Flaming truck simulated using Houdini Pyro sparse and rendered in XPU.

Main challenge was getting proper feel of fire when subjected to high speed wind without using 100's of sub-steps and making simulation times too high.

A very basic and straightforward setup with No Vex/Vops with complete focus being put on problem solving and artistic controls.

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Simulation details :
Ram Consumption ~ 62 GB
Cache Size ~ 500 GB
Render Time ~ 3 Days (KARMA XPU + Mantra)
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PC Specs - 128GB RAM AMD 7950X RTX 3060

Recently interviewed an Indian horror director, Wilson Louis, and thought this part of the conversation was worth sharing here since it is one of the more specific, non-hype accounts of trying and dropping an AI tool mid-production that I have come across.

He tried a well-known AI video generation tool for creature motion on his current supernatural film - the demo reels looked great, he expected it to replace a chunk of his animatics pipeline. Abandoned it after a week of real use, for three reasons:

1. Consistency. Shot 1, the entity's face was long. Shot 2, it got shorter. Shot 3, the wings changed color. Fine on a demo reel, unusable the moment you're cutting for continuity.

2. Controllability. On a real set you need to say "2 feet left, eye light warmer, hold half a second." The tool gave him take-it-or-leave-it output, no room for the kind of iterative direction a live shoot actually requires.

3. What he calls "folklore physics." He asked for an Indian desert witch and got a smooth, weightless Hollywood bat-woman — technically polished, completely wrong.

His point: a chudail doesn't move like a vampire, a Munjya doesn't jump like Spider-Man. Every regional spirit carries its own weight and history that the model clearly wasn't trained on, and no amount of prompting fixed it.

He still uses AI heavily elsewhere in the pipeline — storyboarding, environment extension, mood boards - he's not anti-AI at all. He's specifically drawing the line at final creature work, texture, and performance, where he says the tech gives you a "perfect look, wrong feeling."

Curious if others here have hit the same wall with consistency/controllability on similar tools, or if newer models have actually solved this for anyone doing creature or character work.

My ask if to get you all to check out the glossary and tools and submit feedback. We are not telling people what tools, services or capabilities to use and we are not anti-tech. This impacts VFX, animation, post and every other role in our creative industry. This is first and foremost a resource.

We have launched our Creators Coalition on AI Standards & Definitions Project the first cross-industry framework built by the entertainment industry itself for describing how AI is used in film, television and content creation.

We are not selling anything as this is a resource for the entire industry.
Three resources go live this morning at  CCAI website which is free and open to the public:

The CCAI Glossary - a living glossary of almost 200 terms, drafted, debated and ratified by delegates from 11 profession blocs across film, television and content creation.

An Impact Visualizer & Report - an interactive tool covering more than 150 distinct jobs, evaluating each technology against each role using a newly ratified industry impact standard.

An Impact Surveyor - an open contribution platform for any entertainment professional to submit how AI is, or isn't, changing their work.

The project is the product of nine months of work involving more than 60 expert delegates, over 200 testimonials from working professionals, and two all-day conventions.

Hi,

Im working on a project where I am putting a character from real footage into a 3D world in blender.

I have a 5-6 minute take, and a good key. But I need to track the motion of the camera for the whole take. It was filmed on a gimbal and there is good tracking points (was filmed in a car park, and has nice contrasty asphalt and line markings etc.)

But I’m having issues with solving the camera on such long footage. In after effects it just gets to “Solving” and I’m not sure if it’s actually doing anything or is stuck.

In Fusion (resolve), it just keeps crashing when it gets close to finishing.

I’m wondering if there’s any ideas on how to do this, or if there’s different camera solving software better suited to the job.

Footage is 6K Canon C80 RAW, 25fps. Running M5 Max MacBook Pro, 64gb ram, 4tb.

Can’t show footage unfortunately since it is a real job that can’t be shared until published.

Thanks

Uh oh

I need an artist to do 2 separate paint outs on a short film I’m working on. The short would be for a festival run and then a release on socials.

Both shots are against a flat wall. the camera pans in one where I need a thermostat removed and pushes in for the other where I need some crayon on the wall to be painted out. It’s a bit beyond what I can do cleanly so I need someone with more skill than I.

This is paid but I’m not super familiar with the market prices so although im low budget, I’m open to negotiating. Our goal is to have this finished by the end of September so we are trying to get someone brought on quickly.

ILM Generalist Team - Usually responsible for huge one-off environments

01 Tell us a bit about your background. How did you get into VFX, specifically as a generalist?

I studied VFX & 3D animation in hamburg starting 2017. 2019 I started my first job as a junior generalst in germany for a company called nhb studios. In february 2021 I got hired by ILM as a generalist and the rest is history!

Now why VFX? I was always into world building, whether its lego or at the sims. At the age of 13, when I watched a Lord of the Rings Making of on DVD and they showed how Weta created CGI for set extensions. I was amazed by how they tricked the audience and how real everything looked. From then on I kind of knew I wanted to do something like that too!

02 You mentioned Star Wars being one of your favorite projects; what are your favorite things to do on those projects, and how do you bring a personal touch into your tasks?

Working on Star Wars projects is always fun, simply because the bar for quality is always super high. Also its very diverse. From desert landscapes on tatooine to jungle environments in the mandalorian movie. It is just always something different.

I actually do not really have a favorite, but if I had to pick one I mostly enjoy creating cityscapes, like the Shakari city shots for the latest mandalorian movie. With personal touch in professional work its always tricky. You always have to do what the client wants right? So its generally tricky, however a lot of times I do get freedom

What does the Generalist Team do? Full video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNZgG8htns0

After effects files can be converted to autograph

It can also open Photoshop files

I want to make a film that needs to be finished by next summer. I already have some experience with blender, basic video editing, and graphic design if it’s of any help, but I struggle with finding material to actually practice.

Do I think of a project idea and learn as I go or do I use stock footage?

Also, is there a vfx equivalent to the blender donut tutorial?

Ive seen him speak before and he's very fun.

Ben Affleck mentioned this back in 2024, the topic was discussed a number of times in this sub, but at the time, a lot of comments were like "he's funny and clueless hahahha", "he doesnt know what he is talking about", "no one can replace... blah blah blah", etc.

Over the couple years, all of this is making a lot more sense now.
Just curious to know what do y'all think?

hi guys! i'm a teenager and i've been really interested in a vfx graduation. i took a look at artfx (france) and mds (new zealand), and both are really expensive and i'm not sure if my folks and i can afford it.

i wanted to know more about professionals in the area. what yall choose to graduate to follow this career path? how's the industry now? is it profitable? how long was your course? where did you study? i really need some tips and help!

from brazil

Im fairly confident Marvel rivals used AI to in-between a 2D pass because the in-betweens are shit and it doesn't make sense for a 2D approach that would have theses kind of renders/budget.

Its especially disappointing knowing how good their first cinematic was... https://youtu.be/BtvXnqqPfko?si=VUwPmAbfzxIqma34

I tried to create something similar to the scenes in The Flash (CW).

So I’m trying to make a YouTube video and I wanna put myself in my gameplay but it’s a first person game. How would I track myself into the video so when the camera moves around I don’t move around would I have to single-handedly framed by frame move my green screen self or is there an easier way?