Over the past few years, Gravity Sketch has made its way into the workflows of everyone from individual artists to large corporations, including Ford and HP. This unique software allows designers to intuitively create and perfect their visions in a three-dimensional, virtual space.

Gravity Sketch Co-Founder and CEO Seyi Sosanya talks about how his team used influences from outside computing, such as dance, kitchen design, and London's underground system, to develop the software's accessible-but-minimalist interface. Seyi offers a fascinating insight into what it's like to run a startup company and how users are making use of Gravity Sketch—including lobster-influenced footwear.

No one knows the virtual world like Solomon Rogers. From an academic background, Sol decided to found his own company, REWIND, to specialize in creating immersive and meaningful VR experiences for an impressive array of companies, including HBO, Lyft, Sony, and Microsoft.

In this podcast, Sol tells Chris how VR has evolved over the past decade, explains why we’re yet to see good VR architecture, and goes behind-the-scenes of REWIND’s terrifying in-car VR experience with holoride technology for Universal Pictures. He also talks about how the entertainment industry is catering for digital natives, who prefer esports and zero-gravity concerts in Fortnite to watching movies. It’s a fascinating and authoritative glimpse into the incredible potential of future technology.

Patrick Osborne grew up with a passion for Nintendo, Jurassic Park, and Wavefront—and he got to see behind the scenes of movie merchandising via his dad’s job as head of design at Kenner Toys. After attending the prestigious Ringling College of Art + Design, he joined Sony Imageworks, then Disney, and polished his skills as an animator.

While at Disney, Patrick directed the short film “Feast,” which won an Academy Award, and then moved into directing full-time on the sitcom Imaginary Mary. Patrick talks about the tools he’s used throughout his career, what it’s like to become a Hollywood director, and his favorite part of the filmmaking process. He also gives a sneak peek into his upcoming experiments with real-time, VR, and in-progress shorts for Love, Death & Robots, and Apple.

Hard-hitting documentaries and cutting-edge VFX rarely go together, but for David France’s Welcome to Chechnya, it was necessary to marry the two. The film captures the flight of LGBTQ citizens from the Russian republic of Chechnya, where being gay can lead to beatings and murders. To preserve his subjects’ anonymity while allowing the audience to connect with them emotionally, David turned to VFX expert Ryan Laney to digitally swap faces with willing “donors” from around the world.

Ryan explains how he developed new techniques to replace faces without the limitations of traditional methods such as blurring and pixelation. He also discusses his 20-plus-years in movie VFX, including The Matrix, The Aviator, The Day After Tomorrow, and many more. It’s proof that VFX’s role in filmmaking now extends far beyond Hollywood blockbusters— and it’s had a surprising effect on Ryan’s outlook, too.

Originally hailing from Russia, Dmitry Vinnik's love for CG computer game cutscenes inspired him to learn 3D Studio and study at Vancouver Film School. He’s gone on to work on VFX projects big and small, including Battlestar Galactica, Tron: Legacy, Final Destination 5, and Game of Thrones.

Throughout his career, Dmitry has embraced technology and encouraged studios to use V-Ray—with spectacular results. This podcast serves as a deep dive into the past, present, and future of rendering technology, covering everything from 286s in the mid-90s to the versatile, superpowered hardware that powers today's CGI.