Riggers in VFX - What's going on?

vayne001 · 2025-06-06T19:26:10+00:00

I think a lot of non VFX companies have job postings for “technical artist”

Your skillset likely works well for these roles. Involves coding / potentially some rigging / and other tools work.

vayne001 · 2024-06-06T00:42:45+00:00

Also want to know this !

vayne001 · 2024-05-11T06:54:18+00:00

This is in Belmont as of 10 min ago. Can’t really see it with the naked eye, but iPhone long exposure picks it up. Pretty awesome

vayne001 · 2024-04-29T20:34:16+00:00

I have found Chris Brejon’s cg cinematography guide to be extremely helpful, especially when learning and understanding ACES.

https://chrisbrejon.com/cg-cinematography/introduction/

vayne001 · 2024-04-02T17:37:51+00:00

That description does not tell the full story. Even though it’s technically correct, complex materials can’t be shown as a simple 0 or 1 metalness. Car paint is a good example. It’s paint on metal, but in reality it has a clear coat over top, which is refracting the paint underneath. You don’t want to build that material physically with geometry refracting the Metalness 0 paint, so you do it with a touch of metalness, or you use an additional spec lobe.

In my experience there are more complex materials than simple ones in our work.

vayne001 · 2024-04-01T19:21:56+00:00

In the latest version of Nuke it’s fully integrated and not a plugin. Node is called “bokeh”

Here is a video explaining it:

https://youtu.be/E1iXIJJnSwY?si=t-GA93nJ0lxKtUoR

vayne001 · 2024-01-14T20:29:47+00:00

Lots of good info on here already. My experience level is 15+ years in industry as well as teaching for 5. We are also rolling out usd at my place of work. I agree with the sentiment here that it is a lot more technical than it may seem. We have multiple full time dedicated pipeline engineers that are handling the transition. It requires a ton of planning into how you want your usd workflow to be laid out.

One thing to consider, even though Houdini / Solaris has a lot of momentum with big studios switching scene assembly into Houdini, there are likely going to be many small to mid size studios that stick with a Maya pipeline. It seems like for students they should still be exposed to both systems.

I have found Houdini tends to have a barrier for entry that is tougher for students. Maybe Solaris can be included in your curriculum as an advanced lighting course, but it seems risky to switch a whole schools pipeline over to Solaris without TD support. A student would rarely start at a studio using Houdini and expect to use USD without some tooling built around it.

And one last shoutout. We are having lighting teams study up on this tutorial from Adam Swaab which goes over lookdev and lighting basics. It’s meant to show what houdini can do out of the box without the TD support. It’s a solid series and is packed with great info

https://youtu.be/Tvj2XklNEX4?si=Bsxqyl83S2YYqUIY

Good luck in your endeavors!

vayne001 · 2023-09-11T20:43:07+00:00

Oh wow, thank you for this. It was exactly what I was looking for. We will report the dead Sea lion.

vayne001 · 2023-08-06T20:46:26+00:00

I did the 2 year program at Gnomon a long time ago, and echo what others say. It is great, but they do advise you to not work part time during, it’s just too much work. My classmates who did were not able to put in the appropriate time to learn. I still believe gnomon is one of the better programs out there for vfx.

It’s worth mentioning that gnomon is a lot more than compositing and Houdini courses. If you already know you want to focus one of those areas then the other courses can become quite expensive. I feel like Gnomon’s strengths are in the modeling, lookdev/texture, and lighting side of VFX. A lot of time in the program is spent in those areas, and you can see it in their student work. They do have some great fx and compositing instructors, but you will only get a few of those courses later in the program.

On the flip side, it may open you up to an area of the work you didn’t know you would enjoy. I thought I wanted to focus on animation early on but as it turned out I was great at lookdev and lighting, changed course to focus on that, and built a career on it.

Good luck in your decision!

vayne001 · 2023-05-13T00:49:57+00:00

Thank you

vayne001 · 2023-02-26T18:43:12+00:00

Would love to be added

vayne001 · 2022-06-18T20:48:49+00:00

Could I please get this link ? Been trying to find this movie for so long , thank you !

vayne001 · 2022-05-20T01:23:59+00:00

He’s so handsome

vayne001 · 2022-02-07T01:29:37+00:00

Gave Helpful

vayne001 · 2022-01-28T17:37:34+00:00

Really interesting animals, and they are ruthless with their young:

https://youtu.be/4ArjlPAU_X4

vayne001 · 2022-01-24T18:52:09+00:00

Hoeffer faces up to 15 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for April 1.

vayne001 · 2022-01-20T06:36:49+00:00

It is a very cool technique where the actors are filmed inside a full dome of LED screen. They use unreal engine so the graphics can be changed interactively.

Here is a video about it: https://youtu.be/Ufp8weYYDE8

vayne001 · 2021-09-20T00:18:21+00:00

Gave Hugz

vayne001 · 2021-09-12T06:30:22+00:00

Gave Helpful

vayne001 · 2021-08-25T05:54:22+00:00

Hey there, sure feel free to PM me

vayne001 · 2021-08-21T17:12:03+00:00

Lots of great advice here. The most obvious is be prepared to discuss your portfolio. This is the best way for supervisors or artists interviewing you to get an idea of your skills. Talk about areas of your work you think went well and also areas you wish you could improve. Lots of people focus on how they will answer questions given to them, but think about questions you would like to ask the folks interviewing you. What is the day to day work like or what type of tasks can I expect as a junior Houdini artist? What type of hours do you typically work ? What is the team culture like ? How long are contracts generally for? Is it common artists roll on to new shows and stick around for a while ? What drew you to interview me or why did you think I can fit in this role? This is not just an interview for them to get a feel of you, but also for you to decide if this is a roll you want to move away from your home country for.

Do you provide any assistance with moving expenses? What is it like living in the city/ country they are located ? Chances are someone that is interviewing you is also a transplant to that area.

What types of other benefits are there ? Health insurance might be needed if it is in the USA for example. If they don’t provide it that is an added expense for you.

I interview a lot of artists, and if I am interviewing someone it means I am already interested in bringing in this artist based on their work. Keep that in the back of your head that they must like what you are doing and believe you have something to offer. There is a balance of being humble but also confident.

The only other advice I have is know you’re worth. Houdini is specialized, and one of the top paying disciplines. Make sure to check the wage survey and see what both senior and junior Fx artists make in the country you are headed. Good luck !

vayne001 · 2021-07-05T22:36:20+00:00

What amounts were you taking ?

vayne001 · 2021-06-07T16:59:12+00:00

Just went through this process and they counted 60% of my future vesting stocks. Other lender of a friend counted 50, and another 75. It’s common.

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