Redshift is the world’s first fully GPU-accelerated biased renderer. It is built to meet the specific demands of contemporary high-end production rendering. It provides the most features and flexibility among all GPU renderers. In this Podcast, Allan McKay talks with Nicolas Burtnyk, Co-Founder and CEO, as well as Rob Slater, Co-Founder and VP of Engineering. They discuss the benefits of GPU vs CPU rendering, the software Redshift currently supports and the renderer's future direction. For more ...
Nov 21, 2017•47 min•Ep. 106
Ruben Mayor is a Senior FX TD at Weta Digital. Over the course of his career, he has traveled the world while working for giant studios like Sony Pictures Imageworks, The Mill, Mr. X. Ruben has worked on high profile films like Avengers: Infinity War, War for the Planet of the Apes, Dr. Who, Resident Evil, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and many more. Ruben began his career in 2011 when he worked for nWave Digital Studios in Belgium. Before he discovered his passion for visual effe...
Nov 14, 2017•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 105
Victor Navone is a Supervising Animator at Pixar Animation Studios. Since 2000, he has worked on such high budget animated features as Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars 2 & 3, WALL-E, Brave, Inside Out and many more. After graduating from the University of California, Irvine, Victor began working as a 3D artist at Presto Studios, a video game company. He continued to study 3D character animation in his spare time. In 1999, Victor’s first animated short Alien Song , which wa...
Nov 07, 2017•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 104
Having the hunger, the passion -- the fire under your butt -- is a driving force that’s essential for success! In this Episode, Allan McKay talks about change as the catalyst for new levels of growth in your career, artistry and finances; as well as how to welcome and create change -- while making sure you have a failsafe environment for success. After listening to this Episode, you will learn to: - Identify the way you measure progress. - Make sure you aren’t overwhelmed by grandiose goals. - E...
Oct 31, 2017•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 103
Bay Raitt is a designer, sculptor, character lead, animator, animation director and graphic novel creator. He was one of the first 30 employees hired at Weta Digital. As a Creature Facial Lead, he was responsible for building the facial system for Gollum in The Lord of the Rings . In 2003, Bay received a VES Award for Best Character Animation in a Live Action Motion Picture, for his work on Gollum. Bay began his career working for Steve Oliff doing color separations for Image Comics. He has also...
Oct 24, 2017•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 102
Ben Snow is a Senior VFX Supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic. Since joining ILM in 1994, he has worked on such influential films as Twister, The Mummy, Pearl Harbor, Star Wars, Iron Man, Avengers and many more. He has also worked a VFX Supervisor on King Kong , at Weta. Ben recently finished working on Darren Aronofsky’s film mother! which is his second collaboration with the director since feature film Noah . Born in Australia, Ben studied computing and film at the University of Canberra...
Oct 17, 2017•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 101
Allan McKay is an Emmy-award winning VFX Supervisor and Technical Director. Over the course of his career, which spans over almost two decades, he’s worked on films like Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Superman, Flight, Star Trek: Into Darkness, The Equalizer and so many more! He’s also created effects for video games like Halo, Call of Duty, Half-Life, Bioshock , as well as multiple commercials. Fred Ruff is the founder of Refuge FX, a Portland based visual effects studio responsible for projec...
Oct 10, 2017•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 100
Christina Burton is a graphic designer and vehicle wrap artist. Born in Nova Scotia, Canada, she began drawing at a very early age, developing an understanding of color and an interest in portraiture. After graduating high school, she pursued a variety of professions but she always returned to her main passion: art. She began pursuing art as a career a few years ago when she launched an Etsy shop that sold her original paintings. After trying her hand at tattoo designs and airbrushing of motorcy...
Oct 03, 2017•2 hr 27 min•Ep. 99
Nicolas Prothais is a Senior CG Animator who has worked for studios like Disney, Double Negative, Illumination Mac Guff and Ilion. Self taught, he began his career as a generalist and learned most aspects of the pipeline. He later switched his focus to 3D and 2D animation. The list of Nicolas’ projects includes features like Moana , Despicable Me , Wreck-It Ralph , Zootopia , Frozen and many more. In this Episode, Allan McKay and Nicolas Prothais talk about working abroad, the discipline for bet...
Sep 26, 2017•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 98
Nerdstrong Gym, located in North Hollywood, CA, combines physical fitness with passion for games, movies and storytelling. To attract its membership, Nerdstrong’s Founder Andrew Deutsch created an environment with a nerdy theme and gamified fun. Starting out with Dungeons and Dragons inspired workouts for a friend, in his own garage, Andrew established a strong following and opened the doors to Nerdstrong in 2013. All the classes are group workouts based on a favorite film, game or franchise. "O...
Sep 19, 2017•54 min•Ep. 97
Niels Prayer is a Motion Graphics Designer and a Director based in Paris, France. He has worked on films like RoboCop while at Framestore and the Minions films at Illumination Mac Guff, a Paris-based studio. Niels is also a musician and a composer which has influenced his storytelling as well. In this Episode, Allan McKay and Niels Prayer discuss the importance of daily discipline and the artists’ responsibility as storytellers. For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/96/....
Sep 12, 2017•42 min•Ep. 96
Nathan Fowkes is a Concept Artist whose film credits include How to Train Your Dragon, The Legend of Puss in Boots, The Prince of Egypt and many more. He has worked for numerous studios including DreamWorks, Paramount Feature Animation, Blue Sky, Disney, Blizzard Entertainment, Riot Games, Ubisoft and Rovio. In addition, Nathan is a teacher of color, light and design. He currently teaches at the LA Academy of Figurative Art, the Art Center College of Design, as well as online at Schoolism.com. I...
Sep 05, 2017•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 95
David Allen is a bestselling author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity , the first edition of which was published in 2001. David is also a management consultant and a productivity expert. In addition to founding his multimillion dollar company based on the GTD methodology, he has founded Actioneer, a 1994 start-up specializing in productivity tools. In this Episode, Allan McKay and David Allen discuss the four steps to productivity according to the GTD System, and the ti...
Aug 29, 2017•39 min•Ep. 94
Nikolai Lockertsen, a Norwegian Concept Artist, Matte Painter, Illustrator and Art Director, has worked on more than 30 features films, as well as many commercial and television projects. Some of his films include Trollhunter and Kon-Tiki . He has previously worked at studios like Gimpville, Filmkameratene and Storm Studios. Nikolai is also a pioneer in iPad art: He does all of his artwork -- including concept designs for feature films -- on an iPad Pro using a painting app called Procreate. He ...
Aug 22, 2017•2 hr 2 min•Ep. 93
Freddie Wong is a Director, CEO and a Co-Founder of RocketJump Studios, a YouTube channel that has gained nearly 8 million subscribers since its inception in April 2010. Named as one of Hollywood’s brightest stars by Forbes magazine, Freddie is the most subscribed video director on YouTube. The channel’s flagship series Video Game High School now has over 50 million views. In 2013, the series was named the #1 Web Series by Variety magazine. Freddie has also successfully launched RocketJump Film ...
Aug 15, 2017•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 92
Image Engine is a high-end visual effects studio based in Vancouver, BC, that specializes in creature design and animation for feature films and television. Founded in 1995, the studio has worked on films like District 9 and Chappie , Independence Day: Resurgence and Jurassic World ; shows like X-Files and Game of Thrones (Seasons 5 and 6); and much more. In 2010, the company was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, for their work on District 9 . In this Episode, Allan McKay m...
Aug 08, 2017•59 min•Ep. 91
Patty Rangel is a Virtual and Mixed Reality artist, as well as a leader in hologram technology. An MFA graduate of CalArts, she has attended the GSP Program in Exponential Technologies at NASA’s Singularity University. She is also a featured Technologist / Futurist of the USC World Building Institute FRONTERA project. Some of Patty’s previous projects include: the Centennial Olympic Games, the Vancouver Olympic Games, the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and the Tupak Hologram at the Coachella Valley Mu...
Aug 01, 2017•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 90
Scott Stokdyk is an Academy Award winning Visual Effects Supervisor. During his two decades of experience in visual effects, he has worked for big studios like Digital Domain and Sony Pictures ImageWorks. Some of the groundbreaking films on his resume are: Titanic, Contact, Starship Troopers, Hollow Man, Fifth Element and three of the Spider-Man movies. Scott’s work on Spider-Man 2 won him and his team an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Visual Effects. Most recently, Scott worked as a Visu...
Jul 25, 2017•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 89
In this Podcast, Allan McKay speaks to a live audience about his experience of starting out in visual effect -- and becoming a successful business! While answering his listeners' questions, Allan shares some badass tips on: - Time management and productivity hacks. - Breaking into the business. - Secrets to a kickass reel. - Networking, branding, marketing -- and other tools for becoming a successful business! For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/88/ ....
Jul 18, 2017•1 hr 45 min
Main Road Post is a visual effects production studio based in Moscow, Russia, since 2006. The studio has produced visual effects for many international films, including Wanted, Stalingrad, The Night Guard, Attraction . It has also worked on the Opening Ceremony for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. A year ago, the company implemented Scrum, a team-based workflow that a lot of Silicon Valley companies use. In this Episode, Allan McKay talks with the CEO of Main Road Post Arman Yahin about the co...
Jul 11, 2017•1 hr 53 min
In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Laura Vanderkam, the bestselling author of What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, I Know How She Does It, 168 Hours and several others. A graduate of Princeton University, she worked as a journalist before becoming interested in the subject of productivity. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune and many other publications. Allan and Laura discuss the subjects of time management, productivity, working...
Jul 04, 2017•37 min
In this Episode, Allan McKay interviews Philippe Leprince, Senior Field Engineer at Pixar Animation Studios. He currently works as an Engineer on the RenderMan Software. Philippe has a Lighting and CG background and has worked at Framestore and Double Negative, and many other big studios. Among his many credits are feature films like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Framestore); The Dark Knight and Inception (Double Negative). Allan and Philippe discuss the benefits of being a well-roun...
Jun 27, 2017•1 hr 4 min
Dennis Mejillones is a Senior Character Artist at Bethesda Game Studios. He is responsible for creating models for characters like Sole Survivor, Preston Garvey and most all the robots in Fallout 4 . During the course of his career, he has also worked on Skyrim , Call of Duty: The First Modern Warfare, Borderlands, Shadows of Darkness. Independently, he created the characters of Undead Warrior and Sentry Bot. In this Podcast, Allan and Dennis talk about mentors, the best mindset and skills for g...
Jun 20, 2017•1 hr 23 min
In this Episode, Allan McKay interviews Catherine Sas, an Immigration Lawyer at Sas & Ing Immigration Law Center in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She is the leading immigration practitioner according to Lexpert, Who’s Who Legal and Best Lawyers in Canada. Catherine has been voted Vancouver’s Best Immigration Lawyer every year from 2012 through 2016. In this Episode, Allan and Catherine discuss the procedures of applying for Canadian Work Permits, Study Permits, Visas, Permanent Residency; as well a...
Jun 13, 2017•49 min
Edwin Braun is the CEO and co-founder of Cebas Visual Technology, the developer of Thinking Particles for 3DS Max, as well as other plugins. Cebas’ software has been used in a number of influential films such as Lost in Space, 2012, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Harry Potter . In this Episode, Allan McKay talks with Edwin Braun about his co-founding the company with Achim Smailus in 1988, in Heidelberg, Germany; and the journey of Thinking Particles through the decades of change and the new d...
Jun 06, 2017•1 hr 38 min
In this Podcast, Allan McKay interviews Wirginia Romanowska, a VFX Lead for id Software. Wirginia's extensive experience as FX lead at id software on Doom, as well as working on many other major titles around the world. Wirginia shares many insights into her experience. After graduating with a Masters Degree in Engineering from a university in her native Poland, Wirginia’s first job was working on the title sequence for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End , at Eurocom in the U.K. She then m...
May 30, 2017•1 hr 54 min
So one subject commonly coming up is all about hardware! Inside of the FX TD Mentorship, Troy Buckley who's part of my team, helps out a lot of people building hardware specs and figuring out what hardware they should buy depending on if they need generalist work done, or simuatlions etc. So you have the ultimate bang for your buck. Troy's originally a student of mine IN the FXTD Mentorship, but he's shown so much passion and care, and shared so much knowledge in there (like a lot of people) tha...
May 23, 2017•1 hr 48 min
This episode dives right into a subject that we all are probably guilty of not applying. Eyes glazed over during book consumption, clicking away on Facebook while watching tutorials, or playing around on our phone during lectures. How do you watch, read, listen to information and absorb it, retain it, and apply it? This episode is focused on a lot of core fundamentals Allan applies to his learning, as well as many well documented and proven approaches to keeping your core knowledge. http://www.a...
May 16, 2017•1 hr 6 min
Jeff Okun is a Visual Effects Supervisor who has worked on wide-ranging effects in award winning films such as Blood Diamond, Stargate, Sphere, Red Planet, Deep Blue Sea, The Last Starfighter , and many more. His career spans for nearly four decades. In addition, Jeff is Chair of the Visual Effects Society, a global community of visual effects artists and businesses. Jeff was fundamental in starting the VES 2.0 initiative which brought together studios, facilities and artists to explore new busi...
May 09, 2017•1 hr 32 min
Episode 77 - Interview with Action VFX NOTES For complete show notes visit http://www.allanmckay.com/77/ ActionVFX ( www.actionvfx.com ) is a website that provides stock footage for visual effects, from smoke plumes to fire, from sparks to explosions. Before the company was launched in 2016, its CEO Rodolphe Pierre-Louis, along with Joe Camarata (Marketing Manager) and Luke Thompson (Operations Manager) conducted an extensive survey among visual effects artists, which determined the type of file...
May 01, 2017•58 min
