Mon, 30 November 2015
This is a 1 hour master class from March 2015 in Paris, condensing a lot of information into a rapid fire session! Check out the show notes at www.allanmckay.com/50/ |
Tue, 24 November 2015
Next Limit are the creators of industry standard water simulation software 'Realflow' - based out in Madrid, Spain. This episode is with the development team at Next Limit, including NL's CEO Victor Gonzalez, Luis Miguel More, Ivan Alduan, Alex Ribao, Angel Tena and Gus Sanchez. You can check out more information as well as the promo they are running below! Victor Gonzalez - Next Limit's CEO Luis Miguel Mora's Blog : https://luismma.wordpress.com/ Realflow Promo - http://www.realflow.com/buy/upgrade |
Mon, 16 November 2015
Beau is the VP of Business Development at TurboSquid - which a lot of people associate with their enormous 3D model library, as well as plug-ins and other items that they sell for 3D artists. Their industry standard CheckMate process has also made waves over the years as well. And more recently, they've released a service called PixelSquid for generating realtime 3D assets for use by Photoshop artists. PixelSquid: http://www.pixelsquid.com Checkmate: http://www.turbosquid.com/CheckMate
Also make sure you sign up to the insiders list! http://www.allanmckay.com/inside/ follow me on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allanmckay1982/ And finally Periscope and twitter! https://twitter.com/allanftmckay
|
Tue, 10 November 2015
This episode is focused on something that affects us all, but also more recently for me has actually been a very critical subject, as we all face those times that completely derail us from our path, habits and routine. Sometimes it's just for a few days, other times it can for months or even years! So how do you deal with this? Whether it's a creative block or whether it's a long relationship that might send you into a downward spiral, or dozens of other reasons that are common and frequent? Show notes here: http://www.allanmckay.com/47/ Just as a heads up - I will be doing some really fun Periscope career sessions _LIVE_ very soon so keep an eye out! Sign up now so you receive alerts (it's all free) https://twitter.com/allanftmckay And more information about the mentorship coming up soon!
|
Mon, 10 August 2015
Mitch is the founder of Pencil Kings an online training site that teaches illustration and drawing techniques - his background comes from working in film and games for various big name clients in Canada and the United States and China. At a turning point in Mitches life, he decided to risk everything and take action, creating his own business and designing his own lifestyle that would allow him total freedom to travel the world and live the life that he wanted to live, while also running his own business completely virtual - online, giving artists the tools and knowledge to build their career and follow their passions in traditional art and drawing. Mitch's story is both inspirational, as well as instructional, as an amazing case study on how you can take the initiative and get out of your comfort zone, take some calculated risks and build the lifestyle that YOU want to live, doing both the things you love but also having total freedom in how you do it! Check out the show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/46/ |
Mon, 3 August 2015
Marc Simonetti is an amazing French illustrator and concept artist who's worked on dozens of high profile projects from the work of H.P. Lovecraft to Game of Thrones fans out there - many of the covers of 'A song of Ice and Fire' on to working with Luc Besson and beyond! Marc constantly gives talks and performs demos for Wacom and Adobe, as well as online on his methods and technique, as well his speed paintings which are always amazing to witness. Marc will also be presenting alongside Allan at the It's Art Masterclass 2016 in Paris, France - more information on where to register in the show notes. To check out the show notes, visit http://www.allanmckay.com/45/ |
Sat, 25 July 2015
In this episode we explore the many different ways we can make money online as well as even automate our income to give us more freedom and a bit of a 'buffer' to go after out dreams without hurting our savings. In our journey to go after our goals and find our dream job - one of the biggest roadblocks is risk. What if we fail, what if we spend our savings going after something unattainable? To eliviate this and to learn to be independent and take back control, this episode is focused on understanding many of the ways to make a side income. How to make money on the side to create more comfort financially for us, to take those risks without the mindset that our 9-5 day job is the only thing keeping us afloat. This is more a birds eye view of the many ways we can make money, but it should open your eyes to how easy it can be and get your inner-entrepreneur engine running! Check out the show notes for more links at http://www.allanmckay.com/44/ and to download the PDF cheat-sheet with an in-depth overview of the many different ways to do this - go to http://www.allanmckay.com/passive/
|
Tue, 21 July 2015
Back in December we set out the challenge of setting BIG goals for 2015 and as time passes - it's time to check in.. How are you doing with your goals? Whether you are changing careers or you simply want to step out and do big things, this is your year and it's time to take action in originally taking action! Post your comments in the show notes and let all of us know where you are at, what are your successes and what are your 'sticking points' that are causing you not to get the success you want. Let us all know and we'll do the same - we're in this together and we all want to see each of us succeed. For show notes check out : http://www.allanmckay.com/43/ |
Mon, 13 July 2015
After the first 'Review my Reel' session was a total success with over 100 people attending, this episode follows the momentum of this and discusses a lot of advice on what we are all doing with our reels that we probably shouldn't, as well as key things to keep in mind - who your target audience is and how to maximize playability and have people watch your reel all the way through, and in the right mindset. This episode is jam-packed with key information to make the most out of all of your hard work and maximize the chances of landing your dream job! For more show notes, as well as links to download the PDF cheat sheet on building your reel - visit http://www.allanmckay.com/42/ or to directly download the cheat sheet go to http://www.allanmckay.com/42download/
|
Mon, 22 June 2015
With the announcement of Gears of War 4 last week from Microsoft, this episode focuses on the talented character team behind the development of GOW4. Probably the most spectular features of Gears of War is the amazing creature and character designs and attention to detail in all of the characters within the game. In this episode we interview Dan Roarty, Daniel Bohrer Do Nascimento, Heber Alvarado on their process, techniques and methodology that goes into making some of the mind blowing-ly real characters for Gears of War. Discussing the tools, the process and the time involved to turn out a realistic hero character. As well as their backgrounds and insights into both the video game industry, technology as well as creative processes. This episode is a must see!
For more information and show notes, as well as to enter the competition this month go to http://www.allanmckay.com/41/
|
Tue, 16 June 2015
Zsolt Poczos is a CG supervisor from Hungary that has worked around the world on my high profile projects - originating from architecture and moving to creating photorealistic car commercials through to now being part of the core team on the upcoming VFX heavy film 'Independence Day 2'.
This episode dives into Zsolt's inspiring story as well as seeing first hand how similar to many of the subjects we discuss on this podcast, how you can be bold and take chances that are high risk but high reward. for more show notes visit http://www.allanmckay.com/40/
|
Mon, 8 June 2015
Alf is a 3D artist and film maker in Norway, partner of the vfx studio Gimpville. Recently Alf has completed an epic 6 month journey to complete his own parody short film (trailer) called Dawn of the planet of the zombies and giant killer plants on some serious acid (phew!), entirely by himself. Utilizing Maya, Redshift, and various other tools to render the entire 3 minute piece solo on a single machine. Inside of this episode we go straight into a very hands on and in-depth discussion about the production of "Dawn"and what it takes to pull of a project of this magnitude by one artist. From balancing your day job, staying motivated and what tools and techniques used shot by shot throughout the short. What the reception of the video has been like from Vimeo Staff Pick to just under ~200,000 views in just over a single week and onto what is next. This is an episode that everyone can take a lot away from - whether you're an artist, a designer or even just want to make your own short film one day. If you haven't seen the video yet - check the show notes for a link to it as well as other great resources! |
Mon, 1 June 2015
Delcio originally from Brazil has worked on projects like Avengers: Age of Ultron, Terminator Genisys, Thor: The Dark World, Oblivion and many others as both a modeler and cg generalist. This is a really great episode giving a lot of insight into Delcio's background as well as a lot of really great solid advice to advance your career, as well as insights into many of the production's he's worked on. Really great stuff, check it out! For show notes and links go to http://www.allanmckay.com/38/ |
Tue, 26 May 2015
This is by far the most random episode on the podcast so far! As Chad, Hnedel, Sol and Allan gather together over a few beers and do a free for all discussing a lot to do with the industry, film, virtual reality as well as process, pipeline and people. Lots of great insight, as we progressively get drunker and drunker! show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/37 |
Mon, 18 May 2015
Fred Ruff has been well known in the industry for his vast contributions for over 20 years working originally for Autodesk as a Max product manager and having influenced many areas of Max including the design of Particle Flow - Fred is a VFX Supervisor at Refuge VFX supervising the hit tv show Grimm. In this episode we discuss a lot of the history of CG, software slamming and the timeline of max and other software tools, studio pipelines and vfx as a business - but we also focus a lot on Medieval Monster's - the new tv show for Animal Planet that Fred is executive producing and also the creator of. We all have those long tail goals of wanting to make something of our own, and to all of us seeing 3D artists who grow into taking charge and creating their own property's and going after their big goals, this can be inspiring for all of us to see and understand the journey and see how this applies to our own careers. This episode focuses on an artist going into the industry to launching his own studio and then creating their own tv show content and productions at their vfx facility. Really amazing and insightful, check it out!
Visit the shownotes at http://www.allanmckay.com/36/
|
Mon, 11 May 2015
This episode we dive right into what it takes to launch your own studio. Such a big subject and so much to cover - if you want to know more go to http://www.allanmckay.com/35/ leave a comment #Iwanttoknowmore! and I will gladly put together a step by step episode series on the business strategy and steps necessary involved in launching a visual effects studio!
|
Tue, 5 May 2015
This episode is all about how impactful having mentors or experts in your life can be, and modeling those you idolize or see as successful. The key is to push yourself out of your comfort zone and find those that are able to push you and inspire you as well. This isn't about finding 'the one' mentor but finding mentors for every part of your life and for those areas that you are going through in your life 'right now'. Learning to ask for help and how to actually go about it, and identifying experts that are in a position to help you, and how you can truly benefit from them. One of the most important things you are probably neglecting is not idenifying people and seeking them out to mentor you and push you to greatness.
|
Mon, 27 April 2015
This episode is truly epic - Rising Sun Pictures has been around for 20 years working on many of the leading visual effecs films. Speaking with Marcus Wells and Kirsty Parkin in the Training Department at RSP about their new graduate program, and future education and internships at RSP. As well as the production of many of their films - AND working overseas, diving in-depth into the visa processes and how to increase your opportunities of working for many visual effects studios. I give some of my own insight too into being proactive with this process. Lastly we take a look at the life of a job application, from first being received and where it goes from there - who reviews it all the way through to final interview and the applicant being hired. REALLY INSIGHTFUL. This is a really great episode I thoroughly recommend checking out, especially if you want to work overseas! http://www.rsp.com.au http://rsp.com.au/jobs/apply-faq/visas/ http://flinders.rsp.com.au/ http://rsp.com.au/jobs/training/getting-started-in-vfx/ http://rsp.com.au/jobs/training/training-at-rsp/
LA Drinks!! http://www.allanmckay.com/drinks/ VIP Insiders List! http://www.allanmckay.com/inside/
|
Mon, 20 April 2015
LinkedIn is the number one job finding and networking resource on the web! YET it's not optimized for artist use - it's optimized typically for more corporate, and start up jobs and long form productions. The typical approach to finding work with LinkedIn typically will not apply to Designers, Game Developers, TV and Feature Film Visual effects. I strongly believe LinkedIn is a AWESOME and POWERFUL weapon but you need to know how to use it. This episode we cover how to hack your ranking and get it up there, shift your positioning within LinkedIn searches and typically build a solid profile that is going to allow you to anchor the types of contacts you want for future work. This episode just touches the surface as there is far more we WILL be diving into at a later date but the most important steps to take first before the advanced tactics come, start with the foundation... Let me know what you think I would love to hear your feedback! For more information and show notes go to http://www.allanmckay.com/32/
Direct download: 032_-_Becoming_a_LinkedIn_Ninja_mixdown.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 6:00am EDT |
Tue, 14 April 2015
By far the most different episode I have made to date. Rather than focusing on interviewing artists or on core ways to build up your career. I wanted to share some of the tools _I_ use in production or day to day that are pivotal to getting things done.
There are some very useful email tools that really go above and beyond that I highly recommend, and many other tools and insights.
Going with the trend of doing something not done on this podcast so far - you can also go through this episode as a VIDEO by going to the link http://www.allanmckay.com/31download/ to view the video and watch as I go through everything in the podcast on screen and demonstrate how I use these tools.
Furthermore I want to know what tools YOU use. Visit http://www.allanmckay.com/31/ to share in the comments what tools you find to be useful or critical to your day to day work! I would love to hear from you on this - maybe there's some tools I don't know about that might help me be more productive!
Visit http://www.allanmckay.com/31/ for more show notes and http://www.allanmckay.com/31download/ to watch the video. |
Mon, 6 April 2015
Dan's background working in video games on projects ranging from Star Wars 1313 to Tomb Raider to Gears of War to many other iconic projects as well as high profile studios such as Lucas Arts. What makes Dan stand out is his phenomenally realistic character work, many of his pieces have received much acclaim, awards and can be seen in magazines worldwide. If you've followed Episode 28, interviewing Christopher Nichols of the Digital Human League, Dan is also a member of this and both have collaborated on the high profile 'The Newyorker' digital human piece. This episode we dive into Dan's process - discussing what it takes to make characters photoreal, as well as his habits, his process and giving much insight into his background as an artist. We also discuss in great depth work visas and working in other countries, as well as many other exciting subjects! For more information and shownotes visit http://www.allanmckay.com/30/
|
Mon, 30 March 2015
As the host of over 160 tutorials and creator of title sequences for tv's Fringe and the film Star Trek, Andrew Kramer has participated in many forms of production: from visual effects artist, to directing commercials and promos. His website Video Copilot has been a progressive force in the visual effects industry, with his upbeat training style and innovative plug-ins. As a freelance artist and web designer at age 20, Andrew began to work on the Video Copilot website from his apartment in Southern California. The website started with a single product and a handful of short After Effects tutorials that were featured on the Creative Cow community. His unusual training style and off-beat humor intrigued viewers by showing them powerful techniques for visual effects that were detailed and also entertaining. The site’s online presence has also led to collaborations for Andrew to work with major companies and even the unique opportunity to work with Director J.J. Abrams on film & tv Projects. Video Copilot has since published over 40 hours of training and has over a dozen professional products and plug-ins used by creative professionals around the world. Andrew continues to work in the film industry in addition to publishing new, exciting products and tutorials for the growing motion graphics and visual effects community. In this Podcast, Andrew talks about what inspired him to launch Video Copilot, his experience working with J.J. Abrams, as well as gives advice on the most important skills when starting out as a VFX artist. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/29/.
|
Thu, 19 March 2015
Christopher Nichols has an impressive resume of working for many of the leading studios, from The Day After Tomorrow, I, Robot, Stealth, Tron: Legacy, Oblivion, Maleficent and The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo to photo real cars and photo real humans. Chris works with Chaos Group - the developers of V-Ray as one of the main people behind Chaos Group Labs, an experimental outpost based in Los Angeles. Where Chris has been involved with many high profile projects and pushing tech in new directions, being involved in projects ranging from the upcoming 'Construct' short film to photoreal human projects - there's such a wide range of subjects covered in this episode from getting a job in the industry to what it takes to make things photoreal, to more the backstory of so many really 'really' cool projects - check it out! http://www.allanmckay.com/28/
CG Garage Podcast: https://labs.chaosgroup.com/index.php/category/cg-garage-podcast/ Chaos Group Labs: https://labs.chaosgroup.com Pixel Perfect Article: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/04/28/pixel-perfect-2 Construct Teaser: https://vimeo.com/90509568 Christopher Nichols website: http://www.redeyetales.com/ V-Ray in Real Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9rgG2vPAvQ
|
Mon, 9 March 2015
Zerply is an amazing new platform for artists to promote themselves and network with other industry followers. This is an amazing and exclusive platform to get connected with other studiso and artists and find work easily and frequently. I'm blown away by this platform and what it can do, it's exactly, and I mean 'exactly' what this industry needs. I sit down with James Bennett one of the founders of Zerply to chat about this amazing platform, as well as James' career, and his really solid advice for others to both utilize Zerply, and utilize their career for high success! LOADED with really great advice! Show notes @ http://www.allanmckay.com/27/
|
Mon, 2 March 2015
This episode is a unique solo episode packed to the brim with a lot of workflow hacks and core advice to manage yourself better and get a lot more done inside of your standard work day. This is vital methods I apply to my work every day of every week and have developed many of these techniques over the span of the past 20 years of my career.
Show links Polder Buzz'n'Beep Digital Timer Power of automationg with Scripting Google Docs - for Spreadsheets
|
Sun, 1 March 2015
Part 2 of the really great and insightful interview with Sol Rogers! Covering a lot of really great industry advice and career advise based on his lengthy experience in the industry as well as lecturing at London universities. Lots of great stuff - this was our chat prior to diving into our discussions on Virtual Reality. Check it out! Career Opportunities @ Rewind FX! Canon London Fashion Week Experience
Allan McKay speaking at It's ART Master Class in Paris March 14
For more information, as well as to check out the job opportunities at RewindFX check out the show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/25/ |
Mon, 23 February 2015
Sol Rogers, all round nice guy and super knowledgeable on all things VR! This episode we dive into what Rewind FX - Sol's company has been able to pull off in the realm of Virtual Reality for massive clients from Red Bull, Lexus, and just many many massive events worldwide. This is such a great and insightful episode into an area we all feel we know a 'little' but don't really quite understand what is currently going on in VR or where it's headed. The tech, the big players, the process and the business end. From Unreal Tech to Oculus Rift and Microsoft Hololens, we discuss how studios such as Rewind FX are currently developing many of their productions and taking advantage of a lot of the amazing technology available. I had such a great time doing this episode, as I've secretly been obsessed with the idea of VR for some yet have absolutely no experience with it. So this is a chance to dive in and get schooled on such an amazing and up and coming industry that is surely going to change how we live our lives, forever!
Career Opportunities @ Rewind FX! Canon London Fashion Week Experience
Allan McKay speaking at It's ART Master Class in Paris March 14
For more information, as well as to check out the job opportunities at RewindFX check out the show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/24/
|
Mon, 16 February 2015
This episode is an amazing one with the lead product manager for 3DS Max at Autodesk! Eddie has a MASSIVE amount of background and knowledge to do with 3D and gives major insights into the industry as it is and where it's heading, as well as a lot of where it came from! The greatest thing of all is getting more of an insight into 3DS Max and behind the scenes at Autodesk, a really great episode through and through! Show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/23
|
Mon, 9 February 2015
Episode 22 is epic! Check it out! Everything from discussing careers, hiring artists, scheduling and budgets through to more heavier into the production side of film and design projects. We cover everything from Coldplay music videos to The girl with the dragon tatoo and beyond! |
Mon, 2 February 2015
Rob Nederhorst is a compositor and visual effects supervisor who has a large list of amazing projects to his name, some of the feature films include X-Men, The day after tomorrow, 2012, Thor, Priest, After Earth and many more films. He's a speaker for Gnomon as well as well as an authority on The Foundary's Academy Award winning compositing software 'Nuke'.
This is a really great and insightful interview with Nederhorst's origins in the industry, starting at Newtek and moving early in his career to Digital Domain and moving on up the ladder from there but also a lot of insight into a lot of his methods and advice related to his career with many great takeaways!
For show notes visit http://www.allanmckay.com/21/
|
Mon, 26 January 2015
I recently had the chance to talk in-depth with Pierre Grage about his new (and amazing!) book 'Inside VFX'. I have to say the minute this book was released I had it express-delivered because I was so anxious to consume this book. I think there has been so much negative information put out there about the 'instability' of the VFX industry, yet there really hasn't been many resources out there to really help us understand how or why exactly this industry is facing tough times. What I love so much about this book is it provides so much insightful information about the economics of the VFX world, and Hollywood in general, as well as the history of VFX with many, many insightful case studies on all of the most popular films dating back to the dawn of visual effects. It leaves it up to us to make our minds up about whether VFX is 'doomed' but more importantly it gives us the knowledge and understanding to better adapt to this ever-growing and still very 'young' industry. For complete show notes and links to all material discussed in this episode, check out http://www.allanmckay.com/20/
|
Mon, 19 January 2015
Chad Wanstreet is an amazing artist with a very vast background, we dive into a lot of really great subjects as we discuss his background coming from architecture to working on many high profile car commercials in Detroit to relocating to Los Angeles to work for Blur Studio. This is a subject for me really interested me, as relocating anywhere, especially with a family of your own is a very big deal and it was really exciting to delve into this as well as a lot of what he's accomplished in the past. Chad's currently running a CG Society workshop as well as various other things and working with Blur on many exciting projects, very cool! This is a long one, but riddled with a lot of really great and valuable insight from someone with a heck of a lot of experience. Really valuable and I urge you to see it through! show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/19/
|
Mon, 12 January 2015
Chad Wanstreet is an amazing artist with a very vast background, we dive into a lot of really great subjects as we discuss his background coming from architecture to working on many high profile car commercials in Detroit to relocating to Los Angeles to work for Blur Studio. This is a subject for me really interested me, as relocating anywhere, especially with a family of your own is a very big deal and it was really exciting to delve into this as well as a lot of what he's accomplished in the past. Chad's currently running a CG Society workshop as well as various other things and working with Blur on many exciting projects, very cool! This is a long one, but riddled with a lot of really great and valuable insight from someone with a heck of a lot of experience. Really valuable and I urge you to see it through! show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/18/
|
Thu, 8 January 2015
This is one of the most critical episodes so far in our journey to grow our career and multiply our successes. Something so critical yet overlooked, is defining our name and our niche and building our brand. Associating ourselves in a way that will resonate with others and key ways to introduce ourselves that will stay with your audience and grow your job prospects. This episode we learn to make ourselves more than just an artist or an employee but to strategically build our name and reputation up, and consolidate our efforts and focus onto one outcome, building a our brand. |
Mon, 5 January 2015
This episode is a look back at my year and what I accomplished, as well as a lot of very valuable lessons I've learned along the way, including areas I failed and what I have taken from that. A lot of valuable information I've taken from this experience and how I can apply this to 2015. The most valuable piece is a overview of the 3-6-3 mindset which is how I personally have owed a lot of my success as well as how I have defined a lot of my goals and lifestyle around. Really great and valuable information that will ensure you hit your goals in 2015 but also your BIGGER goals further down the road to position yourself in the career and lifestyle that you've always dreamed of! HAPPY 2015!!! |
Mon, 22 December 2014
So this episode definitely is 'off the cuff' but there's a lot of really vital information for those of you who do want to travel the world and want to understand where to start! I will say this is definitely just scratching the surface, and unfortunately being the week of x-mas and with a product launch underway I've only really had time to hit record and go for gold! But I do want to hear your thoughts on this and if it is something you do want to know more about, I have plenty in store for you let me know before I put weeks into bringing the right people on to give you a step by step guide to working overseas and all over the world as also how to approach studios and find sponsorship!
|
Wed, 17 December 2014
Midway through the month! Lots of episodes flooding out on a lot of very important subjects! This episode is all about learning the power of negotiation and becoming comfortable discussing money with employers, how to get a raise and how to position yourself so they pitch to you. This episode I'm sure to some is taboo as people typically don't talk about money or negotiating skills very often. However that also means a lot of us are left in the dark how it all works and how to get what we ask for. This episode will go over many of those subjects shedding a lot of light as well as showing what to say in any situation and how no is just the start of the conversation. This episode I think, is vital for everyone working in any industry to learn the art of negotiation. Leave any comments or questions I'd love to hear from you about this subject! |
Fri, 12 December 2014
This episode is very focused on more our core habits, how to build a 'ritual' to start out your day so you wake up productive and know exactly what you need to get done and go about doing it by batching your tasks intelligently and adding time constraints to all of your tasks so that you're able to track your succes, eliminate bad habits and be more aware where your time is actually going. We all want more time in our day to get more done, typically a task takes 30 days of doing daily to form a habit. The more habits we have the more auto-pilot we are to waking up, doing those things and getting them done with minimal effort, and using our goals from Episode 10 (http://www.allanmckay.com/10/) you'll be able to create 2-3 additional days a week to focus on those bigger long-form tasks! Leave a comment I'd love to know your thoughts, and I triple dare you to try an ice bath, 20 minutes submerged, can you do it?! Show notes at http://www.allanmckay.com/13/
|
Wed, 10 December 2014
This episode I have been excited to discuss for some time - and have shared a lot with my discussion with Todd Sheridan Perry in Episode 9 about his experiences on working from home in Seattle. I have had so much personal experience both launching my own visual effects studio of 30+ people and working on many feature films, as well as working remotely for myself from my home both in Australia and in Los Angeles. With technology and many tools and the internet booming more each day, there is no excuse for many of us to break free and set up our own visual effects services, or renegotiate our lives to work from our own environments we choose. Whether it be leaving to set up our own studios, or working remotely from home - or going the more adventurous and taking our services on the road - working from beaches or other remote locations! Anything is possible! Show notes here: http://www.allanmckay.com/12 I urge you to sign up to the VIP list this week as I am starting to send out a lot of goldmines of information pertaining to these subjects, such as email scripts I've personally used to get work as well as many tools and other great and vital information to help you. I want to reward those who are serious about taking the next step with these tools so they're exclusive to those of us taking action! Leave a comment or a review, I'd love to hear you thoughts - December is our big month so dive in and let me know how you go in the comments section, I promise to read every comment and reply as much as I can! I'd love to hear from you! Show notes here: http://www.allanmckay.com/12
|
Fri, 5 December 2014
This episode dives into some of the core concepts of writing a strong cover letter or email to reach out to studios for work. This can make the difference between whether your email actually gets read and if your reel gets seen, and how to have invisible threads that help you promote yourself without sounding like you're bragging. |
Wed, 3 December 2014
This month is all about change - we're going to band together and commit to our goals for 2015 and begin to build a roadmap to how to achieve even our most unattainable goals. This month is your chance to make change and to go after your hopes and dreams and measure your success as all of us will will be provided the tools throughout December. Every few days a new episode will be up giving you the keys to change and opening up new doors, with episodes tackling our biggest sticking points and showing how to break through and move forward, gain new skills and look at our careers under a microscope and find out exactly what we need to 10x our career and make the biggest impact imaginable! Go to http://www.allanmckay.com/10 and write your goals and join us as we commit to transforming our careers and making a big impact in 2015!
|
Mon, 1 December 2014
I jumped at the chance to talk with Todd about this subject, as it's one I plan to cover later this month! Todd has major success working on projects ranging from The Lord of the Rings all the way through to X-files, Final Destination 5, 2012, The Mist, and dozens of others. He's a major source of talent nad also having worked in this industry for over two decades! The best thing by far, is that a majority of the work he does now is all from home - I love this story because it's a perfect example of both success and creating freedom in your workplace. Quitting the typical 9-5 and freeing yourself up to work for yourself gives you many options.
DEFINITELY check this episode out - it's a long one but full of priceless advice! I will be following up too later this month with a lot of additional information from my perspective as a more how-to guide.
What is your plans for 2015? Throughout December I am going to be posting THREE episodes per week regularly to help jump start your career in visual effects and for those who are hungry for more, to really raise your game and hit all of your goals. This month is going to be a chance for you to transform your career and your life - get ready Wednesday as I post the first episode of this series that will lead you through building up your path to success in 2015! Click here to jump start your career and money with a bang!
Lastly - next episode I will be announcing the winners of the current contest - which is to win a free one month membership to Digital Tutors. You can win this by simply: 1. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes (click the blue button on the left to load up iTunes) 2. Also leave a brief review and don't forget to rate it as well! Click here 3. Lastly, click like on my Facebook page so you can get updated on more free content and new episodes as they come out! Winners will be announced in a few days
ALSO Digital Tutors was kind enough to let me release my course I did with Digital Tutors, on Realfow and Python Scripting and advanced V-Ray shaders. Check it out here, this is my gift to you from Digital Tutors and myself, enjoy!
|
Mon, 24 November 2014
This is a great interview with extraordinary artist John Brennick for his contributions at studios like Weta and Digital domain and other studios around the globe on many high profile films including Dawn of the planet of the apes and The Hobbit 2. This is a really fun interview that covers a lot of really great insight into both burn out and finding passion in your work. Also feel free to email me any questions or comments, or leave some on the website! |
Wed, 19 November 2014
This episode comes with a lot of key advice for those wanting to get their foot in the door of the Visual Effects Industry (or any industry for that matter). Where going with the flow and doing what everyone else does will simply limit your opportunities and most likely you'll be lost in the crowd. Thinking outside of the box and taking the initiative to do things differently will maximize your opportunities. Entering the side door - is a way to create your own passage into a job or company, where there is likely none or very little competition because you are creating opportunities that stand out from traditional paths others use. Take lots of notes, as this episode is aimed at creating your own successes and it's a very vital key to making the most of your time and making the most of your career! Don't waste time, get in and get started! That applies for your career and it applies to this podcast! more information and show notes you can visit http://www.allanmckay.com/7
|
Fri, 14 November 2014
This episode is with Sean Ritchie who is a vfx artist working for Stargate Studios in Georgia primarily tied to the hit tv series The Walking Dead. We gain a lot of insight into Sean's background leading up to entering the industry as well as how's growth and experience over the past few years primarily working on Walking Dead and various other projects - Sean is an extremely talented artist yet so humble and down to earth while also having a wealth of knowledge and insight into his work and production. This is a really great episode and a must see! Check it out! Check out Episode 6 course notes (coming soon) as well as a chance to win 1 month FREE membership with Digital Tutors! Gain access to thousands of high-end tutorials and other training, check it out! At the end of the month (November 30 at 11:59pm Pacific Time) I will be announcing the winners who each will receive 1 month membership to Digital Tutors and access to ALL of their training material! How do you win this? Simply do these two steps 2) SUBSCRIBE and leave a REVIEW + RATING on iTunes Simply do these two things and keep an eye out November 30 to win! and tune in later this week for NEXT EPISODE!! Course notes located here: http://www.allanmckay.com/6
|
Wed, 12 November 2014
This is a bonus episode that made it in where Carlos Anguiano and I discuss his studio platform and it's major successes. This is a great episode, another very technical one and I wanted to squeeze it in as Carlos and I discussed so much content over the past few episodes I couldn't let this valuable information go. Anyone who runs a studio or is interested in running a more efficient studio pipeline, check this out as Carlos has a lot of great information in here. WIN 1 YEAR FREE DIGITAL TUTORS FULL MEMERSHIP!! Check out Episode 4 course notes (coming soon) as well as a chance to win 1 year FREE membership with Digital Tutors! At the end of the month (November 30 at 11:59pm Pacific Time) I will be announcing the winners who each will receive 1 year membership to Digital Tutors and access to ALL of their training material worth a lot of moolah! How do you win this? Simply do these two steps 2) Subscribe and leave a review/rating on iTunes Simply do these two things and keep an eye out November 30 to win! and tune in later this week for NEXT EPISODE!! Course notes are coming, they will land at http://www.allanmckay.com/5/ |
Mon, 10 November 2014
This episode is part one of a multiple series on job interviews and crafting your communicaiton skills and obtaining what you want from your job prospects. This episode is important especially for those who have difficulty easing into interviews and 'freeze up' as we go a little out there and look at many of the mindsets and how to overcome them - keep an open mind as episode 4 takes us on a bit of a ride down some strong and proven techniques for overcoming anxiety and strengthening your confidence so you can nail your interviews, meetings and obtain what you want! Check out Episode 4 course notes (coming soon) as well as a chance to win 1 month FREE membership with Digital Tutors! At the end of the month (November 30 at 11:59pm Pacific Time) I will be announcing the winners who each will receive 1 month membership to Digital Tutors and access to ALL of their training material! How do you win this? Simply do these two steps 2) Subscribe and leave a review/rating on iTunes Simply do these two things and keep an eye out November 30 to win! and tune in later this week for NEXT EPISODE!! Course notes located here: http://www.allanmckay.com/4
|
Sun, 2 November 2014
For the latest episodes visit http://www.allanmckay.com Allan McKay is a visual effects supervisor and technical director and high profile mentor in Hollywood working in 3D, both in video-games, feature films and tv commercials. Allan works with many of the leading visual effects and 3D animation studios and speaks at Autodesk University, SIGGRAPH and various conferences worldwide! |
Thu, 30 October 2014
For the latest episodes visit http://www.allanmckay.com Allan McKay is a visual effects supervisor and technical director and high profile mentor in Hollywood working in 3D, both in video-games, feature films and tv commercials. Allan works with many of the leading visual effects and 3D animation studios and speaks at Autodesk University, SIGGRAPH and various conferences worldwide! All interviews Carlos Anguiano, a Character and Pipeline Technical Director working for many studios including Industrial Light + Magic, Disney, Rhythm & Hues, Pixomondo, Scanline, Blur studio. Carlos is the creator of Mango pipeline platform which has been a huge success among many leading visual effects studios worldwide, and we discuss in this episode about his career working with many of the top studios on various major film productions. Lots of fun and very insightful!
This covers many great subjects both from starting out to delving more into the technical aspects of visual effects. If you are intersted in scripting or becoming a technical director I highly advise this episode, but for everyone else, discussing many of the films and studios Carlos has worked at as well as Toy Story and many other great subjects, I guarantee this will be a great episode for you to listen to and gain a lot from! |
Wed, 29 October 2014
For the latest episodes visit http://www.allanmckay.com Allan McKay is a visual effects supervisor and technical director and high profile mentor in Hollywood working in 3D, both in video-games, feature films and tv commercials. Allan works with many of the leading visual effects and 3D animation studios and speaks at Autodesk University, SIGGRAPH and various conferences worldwide!
When you are done you will have a whole new world of understanding of tricks and hacks to master your freelance career! |
The Allan McKay Podcast
Categories
generalcareers
Archives
AprilMarch
February
January
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
December
November
October
September
March
February
January
December
November
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
December
November
October
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | ||||
Syndication
