CG Garage

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Episode 255 - Pedro Conti - Director, Flooul Animation Dec 16, 2019

Show notes

Hailing from Sao Paolo, Brazil, Pedro Conti has created some truly impressive work. As well as contributing to Disney's Moana as a VFX artist, he created hilarious short "One More Beer," and directed the touching music video for Ron Artis II's song "In My Heart." But it hasn't always been smooth sailing for Pedro — this sensitive soul has faced some challenging moments.

In this podcast, recorded at THU 2019 earlier this year, Pedro tells Chris how he got into graphics with his dad and taught himself 3D techniques. He talks about the dramatic contrasts between living in Rio, with no hot water and plenty of rats, and Burbank, where he worked at Walt Disney Animation Studios. He also delves into the happy and sad moments he's had since he moved back to Brazil as well as the big part music has played throughout his life.

Join Pedro, and many more incredible speakers, at Total Chaos 2020 in Sofia, Bulgaria, May 29 — 31.

Episode 254 - Alex Nice and Robert Nederhorst - John Wick: Chapter 3 -Parabellum Dec 09, 2019

Show notes

Over the past few years, the John Wick movies have breathed new life into action filmmaking, marrying balletic big-screen violence with the intricate world-building and compulsive storylines of a quality TV series. Joining Chris this week are returning podcast guests Alex Nice (concept artist) and Robert Nederhorst (VFX supervisor), who talk about their work on John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum.

If you've seen the movie, you'll know that glass features heavily in two major scenes, and Alex and Rob talk about the difficulties of working with (and breaking) elaborate reflective surfaces. Alex reveals how technology such as V-Ray, Unreal and virtual reality helped him plan and preview sets, while Rob discusses some of the problems he ran into on-set — sometimes literally. You'll also find out how they digitally recreated bridges, rooftops and alleys for the movie — and why they chose a black finger sock for Keanu over a traditional green one.

Episode 253 - Jaroslav Křivánek Dec 02, 2019

Show notes

In light of the unexpected passing of our beloved colleague Jaroslav Křivánek on Sunday, today's podcast is one from the archives. Episode #176 was recorded in Sofia, Bulgaria, in May 2018, as a discussion about the Corona and Chaos family. Talking alongside founding partner and main developer Ondřej Karlík, Jaroslav Křivánek talks in detail about the technology that makes Corona fast and efficient — machine learning with Bayesian inference, heterogeneous media, and GPU rendering — and shares personal insights into his own background in the industry.

Jaroslav's wit, energy, and passion are simply irreplaceable. He was instrumental in the creation of Corona Renderer and has been an exceptional leader and mentor to many throughout the Chaos family and beyond.

Please join us in sending our deepest condolences and sympathy to his family and loved ones.

Episode 252 - Andrew Gordon - Head of Animation, DNEG Nov 25, 2019

Show notes

A passion for animation and computing landed Andrew Gordon a job at Pixar just after the release of Toy Story, the first of many mega-hits for the studio. From here, he helped bring some of the studio's most famous characters to life: Toy Story 2's Prospector, Mike from Monsters, Inc. and Edna Mode, The Incredibles' fashion designer. Today, Andrew has taken his experience from Pixar to DNEG, where he heads up the London VFX studio's feature animation team.

In this podcast, recorded at THU, Andrew tells Chris why Pixar movies are consistently brilliant. He talks about the playful office culture, mentorships and constructive criticism that bring out the best in employees, as well as its deft approach to storytelling, character development and filmmaking. It's the sum of 20 years' experience, with industry leaders such as Brad Bird, Ed Catmull and Pete Docter, packed into an hour-long podcast.

Episode 251 - ASAI Architecture & Imagined Environments Panel Nov 18, 2019

Show notes

Recorded at the American Society of Architectural Illustrators' "Architecture in Perspective" event, this week's podcast is a panel discussion on architecture and imagined environments. Taking part are The Lion King and AR Wall CG Art Director Joy Lea, 3Marks and KitBash3d's Mike Golden, Luxigon founder Eric de Broche des Combes, Star Wars: The Force Awakens concept artist Nick Hiatt, Architectural Visualization Artist Isabella Eckmann, and Gensler's Creative Media Leader Megan Lubaszka. And, of course, the whole thing is moderated by CG Labs' Chris Nichols.

Among the topics discussed are the representation of space and storytelling in new mediums, the business of visualization and what different CG industries, such as arch-viz, VFX and gaming, can learn from one another. This lively debate is full of insight into modern creative methods and you'll discover what still images can do that VR can't (and vice-versa), the vast differences in cost between architectural and marketing VR experiences — as well as the importance of minigolf.

Episode 250 - Celia Hodent - Game UX Consultant Nov 11, 2019

Show notes

User experience is an under-appreciated but crucial aspect of modern technology and software — particularly in the field of video games, which have to introduce complex ideas without intimidating players. In this week's podcast, Chris is joined by UX Director, Celia Hodent, who put her PhD in psychology, specialized in cognitive development, to good use in helping create Fortnite.

Celia explains how user experience helped make military aircraft safer and how it's been a fundamental part of gaming since the days of Super Mario Bros. Using examples from casual titles such as Candy Crush to the notoriously tricky Dark Souls, Celia explains how games teach skills and use interaction to build worlds and reward behavior. She also gives excellent reasons why kids shouldn't play games outside of their age rating, and why culture is more important than gender when it comes to game design.

Whether you're a gamer or not, you'll undoubtedly come away from this podcast with a new perspective on the design of just about everything.

Episode 249 - Peter Ramsey - Director, "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" Nov 04, 2019

Show notes

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a critical and box office success on its release last year, garnering critical praise and even an Oscar for its vivid, touching and inventive take on Spidey's origin story. In this podcast, co-director Peter Ramsey tells his own tale of going from a humble, blue-collar upbringing in South Los Angeles to co-creating one of the best-animated movies of all time.

Peter tells Chris about the movies which inspired his career, including Star Wars, The Seven Samurai and ET. He also discusses how early experiences working with Francis Ford Coppola on Bram Stoker's Dracula and second-unit-directing Tank Girl came in handy in the world of animation, and the happy accidents which led to his directorial roles on Rise of the Guardians and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

It's one of the most inspirational podcasts you'll ever hear; Peter's free of ego and still looking at cinema with wide-eyed wonder.

Episode 248 - John Chalfont - Creative Director, Sky Carousel Oct 28, 2019

Show notes

To say John Chalfant could turn his hand to anything would be an understatement. Over the past 20 years, this multi-talented creative has served as a 3D artist, director of photography, game developer, VFX supervisor and art director on movies and games including The Day After Tomorrow, Diablo II, Warcraft III, Nosgoth, Batman: Arkham City, Wolfenstein, Hellgate: London and Final Fantasy.

Recorded over some rye whiskey, John tells Chris his origin story, from finding inspiration in animated TV series Robotech and Neo Geo video games, setting up a studio with some friends and convincing producers to let them work on a TV series, to partying at Blur Studio and working with filmmaking legend David Lynch on animations, nightclubs and immersive experiences.

Despite his incredible career, John is a laid-back guest and he offers some of the secrets of his success, his future plans — and thoughts on which franchise director Tim Miller will tackle next.

Episode 247 - Greg Downing - Hyperacuity Oct 21, 2019

Show notes

After dabbling with acting and music, Greg Downing found his true calling in all things photography related — and the world is a better place for it. His passion for the medium took him from home experiments with plaster casts and turntables to create panoramas of European landmarks to building a new HDRI camera for effects house Rhythm & Hues.

At the same time, Greg has indulged his passion for documenting the wonders of the world with cutting-edge technology. He's used gigapixel photography, photogrammetry, VR, HDRI, dome theaters and the Google Maps API to capture and display Yosemite's El Capitan rock formation, Everest's base camp and historic paintings in Chinese caves. In this podcast, Greg talks about these projects as well as his work with Björk in Iceland on her immersive VR album "Vulnicura" and his collaborations in the world of lightfields with technology pioneer Paul Debevec at Google.

Episode 246 - Joy Lea - ARwall Oct 14, 2019

Show notes

A lot has changed in Joy Lea's life since she last appeared on the CG Garage podcast in 2016. The former games environment designer was hired by MPC LA as an artist on Disney's The Lion King, which broke new ground in terms of virtual production pipelines. Continuing the trend, Joy has taken on another game-changing role: CG Art Director at augmented reality virtual production company ARwall.

As someone who has switched between games and films, Joy has a unique perspective on the similarities and differences between the industries, as well as their working cultures and attitudes to women. She also talks about the more fun aspects of her job, such as watching The Lion King's creative team play in virtual reality environments she created and the greenscreen-replacing potential of ARwall.

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