation Studios, handling trailer, international and marketing post-production pipeline matters on Cars, Ratatouille, WALL•E, Up, Toy Story 3, Cars 2 and Brave.

In 2007, David was elected to the board of the Visual Effects Society's Northern California Section. In 2011 he was elected as Sectional Chairman and sincerely looks forward to the social and professional opportunities the Visual Effects Society provides for his fellow colleagues in the entertainment industry.

Father of two (Mitchell, age 13, and Benjamin, age 10), he loves sharing the craft of film production, editing and visual effects with his family in the form of personal video projects and online challenges. Over the past few years, they have won international acclaim for internet competitions sponsored by Dreamworks Entertainment, Paramount Pictures and the Pepsi Corporation. All in the name of fun, David enjoys exposing his sons to not only the rewards, but also the hard work associated with his craft, while they together explore the ever-evolving frontier of multimedia.

In addition to the Visual Effects Society, David is also an honorary member of Swords to Plowshares: A Veterans' Rights Organization for his psa producing contributions.

In this Podcast, Allan interviews David about his career, his experience working for both ILM and Pixar; as well as the importance of building a personal brand and relationships as a VFX artist and / or freelancer.

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/281/.