Interviews that focus on the CG creative in visual effects, architecture and beyond. Christopher Nichols of Chaos sits down with directors, artists, photographers and developers for candid discussions on technology and art, all with a focus on computer graphics. Visit chaosgroup.com/cg-garage for more information and an archive of past shows.

Colin Green took the computer graphics skills he learned from his architecture education to help start Pixel Liberation Front. While the company is no longer around, it was one of the first to focus on envisaging movies with an art form known as previsualization. Colin talks about how previs was pioneered in films such as Fight Club, Panic Room, and Minority Report, how it’s become an essential part of the filmmaking process today, and how it’s forming the backbone of what is becoming virtual production.

Chris and Colin talk about some of the challenges of previs, such as how it can influence choices without locking people into them, and its effects on post production. Colin also mentions the huge respect he has for directors like David Fincher, who use previs to better communicate their vision to those around him.

Direct download: CGGarage_Podcast171_ColinGreen.mp3
Category:Movies -- posted at: 10:59am PDT

If you’ve played any AAA videogame in the last few years, chances are you’ve seen Allegorithmic’s tech in action. Headed up by Sebastien Deguy, the company’s Substance Painter and Substance Designer help artists create and fine-tune realistic textures which aren’t repetitive or obviously procedurally generated.

In this podcast, recorded at the Vertex conference in London, Sebastien tells Chris how a single mistake lead to the founding of this fast-growing and innovative company, which is branching out into visual effects and architecture. He also talks about the little tricks Allegorithmic uses behind the scenes, the future of the software, and even how we can understand the universe through mathematics.

Direct download: CGGarage_Podcast170_SebastienDeguy_Allegorithmic.mp3
Category:CGI -- posted at: 8:56pm PDT

Rob Redman is a man of many skills: motion graphics and 3D art, guitar and amp building, “The Cinema 4D Guy” on social media. In his current role he edits 3D World magazine, and helped conceive and organize the Vertex CGI event in London — which is where Chris delivered a keynote speech and recorded this podcast.

In this chat, Rob talks about how he and his team have created a unique and all-inclusive gathering for London’s well-storied visual effects industry. He also discusses his role at 3D World magazine, the challenges of translating 3D workflows to a 2D page, and its relationship with social media, its online presence CreativeBloq, and its sister title 3D Artist.

Direct download: CGGarage_Podcast169_RobRedman_Vertex2018.mp3
Category:CGI -- posted at: 6:57pm PDT

This week’s podcast is another THU two-parter, recorded with Unity’s Josh Naylor and Angus Mackay, and Oculus Medium’s Brian Sharp.

As an evangelist for Unity, Josh has one of the best jobs in the world. He travels to global conferences and high-tech organizations — including NASA — to discuss the benefits of the Unity engine. In his three years at the company, he’s seen Unity evolve from a game development platform to a tool for research, entertainment and training, and he talks about how its ease of use, versatility and low cost have helped it build a passionate community of users.

One of the fruits of Unity’s success is VR modeling tool Oculus Medium. As its engineer and director Brian Sharp explains in part two, Medium was prototyped on Unity’s VR platform. Brian and Unity product marketing manager Angus Mackay discuss how they’re building a platform which feels familiar to artists, as well as the Inception-like conundrum of creating engines within engines, and the future of rasterization and ray tracing.

Direct download: CGGarage_Podcast168_JoshNaylor_BrianSharp_AgnusMckay_THU2017.mp3
Category:CGI -- posted at: 8:02pm PDT

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