• BONUS Jasmine Katatikarn -Illuminating a Career in 3d Animation

    In this bonus episode of CG Talks, Marco is joined by Jasmine Katatikarn, co-founder of the Academy of Animated Art. Jasmine shares insights from her over 20 years of experience as a senior lighting artist at studios like Blue Sky. They discuss the nuances of 3D lighting, including shaping, directing the viewer's eye, and creating mood. Jasmine provides perspective on lighting for different scenarios like feature animation vs VFX. She also gives advice for lighting dark and overcast environments.

    The conversation covers her work founding the Academy of Animated Art to fill education gaps and help students achieve industry jobs quicker. Jasmine talks about the Academy's mission to increase diversity by making animation accessible to younger generations.

    Additional topics include: leveraging AI as a creative tool, being a lighting generalist with specialization, and expanding opportunities for CG artists outside entertainment. Jasmine offers thoughtful commentary on the state of the industry. Overall, an insightful look at CG lighting and education from a veteran artist's viewpoint.

    46m | Sep 28, 2023
  • #11 Gleb Alexandrov and Aidy Burrows - All I want for Christmas is Blender ! 2/2

    This is a very special episode of CG Talks (the podcast where CG guys talk about Computer Graphics) as we have two guests : Gleb Alexandrov and Aidy Burrows who run a Blender tutorials platform creativeshrimp.com together. (It is the second part of a 2-part episode)


    This time we let ourselves loose on being Blender nerds and talked about the Blender Conference 2022 experience in Amsterdam (where we got a chance to meet in person after the long pandemic break). Aidy, Gleb and DJ share their impressions of the event and how Blender’s awesome community is wonderfully growing.

    What is color ? How to be an artist in the face of modern technology and A.I. ? Is it possible to reach Hollywood quality with a home PC ? What does music have in common with CGI ? Those are just a few of many questions that we touch in this friendly conversation.

    We end the podcast with some heartfelt Christmas wishes from Gleb accompanied by a soothing guitar strum.

    We wish you a Shrimpy Christmas and a Creative New Year !


    Happy listening and happy rendering !

    GarageFarm.NET/CG Talks team

    42m | Dec 21, 2022
  • #11 Gleb Alexandrov and Aidy Burrows - The secret creative life of shrimps 1/2

    This is a very special episode of CG Talks (the podcast where CG guys talk about Computer Graphics) as we have two guests : Gleb Alexandrov and Aidy Burrows who run a Blender tutorials platform creativeshrimp.com together. (It is the first part of a 2-part episode)

    We open the conversation by getting to know a bit more about shrimps and their creative abilities, how Gleb met Aidy and how they both started their adventure with CGI and Blender. We get to know (or come up with new versions of it) the backstory behind the CreativeShrimp name.

    DJ asks the Shrimps about the secret formula of their collaboration, how they manage to run a business on-line being located in Poland and the United Kingdom.

    Gleb and Aidy recently launched their new lighting course, and we discuss the success of it. Whether you are a Blender user or not you’ll find a lot of great knowledge and observations in Gleb and Aidy’s approach to lighting. After all without light there is no vision and no image. Talking about the great supportive community around creativeshrimp.com we take a break in the conversation only to jump back to the Blender community and general nerdiness in the next episode (to be released soon !)

    Stay tuned and share the podcast with your CG friends


    Happy Listening!

    GarageFarm.NET/CG Talks team

    44m | Dec 16, 2022
  • #10 Kay John Yim - Effective CG artist's toolbox 2/2

    This episode of CG Talks (the podcast where CG guys talk about Computer Graphics) is the second part of our conversation with Kay John Yim - a London based architect who also creates inspiring personal CGI fantasy artworks.

    Kay John’s main tool of choice is Cinema 4d but he has used a lot of 3d tools throughout his career (including Houdini,Rhino,IClone and many more). We talk about the softwares and workflows he uses to create the stunning and very detailed architecture environments in his artworks as well as tools he uses to create his characters. We touch the topic of AI tools that cause so much hope and controversy in the digital art community. John creates a lot of animated artworks so we talk about using render farm services (such as our service) and his experiences with it.


    You can find some of John's work here: https://johnyim.com/

    And follow him on social media:

    https://twitter.com/k_johnyim

    https://www.youtube.com/c/jyjohnyim

    https://www.instagram.com/k_johnyim/


    Join us in another interesting conversation about CG (and don’t forget to subscribe and share it with your friends)!

    Happy Listening!

    GarageFarm.NET/CG Talks team

    31m | Dec 8, 2022
  • #10 Kay John Yim - Architect’s romance with CGI art 1/2

    In this episode of CG Talks (the podcast where CG guys talk about Computer Graphics) we are privileged and excited to talk with Kay John Yim - an architect by day and CG artist by night as he describes himself.

    This is the first part of our interview with Kay John Yim, the second one (where we talk about the tools John uses to create his art) will be released very soon.

    Kay John started his career in Hong Kong but now is working in London. For a few years now he’s been developing his personal 3d art using all the tools he learned in his architectural practice. His renders and animations feature fantasy characters in stunning architectural locations with a lot of detail and sophistication.

    You can find some of John's work here: https://johnyim.com/

    And follow him on social media:

    https://twitter.com/k_johnyim

    https://www.youtube.com/c/jyjohnyim

    https://www.instagram.com/k_johnyim/



    DJ and John talk about the inspiration behind these artworks (including Wes Anderson and Roger Deakins), using online challenges as an opportunity to grow as an artist. We discuss finding an audience and recognition as a 3d artist in social media as well as the NFT hype bubble and many more!

    Fasten your seatbelts and join us in another interesting conversation about 3d art !


    Happy Listening!

    GarageFarm.NET/CG Talks team

    29m | Nov 30, 2022
  • #9 Grant Osborne - 3D artist growing through challenges 2/2

    This episode of CG Talks (The podcast where CG guys talk about CG) is the second part of a conversation with Grant Osborne - Melbourne (Australia) based 3d generalist and motion designer. 

    This time we discuss the latest on line 3d challenge run by the famous Clinton Jones aka. Pwnisher (however you spell it ?) called ‘Moving Meditations’. Both Grant and DJ have participated in the challenge and submitted their animations. Grant shares the ups and downs of working on his submission. Despite not qualifying for any rewards, the fun, learning and creative engagement in such challenges are a great opportunity to grow as a 3d artist. Grant has also participated in many other 3d challenges such as 36 days of type (check out his instagram to see his very inspiring and playful creations : https://www.instagram.com/itsgrantosborne/?hl=en

    We talk about trying new things vs sticking to your comfort zone and many other cool topics like AI taking our jobs or just the tedious and boring tasks :). Listen, be inspired and keep rendering. (If you want more interesting interviews with GC industry guests make sure to subscribe and share the podcast with your friends ! )


    CG Talks / GarageFarm.NET team !

    34m | Oct 19, 2022
  • #9 Grant Osborne - The 4th dimension of design 1/2

    This episode of CG Talks (The podcast where CG guys talk about CG) is the first part of a conversation with Grant Osborne - Melbourne (Australia) based 3d generalist, motion designer. DJ and Grant talk about getting into 3D and Grant’s experiences with design softwares including After Effects, Cinema 4D and Houdini. Grant shares his passion and struggles with hard parts of design and learning it. We also venture a bit into the world of sound design and how it supplements the visuals. Listen to the episode and get inspired to find your inner spark (or mojo). Stay tuned for the second part of the interview in which we talk about personal 3d projects and on-line challenges (and especially the latest Pwnisher’s challenge - Moving Meditations) as an opportunity to grow.

    30m | Oct 5, 2022
  • #8 Federico Biancullo - Jack of all trades master of The Big Picture 3/3

    Hello and welcome to CG Talks (the podcast where CG Guys talk about computer graphics)


    This is the third and last part of the interview with Federico Biancullo - Archviz artist, founder and creative director of The Big Picture - an archviz studio based in Bologna Italy. Federico is also a blogger and a podcaster - host of the “There’s something about archviz” podcast.

    There’s a popular saying “Jack of all trades, master of none” - Federico defies that statement with his widespread interests and various experiences. Being specialized in a narrow field can give you unique expertise and advantage over the so-called ‘generalist’ however staying open to learning new things and having multiple skills under your belt can be very beneficial as well. In fact, Federico’s impression of the archviz industry is that most of the smaller to medium-sized companies are very interested in having 3d generalists instead of specialized one-taskers. That may not be the case for big companies and studio powerhouses which tend to have stricter pipelines and compartmentalized structures. The flexibility of generalists is very valuable in a changing, dynamic reality of a small archviz studio. We also talk about using skills from outside of professional life which may prove priceless in the most unexpected moments.

    The archviz business is changing. New technologies and opportunities arise and we need to be really agile to adapt. We hope that the open-minded and flexible approach of Federico will give you some inspiration to experiment and forge your own unique path in the ever changing world of computer graphics.


    Listen and enjoy !

    And as always : ‘Happy rendering’ from GarageFarm.NET / CG Talks team

    26m | Aug 16, 2022
  • #8 Federico Biancullo - What's the (selling) point of archviz ? 2/3

    This is the second part of CG Talks (the podcast where CG Guys talk about computer graphics) conversation with Federico Biancullo - Archviz artist, founder and creative director of The Big Picture - an archviz studio based in Bologna Italy. Federico is also a blogger and a podcaster - host of “There’s something about archviz” podcast.


    In the first part we discussed the issue of mental health in the archviz industry.

    This time we dig into the core of what archviz is really about as an industry. Federico talks about his approach to clients and that it is not just beautiful images that they expect. Is there a link between insurance companies and architectural visualizers ? Find out yourself by listening to our conversation.


    Listen and enjoy !

    And as always : ‘Happy rendering’ from GarageFarm.NET / CG Talks team

    21m | Aug 12, 2022
  • #8 Federico Biancullo - About mental health and hygiene in archviz 1/3

    This is the first part of CG Talks' (the podcast where CG Guys talk about computer graphics) conversation with Federico Biancullo - Archviz artist, founder, and creative director of The Big Picture - an archviz studio based in Bologna Italy. Federico is also a blogger and a podcaster - host of the “There’s something about archviz” podcast.

    We kick off the conversation with an ever-up-to-date but even more relevant now (in the post-pandemic time) topic of mental health in the archviz industry. Federico has been advocating for that on his podcast and finds this a quite important issue especially due to the type of people that work in those kinds of jobs. We discuss some of our experiences regarding remote work and the lockdowns. In the course of the conversation, we even digress into the looming threat (or opportunity) of artificial intelligence taking over the jobs of artists. 

    You’ll definitely find some healthy tips inside this part of CG Talks that we hope will lift your spirit.

    Stay tuned for the next parts of this episode with Federico, where we will talk about selling points in archviz and dealing with multiple challenges as a 3d generalist.


    Listen and enjoy!

    And as always : ‘Happy rendering’ from GarageFarm.NET / CG Talks team



    38m | Aug 8, 2022
  • #7 Lucian Raicovitan - The road to the CGI industry powerhouse 1/1

    This time Marco had an opportunity to talk with a very special guest, Lucian Racovitan - an Architect turned Archviz artist who has plied his architectural chops for at least a decade in different places across the globe - Japan, Abu Dhabi, Copenhagen before he shifted to 3D visualization full-time. He is the founder of Bucharest Studio, and he and his team have been behind some absolutely stunning archviz renders! We're glad to have sat with him for a closer look into the life of Lucian as it relates to his work with Bucharest Studio, his perspective as a visualization artist, and his experience with us at GarageFarm.NET. Take a seat and listen to this great conversation about Lucian's experience path!

    53m | Jun 28, 2022
  • #6 Zacharias Reinhardt - Small steps make big success 3/3

    This time we had an opportunity to talk with Zacharias Reinhardt - a 3d Artist, tutor, YouTuber, entrepreneur and founder of CG Boost, an educational platform for 3d artists that want to boost their Blender 3d skills. If you are a 3d artist and haven’t heard of Zach yet, you probably might have stumbled upon online competitions/challenges such as weeklycgchallenge.com or SculptJanuary - Zach is the person behind these events.


    Becoming an entrepreneur and running his own tutorial business was not planned by Zacharias from the beginning. It rather happened gradually through many twists and turns. Before he got to know that both doing 3d art and teaching are his superpowers, Zach tried freelancing, working in a TV company, and running a YouTube channel. We talk a bit about how parents sometimes view a 3d artist's career as something not stable or serious - luckily, this was not the case with Zach, whose parents were very supportive and believed he’ll find the right way. This ability to test himself in many fields and learn from experiences finally resulted in understanding what he really wanted to focus on and gave him confidence and courage to start CG Boost.

    Zach gives us some insight into how he organizes his work - these are some powerful tips you can use too! He developed those skills throughout many years of testing what works for him. Everyone (even successful people that you think are way ahead of you) starts small and grows from there. Zach’s approach is to start with something simple and build upon that rather than struggling for something perfect. Improvement comes with time.

    We also talked about how to deal with less pleasant parts of work. Zach shares how he divides those into smaller, less painful doses, and when possible he uses the great power of delegating tasks to people he trusts. This approach steadily improved his work/life balance quality so now Zach can truly enjoy a vacation without constantly worrying about the business matters.


    If you doubt that following your gut feeling and earning money with free and open-source software is possible - listen to this episode and Zach’s case will prove it surely is. Zach’s business model also shows it is possible to do what you’re best at and run a successful company with the right people on board.

    37m | Jun 5, 2022
  • #6 Zacharias Reinhardt - The quest for the tutorial's Holy Grail 2/3

    This time we had an opportunity to talk with Zacharias Reinhardt - a 3d Artist, tutor, YouTuber, entrepreneur and founder of CG Boost, an educational platform for 3d artists that want to boost their Blender 3d skills. If you are a 3d artist and haven’t heard of Zach yet, you probably might have stumbled upon online competitions/challenges such as weeklycgchallenge.com or SculptJanuary - Zach is the person behind these events.


    We take a dive this time into the nitty-gritty of tutorial-making art. This topic is close to both Zach’s and DJ's hearts so the conversation goes deep into the subject - neither even if you’ve ever attempted making a tutorial nor plan to do it, you surely have watched both good and bad tutorials, you should listen to this convo and get some benefits from it. We try to define what makes a great one and what can destroy (or harm) the learning experience of the viewer.


    We asked Zach to recall his first tutorial and reflect on all that he has learned through the years that made him one of the most successful Blender tutors around. We also discuss the inspiration coming from other tutorial makers in the community. It turns out that both DJ and Zach are huge fans of Ian Hubert’s one-minute ‘Lazy tutorials’ which are perhaps more useful for more advanced users who gladly skim through most tutorials just looking for that one nugget tip that answers a specific 3d workflow problem. However, these might be more on the entertainment side (which is of course great) Zach likes to make sure that his tutorials are extensive and easy to understand and follow - even (or perhaps especially) for beginners. He regards his Blender Launchpad course as the best he has done so far and considers it to be a great extension and thorough introduction to Blender for everyone who may have stumbled upon Andrew Price’s ‘The Donut tutorial’ and is hungry for some more in-depth training. Zach does not consider this competition, but rather a symbiosis of all the Blender tutorial creators who cater to all possible flavors and tastes of various community members. After all, 3d artists are one big family and we never stop learning.


    Zach also gives us a glimpse of some future plans he has for CG Boost which include reviving the CG Boost challenge that got on hold for a short period of time.

    24m | Jun 3, 2022
  • #6 Zacharias Reinhardt - 3D as a career boosting hobby 1/3

    This time we had an opportunity to talk with Zacharias Reinhardt - a 3d Artist, tutor, YouTuber, entrepreneur and founder of CG Boost, an educational platform for 3d artists that want to boost their Blender 3d skills. If you are a 3d artist and haven’t heard of Zach yet, you probably might have stumbled upon online competitions/challenges such as weeklycgchallenge.com or SculptJanuary - Zach is the person behind these events.


    Zacharias describes his 3d adventure since his early high school years when he started doing fun VFX shots for homemade Sci-fi short films he made with his older brother, one of these turned out not so short - it was an hour-long! Back then he first stumbled upon Blender which he later replaced with Cinema 4d. Once Zach started to get into more serious paid 3d jobs, he was again allured to Blender due to it being free and open source and it seemed to allow for similar functionality as C4D. Zach says he never regretted that choice. His Blender adventure soon led him to create some YouTube tutorials which had some success. This encouraged him to create educational videos he then sold on DVDs - does anyone still remember those ancient times?! All of this along with impressive artistic skill growth over the years resulted in a quite bold and highly successful launch of CG Boost which encompasses all of Zach’s endeavors.

    22m | Jun 1, 2022
  • #5 Lucas Bazyluk - A runner's quick guide to better management 3/3

    This time, DJ talked with Lucas Bazyluk - Director of Operations at GarageFarm.NET. In this convo, we went a bit outside professional life and the CGI Industry to talk about running (and it is not running scripts or animating run-cycles). Lucas has been a runner for quite a few years and he was able to achieve his dream goal of successfully running a marathon! It might have taken him a bit longer than he expected but the lessons he learned through it were sure worth the additional effort!


    Though running may seem irrelevant to the daily life of a 3d artist (or at least some of them), there is more you can learn from Lucas' passion than you might think. It comes down to setting goals and meeting them in time. Lucas shares his observations on how we usually overestimate our abilities in the short term while we tend to underestimate them in the long run. Little daily habits and routines when practiced regularly until they come to us as naturally as breathing can not only make our lives easier and more orderly but also become a foundation for long-term success and efficiency.

    26m | May 23, 2022
  • #5 Lucas Bazyluk - Enter the CGI dragon or how I got involved in cloud rendering 2/3

    This time, DJ talked with Lucas Bazyluk - Director of Operations at GarageFarm.NET. What does translation have to do with render farms and 3d CGI? It might not be obvious at first glance however you never know what skills might get you where in your professional career. This was the case for Lucas, who was approaching the new opportunity with an open and curious mind.


    Now after working in the 3d industry for over 9 years he shares with us his insights from the perspective of an outsider who has now become an insider. Where is the CGI industry heading? Are offline renderers doomed to extinction? We hope you can get some new thoughts on these and other related topics from listening to this podcast episode.

    18m | May 20, 2022
  • #5 Lucas Bazyluk - An unexpected journey to the world of web design 1/3

    This time, DJ talked with Lucas Bazyluk - Director of Operations at GarageFarm.NET about his unexpected journey into the world of web design. It is an inspiring story of how a practical need paired with curiosity and problem solving enabled Lucas to successfully contribute to GF’s success.

    Lucas wouldn’t have imagined himself designing websites before he joined GarageFarm around 2013. He was involved in a totally different market segment and focused more on managerial tasks. In fact, he got employed as a translator at first because of his excellent knowledge of Korean, Polish, and English (a rather niche combination). The adventure with designing websites and apps began soon after that as Lucas spotted the need to improve the existing rather raw solutions that were used in those early days of the company. Quite soon these small improvements of UI (simple graphic and icon layouts) have sucked Lucas into design thinking. He shares with us what (and how) he learned along the way. Is this unexpected career twist going to lead Lucas to redesign Starcraft’s UI (Lucas’ favorite RTS game)? We shall learn that in time. As for now, enjoy listening to this inspiring story of digging into the design from scratch.

    21m | May 18, 2022
  • #4 Fabio Palvelli - Do your thing and don't be afraid to fail 2/2

    DJ is proud and happy to interview Fabio Palvelli - a 3D artist, business consultant, and YouTuber, Founder of the famous D2 Conference (first for archviz and now for all digital artists). Fabio is also known for his positive attitude (especially towards dogs, pizza, and Nutella but life in general too) and he became one of the early adopters in the emerging NFT digital art scene.


    In this part, we focus on Fabio’s art and his personal goals and experiences. Fabio talks about his love of color and his spark to create art for joy. Fabio tells us about his everyday render challenge (similar to Beeple’s) that he does to stay creative and inspired (regardless of external approval). The conversation revolves around what drives Fabio’s creativity and what he loves the most about art. We share some inspirations from the modern and contemporary art world including Kazimir Malevich, Peter Tarka ( https://petertarka.com/ ), and Harry Pack ( https://www.harrypackart.com/ ).

    Fabio has always been a community man (just to mention his D2 conference roots) so he is open to collaborations. DJ asks him about the collabs he already did and he would wish (or dream) for the future.

    We also touch upon his shift from using Cinema 4d to Blender. Fabio shares what he loves about the new software and mentions what he misses from C4D (particularly the mograph)

    33m | Apr 30, 2022
  • #4 Fabio Palvelli - Digital art's future or the biggest scam of the century? 1/2

    DJ is proud and happy to interview Fabio Palvelli - a 3D artist, business consultant, and YouTuber, Founder of the famous D2 Conference (first for archviz and now for all digital artists). Fabio is also known for his positive attitude (especially towards dogs, pizza, and Nutella but life in general too) and he became one of the early adopters in the emerging NFT digital art scene.


    The NFT stands for Non Fungible Tokens and it undoubtedly was the most controversial three letters of the last year. We dive with Fabio into the pros and cons of the whole NFT hype. He openly talks about his own experience of being skeptical at first, then enthusiastically jumps into the gold rush to finally land a positive but balanced point of view. In a friendly mood DJ and Fabio try to dismantle strange acronyms like GM or WAGMI. Fabio also talks about making money in the NFT space (or losing it) and how capricious it actually is.


    Are NFT-s the future of digital art or is it nothing more than a scam? Will there be more and more Beeple-s or is that just a seasonal trend that will pass like a summer storm?

    40m | Apr 28, 2022
  • #3 Brian Kouhi - Bender vs Maya as animation industry deathmatch 4/4

    This time our special guest is Bian Kouhi - Toronto-based animator with impressive experience working on big titles like “Paw Patrol” and “Maya and the Three”, founder of 3d Animation Hub YT channel, where he publishes tutorials and all animation related stuff - https://www.youtube.com/c/BrianKouhi


    Brian is an entrepreneur who has recently launched an animation course/mentoring platform https://www.toanimate.ca/ which aims to jumpstart people's animation careers using Blender. This interview hosted by DJ is divided into four parts covering different topics from starting a career in animation, through learning the skills and software to running a tutoring business.


    In the fourth and last part of this interview, we dive into the ever-hot topic of 3d software comparisons. Maya is the long-time leader and Blender is the underdog claiming to replace the king now or in the future. Battle for the crown of ‘the industry standard’ always heats up internet comment sections of the CGI community and Brian Kouhi has a very unique position to take part in the discussion (or flamewar it is ?). He has been using both Maya and Blender in high-end animation, so when he talks about it, he speaks from the perspective of real industry experience. Fasten your seatbelts and get ready for the animation software deathmatch of the year!


    Among many things we talked about in the interview are:

    - Where Blender shines and where it still lacks

    - The grease pencil and its potential for stylized animation

    - ‘Maya and the Three’ production (and a little insight on Tangent Animation shutdown)

    - How should Blender be fixed (in the eyes of an animator)

    - Animation for film vs animation for video games

    20m | Apr 25, 2022
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