Over his 30-year career, Julian Levi has produced VFX for Hollywood movies, beginning with Braveheart, moving into O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Day After Tomorrow (with Chris), Speed Racer, X-Men: First Class, Prometheus, and many more. Most recently, he helped director Gareth Edwards bring the world of The Creator to life, earning four VES awards and a VFX Oscar nomination in the process.

Julian talks about how The Creator marks a return to the guerilla-style sci-fi Gareth pioneered with his debut, Monsters, utilizing cheaper cameras and preferring real-world locales over sets. Julian reveals how Gareth’s background as a VFX artist also means that he understands where corners can be cut while delivering awe-inspiring shots, and he shares his thoughts on how the industry is changing. 

Archviz artists love Chaos Corona. This renderer has become a go-to for visualizing everything from compact kitchens to sky-scraping towers, giving users stunning results straight out of the box. But what’s on the horizon for this popular renderer?

In this podcast, Product Manager Tom Grimes discusses what makes Chaos Corona a popular choice for the architecture industry and how its philosophy differs from other renderers such as V-Ray. He also talks about the software’s future and plans to make it an integral part of the Chaos ecosphere, as well as how it’s getting real-time functionality via Chaos Vantage.

Tram Le-Jones has an eye for detail, a people-centric personality, and a passion for computer science — making her perfect for VFX production roles. After getting a job on The Matrix Revolutions via craigslist (no, really), she became a sought-after coordinator and then moved into producing VFX for movies including Spider-Man 3, Tower Heist, and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, as well as commercials, moving from west to east coast and back again along the way.

Having served on the front line of VFX, Tram has taken her expertise into project management software for media and entertainment, starting with Autodesk’s Shotgrid and moving to Backlight’s ftrack. Tram talks through her fascinating career, from lugging huge CRTs around Digital Domain’s office, to working with Spike Jonze on his short film “I’m Here,” to the challenges of integrating cutting-edge virtual production technology into traditional VFX pipelines.

VFX visualization might just be the closest you can get to being a film director without stepping behind the camera. This technology has become a key part of the VFX process, with previz storyboarding growing into pitchviz (to get movies greenlit), techviz (to figure out logistics), and postviz (to create temporary VFX). It’s an area Casey Pyke has become an expert in via his role at Halon Entertainment, which has helped visualize movies including The Batman, Pinnochio, Argylle, and John Wick: Chapter 4.

Casey breaks down how the technology required for visualization differs from that for VFX — speed is of the essence, but looking good is increasingly important. He also talks about how his background as an amateur filmmaker helped him understand what directors want and the satisfaction of recognising his work on the big screen. Casey concludes with his experiences using LED walls and AI tools in visualization pipelines.