What is the actual role of a university in preparing artists for the VFX industry? Today, we are diving into the reality of VFX and Animation education with Oleg Fryazinov, Associate Professor at Bournemouth University and BFX Festival Director. We tackle the "distorted reality" many students face when they enter school expecting to immediately work for Pixar or Marvel and how institutions need to adapt. If you are trying to figure out your next educational step, this is a mu

In this series, we invite our Python for VFX students on stream for a complete application teardown. We give direct, no-nonsense feedback on their CVs, showreels, cover letters, and social profiles. Learn exactly what VFX, animation and games studios are actually looking for right now, what gets ignored and how injecting technical skills into your portfolio creates opportunities in a difficult market. Today's guest is Roiliz Betancourt (MPC, VFX Lighting & Compositing) from o

Claude AI just released an official Model Context Protocol (MCP) connector for Blender. Is this a genuine time-saver for Technical Directors or another AI gimmick? Let's do a first impression together! In this stream, we’re doing a raw, first-look test. I’ll show you a simple install using the uv package manager (no complex terminal gymnastics required) and then we’ll put Claude to the test with real-world scene manipulation, lighting setups and Python scripting. What we’

Tired of doing the exact same repetitive tasks in Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini, Blender and Nuke? It’s time to let Python do the heavy lifting. In our upcoming April 2026 cohort, I'm teaching you how to use Python to automate your VFX workflows from the ground up. You don't need a computer science degree - you just need the right mentoring. Join our community of artists leveling up their tech stack this spring. Python for Maya Python for 3ds Max Python for Houdini Python for Blende

Pixomondo is officially being closed by its parent company, Sony Pictures Entertainment. While this might not be a huge surprise given the current wave of industry-wide cost reductions and studio consolidations, it is still a heavy blow to the artists and the VFX community. In this video, we break down the business reasons behind why Pixomondo is shutting its doors and most importantly, what this ongoing trend means for your future and career in Visual Effects. Join our stre

The debate about AI in VFX is incredibly loud right now. Amidst all the panic about algorithms and efficiency, one element that actually keeps this industry alive is being completely ignored: Community. Software updates don't mentor junior staff. Render engines don't check in on you during crunch time. A prompt won't bring a team together to solve a pipeline crisis at 2 a.m. People do - and people need a reason to carry on. We often forget that it is the network around us th

Last year I asked myself a serious question: Is Adobe actually still worth paying for in 2026? My use case is incredibly common for most content creators today. Yet, Adobe Premiere has always felt heavy and clunky to me and that friction has only intensified over the years. Jumping in for a “quick edit” felt practically impossible thanks to its cumbersome structure and sluggish load times. Still, for a long time, Premiere gave me a reasonable enough editing experience until

We spend thousands of hours behind a monitor but what happens when you finally step onto a live film set? The dynamic changes instantly. The politics are different. The pressure is physical. Sam Highfield (On Set VFX Supervisor) joins us to share his "war stories" on a Visual Effects set. We aren't just talking technicals but survival. The "Day 1" Shock: What nobody expects when they first walk on set. Studio vs. Set: How to switch your mindset from "artist" to "crew member.

The internal software used in visual effects, animation and games is notorious for its poor design. On this stream, we will examine the Python and Qt interfaces used in production. We will discuss why technical tools often ignore basic user experience (UX), the difference between "engineer art" and good design and how to build scripts that artists will enjoy using. We talk about: F & Z-Pattern Priority Proximity while looking at how bad UI design will costs your studio time,

Transitioning into a technical artist and director role can be challenging. One crucial element most forget is their GitHub profile. GitHub is your coding showreel and opens doors into your future job opportunities. Let's transform our GitHub profile and repositories into portfolios for our next job application.

Feel like you’re learning endless tutorials but not getting anywhere? You might not be a bad artist or technician - you might just be in the wrong role. Many students fail to break into the industry because they are trying to be a Modeler when they think like a Technical Director or they're forcing themselves to code when they should be sculpting. In this live stream, we are going to audit the industry roles in Visual Effects, Animation, and Games to help you find where you a

Which VFX software actually has the best Python API? On this stream, we’re doing a side-by-side code comparison of Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, Houdini, and Nuke. We’ll test them on essential TD tasks like creating nodes, setting attributes and navigating documentation to see which API is truly "Pythonic" and which feels stuck in the past. Finally, we’ll rate each software from 1 to 5 stars and discuss the future of unifying Python standards across the VFX industry. Watch the full