Questions

When you push images as far as we do you find out we're all the demons live. You know the secrets.

You also see a lot of mistakes being made. Now I'd like to be clear. Most of what I do is fixing mistakes to help tell a story. In the world we work in you very rarely get perfection. Let's not create problems for ourselves.

DOP's if you have a questions ask. We have on set supervisors who would love to answer your questions. Problem solving as two is always better than one. Crew members we are not in competition with you.

There is a flip side to that coin. As visual effects professionals we have to be approachable. Their not dumb because they need to ask. Be there when needed and answer their questions as accurately as you can.

Tired

I haven't written anything in a long time. I have been kinda down on visual effects.

I'm tired of being worried about my job. I'm tired of being worried how I will be screwed over next. I'm tired of hearing about how the visual effects business is hard and the only way is to pass that along to the people lower down. I'm tired of really good artists not being paid. I'm tired of hearing that this business can't turn a profit.

It's been 5 months since the world almost found out about all the dirty laundry that the visual effects industry has kept in the closet. From where I stand nothing has changed.

If your a business owner you should have thought of that before you jumped in. It's not my fault you didn't know. I don't care that there is language that maybe states that you don't have to pay overtime. You know how I know because California says so. I cannot agree to different terms. The only way I know of of giving up your California labor rights is to sign some paper work. I have never signed anything that says you don't have to pay me overtime.

It's not our(artists) problem. If your business is suffering its not because of the artists. You not turning a profit is your problem as the owner of the company. Soon there will be change all we have to do is follow the rules and do the right thing. This will work. We don't need a binding agreement to do the right thing. The world has shown that doing the right thing spreads fast. It's the smaller shops that will go first. Then the larger ones will follow. It just takes longer to turn a bigger ship.

Fight for your business. Don't let them push you around. They called you because you can do something they can't.

Where and When

Michael B. Johnson:

The thing about Pixar is that they know when to give notes and when not to.

How many times have you walked out of a review only to be given notes just because someone had to have something to say.

I have written about this before. Notes, it separates the men from the boys. It's the men that take notes and make there work better. It's the boys that get all butt hurt and storm off. But here's the flip side to that coin. Defend yourself. If there is a reason for what you did explain why. Don't just sit there and say go ok.

Shots are bid, but know body knows till your trying to key a wet great green screen, rain and lots of atmospherics. The QuickTime compression helped hide, well all of it.

You hide all kinds if things in the madness because that's what's required. Make sure it fits the scene. That means AB it. Compare color, and density. Ask yourself all the questions. Most of all review your renders. I have watched to many artists have render errors ruin a review.

Just because you can fool the eye doesn't mean you should do it badly. Remember everyone knows there is a problem, most just don't know why.

Getting Ready

Completely inspired by recent events. No child is the same. Half of the stuff you get before your child is born will not be great or your kid will hate it. Maybe you will too.

Nothing can prepare you for having a baby. At least your first. In fact you do a whole bunch of other stuff to keep yourself from thinking about it. You paint you clean. You shop. Cribs, and strollers, car seats and bottles. None of that can prepare you for who your child is.

When your child is born your thoughts will change. While you enjoy that wonderful cup of coffee in the morning when you should be still asleep, your thoughts will be different. Not only the thoughts but why those thoughts are there.

We want to bring meaningful life skills that help our kids progress in life. Not just in the moment.

A few things that I learned while being a new father.

• Get a washer and dyer that can handle running 24/7 for 6 months. You have to be prepared for constant laundry. Not 2 loads a day but 4 or 5. Shopping for a washer and dryer and waiting for it to come, all while caring for a infant and a new mother. Not a good combo.

• Get a dishwasher that can run 24/7 for 6 months. This falls into the same category as the cloths washer and dryer just its a separate appliance so I made different items. You will be doing a huge amount of dishes. Some that need to be washed in very hot water.

• Get a car seat that you can take your new infant into the house, or store without extracting the kid from the seat and placing him into another stroller, or crib at home. This means your kid can nap while you cruise around doing errands without waking him/her up. This is huge.

• Remember to keep something the same. Pick something that you do everyday. Something simple. I'm not talking about the gym or going to a baseball game. No, I'm talking about showering times, making coffee. Reading a favorite columist or author. This will make you feel normal for those minutes. Trust me you are going to need it.

• Don't forget about your wife. While its hard to forget about her, you will find that most things will start to have to do with the baby,not just your wife. Find those things that you can keep up and make her feel special too. She is working her ass off, she deserves it.

• Get a pair of head phones, and some kind of moblie audio player. I like the in-ear kind if you can stand them. That way you can have one earbud in one ear and be listening to the room with the other. I found listening to soft music, audio book or Podcast while helping a sleep deprived baby or folding laundry a great tool.

• After about a week with the baby find sometime to sit down with your wife and figure out who is good at what. Meaning if you make a better faster breakfast, you make breakfast not your wife. This is not a time for wasted strokes.

• Have fun and laugh. My wife and I have had really good times, cleaning taking care of Kamden. Some extremely funny moments that only my wife and I have witnessed.

Mark Freund told me as I was walking out the door for maturity leave.

Michael, get ready for the real magic.

He was so right.

Pressing

I have been in a funk that I couldn't get out of. Lucky for me I have a group of friends and co-workers that give a shit. It started with with a project that I just couldn't get a final on. I had to ask for help.

Nothing was tracking, or keying. My edges sucked and I was making mistakes in my setup.

I was pressing.

I have written about this before. Most of my job is to make as many mistakes as I can in the shortest amount of time. I wasn't making mistakes then correcting them, they were staying mistakes. That's not how I work. Mistakes are fine it's how you learn from them.

The hardest thing is to put your work out there are hope it meets the standard. By taking that risk you learn.

It's a good day when you learn something.

Hypercritical: The Case for a True Mac Pro Successor →

John Siracusa:

What almost no one expects is another straightforward revision of the existing Mac Pro, a gargantuan tower-style computer built with server-grade CPUs and RAM that pushes the limits of computing performance. Very few people want that kind of computer these days, and even fewer people actually need one.

Linux is looking better and better.

Attention

Why are visual effects so expensive?

I'll tell you why.

Time.

Time cost money.

My time isn't a democracy. I control it. I get to decide who gets my attention. Hollywood wants our attention. They have had it for a very long time. It's where all the stories are.

Concept artists get to think up and visualize worlds that you have never seen. Pre-vis artists add motion and depth. 3d artists take 2d and give it sides. Texture artists make it dirty and real. Compositors take all the images and make them one. Coordinators watch over the artists. The IT folks keeps all of this running. Vfx producers provide foundation. Last but not least the visual effects supervisor. They keep all of us honest. They make sure our work is good. They are looking in the corners when your looking in the middle. They live in A and B.

That's a lot of people's time. Yeah, visual effects cost money.

Those Who Don't Matter

Bernard Baruch:

Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.

This seems like a good quote to discribe the current state of afairs in the world that is visual effects. I haven't been able to really put in words what I think about all of this. Some of it is out of our hands. But I think this quote really sums it up. The studios don't mind if we go under they will just find someone else. The artists and the owners of vfx houses do mind.

Solver

We are not going to solve this writing 500 words. We are not going to solve this bitching 140 characters at a time. We are only going to solve this if we get off our asses and solve it.

If you want a raise ask for one. If you feel your being taken advantage of change it. You are in control. No union or blog will help you. There is no job security anywhere.

Risk.

There is a new risk in everything. If that was a problem I wouldn't get out of bed. Common guys.

10

The pro theory.

10,000 hours.

10,000 at bats, passes or pitches. I currently have 2500 with Nuke.

I wonder how many I had with Shake. Maybe I should lighten up.

Being a master of your tools takes time.