Established in 1987, Spin VFX is a creative and technically dedicated visual effects studio producing captivating imagery for feature film and television. Over its 30 years of business, Spin VFX has evolved into an internationally recognized studio working with respected Directors, VFX Supervisors and Producers. Its film credits include Suicide Squad, John Wick and John Wick 2 , the Academy Award winning biopic Spotlight and many more. Spin VFX's television credits include the Emmy award-winning...
May 28, 2019•55 min•Ep. 196
This is a Live Stream I did a while back. I walked about what I would do differently if I were to start my career again now. I started my career 25 years ago. I’ve been doing 3D for a bit longer than that. I look at what it took to get my career to where it is: It was a lot of hard work, a lot of persistence, a lot of failure too. But it would be different if I were to start today. Back in the day, there were fewer studios and less competition. In 2019, it would be a different journey. So I want...
May 21, 2019•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 195
Enrique Torres is an Emmy Award winning artist with an expertise in VFX, character design and concept design. He has a Bachelors Degree from the Art Institute in Media Arts and Animation. In the past 10 years, he utilized his talents by working within the movie, television and game industries. Enrique has worked on films such as Twilight, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Sport Science, Thor, Captain America , Avengers and more. Since 2006, he has worked on over 300 projects that vary from commerci...
May 14, 2019•50 min•Ep. 194
This is replay of a Live Stream I did recently on YouTube where I talked about the levers we need to pull to get ahead in our career and maximize our success. This is a subject that have talked about in the past. The reason behind that is that building our technical skills -- without doing the outreach or network building -- isn’t enough. It’s really important! I really want to reiterate this subject and kick your ass, so you can get to it. This was a really well received Webinar with some posit...
May 07, 2019•43 min•Ep. 193
I want to talk about the topic I get asked about all the time: The state of the industry in 2019 and is the industry stable? I want to dive into this subject because it’s pretty serious, at least for me. I want to answer this question and talk about all the scares we’ve had in the industry. Some of you may take this Episode the wrong way. I’m okay with that! This is my outlook and my opinions. I will dive into the reasons why I started this Podcast in the first place, as well as some of the resu...
Apr 30, 2019•42 min•Ep. 192
In this Podcast, Allan is giving a peak into a Career Intensive Webinar. This is a session that Allan has done recently inside his FXTD Mentorship Course. Normally, these Webinars are private. This is a chance for you to be a fly on the wall -- and get some valuable information. Usually, it’s a Q&A session, but this time, Allan had his students submit questions ahead of time. If you’re interested in the FXTD Mentorship, the enrollment will be opening soon for 2019. Either way, you will get a...
Apr 23, 2019•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 191
Alessandro Ongaro is a CG Supervisor at Double Negative. With almost 20 years of experience, he is presently considered to be among the CG Industry's top professionals. Alessandro was born in Switzerland and holds a dual Italian and Swiss citizenship. While studying design at the School of Design in Milan, Italy, Alessandro first began using computers to create photo-realistic 3D renderings for the architecture industry. He began working in the feature films after moving back to Milan where he w...
Apr 16, 2019•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 190
Sergio Paez is a Director and Story Designer who got his start working at companies such as Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Sony. He is also a founding member of Storyboard Art, an online visual story community, with both a content creation and educational focus to further techniques in visual storytelling. In 2012, Sergio authored the book Professional Storyboarding: Rules of Thumb which has become the go-to reference for story artists looking to enter the entertainment business. Mitch Bowler is the Foun...
Apr 09, 2019•54 min•Ep. 189
Mariana Acuña Acosta is an entrepreneur who is driven by her passion for new and emerging technologies. Over the past four years, her focus has been in VR, MR and AR workflows, cross-pollination of products; the changing landscape of entertainment and the new ways of creating content. She is the Founder of Jolt VR and a CPO and Co-Founder of Glassbox Technologies (previously known as Opaque Studios), a company that is pioneering gaming technology in Virtual Production, utilizing VR and AR by cre...
Apr 02, 2019•47 min•Ep. 188
Derek Spears is an award-winning VFX Supervisor. His career in Visual Effects started with the founding of Cinesite’s 3D department where he was involved with the production of Kevin Costner’s Waterworld and helped develop Cinesite’s 3D tracking system. Over the years, Spears served as the Digital Effects Supervisor on Face / Off , The X Files movie, as well as the VFX Supervisor for The Sum of All Fears . His other film credits include Superman Returns , The Wolfman , X-Men: Days of Future Past...
Mar 26, 2019•59 min•Ep. 187
A lot of us find out that when we start to learn an new subject, we read up everything and get basic information, often without knowing how to apply it. By having a set goal, the learning becomes more intense and we have apply it all in a context. It allows us to connect the dots and come together in a context. And it also means you’re going to start to see your progression as you go along -- and really measure your success. Check out some previous Podcasts I’ve done on this subject: How to Lear...
Mar 19, 2019•31 min•Ep. 186
This is a personal essay on how to level up. I don’t think this Podcast is going to be for everyone; and if doesn’t resonate with you, it might not be the right time for you. I want to cut the bullshit and call it what it is: If you want to level up -- LEVEL UP! I get asked a lot the following questions: How do I get started? ( www.allanmckay.com/184/ ) How do I become successful? Why are other people successful and I am not? Having a Mentorship and helping my friends and students get their care...
Mar 12, 2019•47 min•Ep. 185
This is an Episode that has been a long time coming. This is easily the one question I get asked every day: How do I get started in visual effects? Where do I turn? I’m overwhelmed: Which software should I study? There are two ways to answer this question: One: The generic way of “Just do it!” or “Go to school!” Instead, I want to dive deeper and give you the specific answer, as well tell you which mistakes to avoid. This applies not only to when you’re starting out. You could be a few years int...
Mar 05, 2019•38 min•Ep. 184
Going into a job interview as a creative means that they have seen your work and they like what they’ve seen. It isn’t that they’re coming in to consider you. It means that they’re narrowing down to a couple people. They just want to know if you’re a good fit for the company. This isn’t an interrogation. It’s more about finding out what kind of personality you have. That also means that you’re completely in control of the situation and the tonality. It’s a two-way street. Don’t feel like you’re ...
Feb 26, 2019•52 min•Ep. 183
David Allen is a New York Times bestselling author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity , the first edition of which was published in 2001. He is also the godfather of productivity. He has been 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, David Allen discusses how the Getting Things Done (...
Feb 19, 2019•51 min•Ep. 182
The Harmon Brothers is a marketing firm based in Provo, Utah, that has a history of making viral advertising videos. Founded by brothers Daniel, Neil, Jeffrey and Theron Harmon and CEO Benton Crane, the company creates marketing campaigns that are usually the length of an infomercial -- but with a distinct sense of humor. Their campaigns for Squatty Potty and the Purple have more than 100 million views. They have also created campaigns for Poo-Pourri, FiberFix, Camp Chef and several others. Sinc...
Feb 12, 2019•1 hr•Ep. 181
Goro Fujita is an Art Director, illustrator and visual development artist based in the Bay Area. He started his career working as a freelance character animator and visual development artist for various companies in Germany. In 2008, Goro joined DreamWorks Animation as a visual development artist and worked on Merry Madagascar, Megamind, Madagascar 3, Penguins of Madagascar and Boss Baby . He left DreamWorks in 2015 and joined Oculus Story Studio in San Francisco where he art directed the Emmy A...
Feb 05, 2019•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 180
Aaron Sims, the visual creator behind some of this generation’s most unforgettable cinema creatures, began his career over two decades ago as a special effects makeup artist. His pioneering techniques in the world of visual effects influenced the face of character and creature design in Film, Television, Games, Previs, and VFX early on in their application. Aaron Sims Creative [ASC] was formed in order to bring together a wide range of the world’s most talented concept and visual effects artists...
Jan 29, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 179
The big question that gets asked a lot: Is there money in art? Or is the Starving Artist mentality valid? It’s really important to understand that art is actually a career. In the beginning, you need to do whatever it takes to land that first job. But one day, eventually, you will be in a position where the studios will do whatever it takes -- to land YOU. As with any career, it’s important to set your Someday Goals, build your brand, stay relevant and push yourself outside your comfort zone. Ar...
Jan 22, 2019•31 min•Ep. 178
Goro Fujita is an Art Director, illustrator and visual development artist based in the Bay Area. He started his career working as a freelance character animator and visual development artist for various companies in Germany. In 2008, Goro joined DreamWorks Animation as a visual development artist where he worked on Merry Madagascar, Megamind, Madagascar 3, Penguins of Madagascar and Boss Baby . He left DreamWorks in 2015 and joined Oculus Story Studio in San Francisco where he art directed the E...
Jan 15, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 177
The biggest mistake people make when applying for jobs -- is not thinking about the person who is receiving your email: a Department Head, a VFX Sup, an HR Manager. How are you going to make someone stop whatever they’re doing -- managing their team, supervising a job, dealing with their bosses, putting together bids, etc. -- to pay attention to your email? How do you position yourself to make them stop and talk to you? These days, your email -- is your cover letter. Before you can get them to l...
Jan 08, 2019•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 176
Noëlle Triaureau was the Production Designer on Sony Pictures Animation movie Smurfs . She joined Sony Pictures Animation in 2005. Since then, she worked as a Visual Development artist on Surf’s Up and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs . She was Art Director on Hotel Transylvania . She is also a recipient of the Joule award, an honor recognizing outstanding Sony Pictures Imageworks and Sony Pictures Animation members. Noëlle graduated in 1996 with honors from Middlesex University, England and Ec...
Jan 01, 2019•38 min•Ep. 175
2018 is officially over. It’s time to set your goals for the New Year. Setting your goals is important: If you don’t have that compass -- you don’t have a sense of direction. But what’s just as important -- is being able to see those goals through by: Breaking the big goals into a roadmap of smaller goals; Attacking them with urgency; Leaning into the resistance and your pain points; Creating an accountability circle; And learning to measure your success. In this Episode, Allan McKay talks about...
Dec 25, 2018•28 min•Ep. 174
Gini Cruz Santos is a Filipina animator at Pixar studios based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She worked on numerous Pixar animation films including Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Toy Story 3, Up, Lifted and Brave . She was nominated in 2004 for an Annie Award for her animation on Finding Nemo and was nominated by the Visual Effects Society for an award for this project as well. Her animation of Dory, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, was praised ...
Dec 18, 2018•46 min•Ep. 173
Eran Dinur is VFX Supervisor, Composer and published author. His career in visual effects began with a fascination for creating 3D natural scenery. Through his early years, he became well known as a VUE expert and innovator. When he joined ILM Singapore, he created visual effects for films such as Iron Man, Star Trek, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Terminator Salvation . After moving to New York, Eran worked at Framestore on Salt and C...
Dec 11, 2018•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 172
Cinefex is a bimonthly magazine devoted to motion picture visual effects. Since its 1980 launch by its Founder Don Shay, it’s been the bible for effects professionals and enthusiasts, covering the field like no other publication. Profusely illustrated in color, with in-depth articles and interviews, Cinefex offers a captivating look at the technologies and techniques behind many of our most popular and enduring movies. The next issue of Cinefex No. 162 is out in mid-December 2018: http://www.cin...
Dec 06, 2018•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 171
Cinefex is a bimonthly magazine devoted to motion picture visual effects. Since its 1980 launch by its Founder Don Shay, it’s been the bible for effects professionals and enthusiasts, covering the field like no other publication. Profusely illustrated in color, with in-depth articles and interviews, Cinefex offers a captivating look at the technologies and techniques behind many of our most popular and enduring movies. The next issue of Cinefex No. 162 is out in mid-December 2018: http://www.cin...
Dec 04, 2018•51 min•Ep. 170
Mike Morris is a Filmmaker, Director, and Storyboard Artist of animation for broadcast and digital distribution. He’s also a developer of animated IP’s and content and a VR enthusiast. He’s been a consultant for artistic software development and a creator of the Annual Wacom Cintiq Showdown at CTNX, as well as moderator for animation panels at various Comic Con Expos. Currently, Mike is a Storyboard Artist at Disney ABC Television. His credits include The Simpsons, Future-Worm! and DuckTales In ...
Nov 27, 2018•42 min•Ep. 169
Andrea Goh is a San Francisco based Technical Director and Layout Artist. Her curiosity has driven her to acquire multiple sets of skills: rigging, scripting, sculpting, pipeline, assembly and layout. After studying at an art college in her native country of Malaysia, she pursued an additional degree at the San Francisco Academy of Art. After graduating, her first job was as Layout Artist in the Camera and Staging Department at Pixar Animation Studios. Andrea has rigged in many films including E...
Nov 20, 2018•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 168
The Academy Award®-winning cineSync is the world’s most trusted remote review and approval system. Used by film and television productions worldwide, cineSync guarantees that everyone sees exactly the same frame at the same time. cineSync integrates with industry-leading tools such as Shotgun, Ftrack and Aspera, ensuring a fast, synchronized and streamlined remote collaboration experience. In this Podcast, Cospective’s CEO Rory McGregor talks about cineSync, the platform that’s a backbone of how...
Nov 13, 2018•39 min•Ep. 167
