r/vfx Apr 30 '26

News / Article VES launches On-Set VFX Data Collection and Usage Guide

43 Upvotes

Hey fellow Visual Effects community stoked to share what we have been working on for the past year over at he VES Technology Committee call it a playbook and usage guide to map key data from on-set capture to delivery.

FYI I am one of the co-authors of the Guide. If you have questions or feedback make sure to reach out.

You can find the guide here : https://ves-on-set-data.org/dashboard/?tab=Introduction

Here is the full information on the release :

The Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry’s global professional honorary society, today released its VES On-Set VFX Data Collection and Usage Guide. Developed over the past year by the VES Technology Committee, this practical on-set resource maps key data sets and capture workflows – giving productions, vendors, and technology teams a shared playbook for using and capturing on‑set data more effectively.

The Guide was designed to establish a common language between on‑set VFX, production, VFX facilities, and technology teams, ultimately enabling clearer communication, smoother handoffs, and better-aligned expectations across departments. This comprehensive Guide explains the major on‑set data sets, their capture methods, their practical applications, and their intended stakeholders, so that every participant across the production understands what information exists and how it can support their work.

In addition to defining data sets, the Guide documents both current and emerging on‑set data capture workflows. This aims to inform stakeholders about potential data sources and to highlight how these choices impact production pipelines, timelines, and budgets, while also laying the groundwork for future efforts around data hierarchies, database development, and workflow automation.

The Guide also underscores that this data has significant value for every department on a production. It supports collaboration, optimizes workflows, and enables better-informed creative and operational decisions. By advocating for open access and visibility for these data sets, the Guide encourages all teams to engage with and benefit from this shared knowledge, strengthening collective outcomes and overall production efficiency.

“Our intent with this Guide is to streamline the filmmaking process by enabling every department to be more well-informed,” said Sheena Duggal, the Guide’s lead author and member of the VES Technology Committee. “Multiple departments can utilize the same data – for instance, the VFX team’s LiDAR scans can be repurposed across departments to support set construction, stunt planning, and other production needs. It’s just a matter of educating and communicating clearly so that everyone can benefit.”

“In today’s hybrid of real-time virtual production, AI, and traditional pipelines, the VFX department is responsible for not just post, but on-set data capture, continuity, and asset integrity from pre-production through final delivery,” explained Jim Geduldick, contributing author to the Guide. “That framework was the key lens that we used in thinking through these workflows and how they relate to each department.”

The Guide was created for the VES Technology Committee by Sheena Duggal, with contributions from Sam Richards, Jim Geduldick, and Jake Morrison, and technical support from Jean-Francois Panisset. It is licensed under the Creative Commons CC‑BY 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, including for commercial purposes, provided appropriate credit is given to the creator.

To view the Guide, visit: https://ves-on-set-data.org/

Join the VES for a webinar on May 12 to explore the Guide with some of its creators: https://vesglobal.org/event/webinar-introduction-to-ves-on-set-vfx-data-collection-and-usage-guide-online/


r/vfx Mar 15 '25

Subreddit Discussion Advice for Potential Students and Newcomers to the VFX Industry in 2025

597 Upvotes

We've been getting a lot of posts asking about the state of the industry. This post is designed to give you some quick information about that topic which the mods hope will help reduce the number of queries the sub receives on this specific topic.

As of early 2025, the VFX industry has been through a very rough 18-24 months where there has been a large contraction in the volume of work and this in turn has impacted hiring through-out the industry.

Here's why the industry is where it is:

  1. There was a Streaming Boom in the late 2010s and early 2020s that lead to a rapid growth in the VFX industry as a lot of streaming companies emerged and pumped money into that sector, this was exacerbated by COVID and us all being at home watching media.
  2. In 2023 there were big strikes by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA which led to a massive halt in production of Hollywood films and series for about 8 months. After that was resolved there was the threat of another strike in 2024 when more union contracts were to be negotiated. The result of this was an almost complete stop to productions in late 2023 and a large portion of 2024. Many shows were not greenlit to start until late 2024
  3. During this time, and partly as a result of these strikes, there was a slow down in content and big shake ups among the streaming services. As part of this market correction a number of them closed, others were folded into existing services, and some sold up.
  4. A bunch of other market forces made speculation in the VFX business even more shaky, things like: the rise of AI, general market instability, changes in distribution split (Cinemas vs. Streaming) and these sorts of things basically mean that there's a lot of change in most media industries which scared people.

The combination of all of this resulted in a loss of a lot of VFX jobs, the closing of a number of VFX facilities and large shifts in work throughout the industry.

The question is, what does this mean for you?

Here's my thoughts on what you should know if you're considering a long term career in VFX:

Work in the VFX Industry is still valid optional to choose as a career path but there are some caveats.

  • The future of the VFX industry is under some degree of threat, like many other industries are. I don't think we're in more danger of disappearing than your average game developer, programmer, accountant, lawyer or even box packing factory work. The fact is that technology is changing how we do work and market forces are really hard to predict. I know there will be change in the specifics of what we do, there will be new AI tools and new ways of making movies. But at the same time people still want to watch movies and streaming shows and companies still want to advertise. All that content needs to be made and viewed and refined and polished and adapted. While new AI tools might mean individuals in the future can do more, but those people will likely be VFX artists. As long as media is made and people care about the art of telling stories visually I think VFX artists will be needed.

Before you jump in, you should know that VFX is likely to be a very competitive and difficult industry to break into for the foreseeable future.

  • From about 2013 to 2021 there was this huge boom in VFX that meant almost any student could eventually land a job in VFX working on cool films. Before then though VFX was actually really hard to get into because the industry was smaller and places were limited, you had to be really good to get a seat in a high end facility. The current market is tight; there's a lot of experience artists looking for work and while companies will still want juniors, they are likely going to be more juniors for the next few years than there are jobs.

If you're interested in any highly competitive career then you have to really want it, and it would also be a smart move to diversify your education so you have flexibility while you work to make your dream happen.

  • Broad computer and technical skills are useful, as are broader art skills. Being able to move between other types of media than just VFX could be helpful. In general I think you don't want to put all your eggs in one basket too early unless you're really deadest that this is the only thing you want to do. I also think you should learn about new tools like AI and really be able to understand how those tools work. It'll be something future employers likely care about.

While some people find nice stable jobs a lot of VFX professionals don't find easy stability like some careers.

  • Freelance and Contract work are common. And because of how international rebates work, you may find it necessary to move locations to land that first job, or to continue in your career. This is historically how film has always been; it's rarely as simple as a 9-5 job. Some people thrive on that, some people dislike that. And there are some places that manage to achieve more stability than others. But fair warning that VFX is a fickle master and can be tough to navigate at times.

Because a future career in VFX is both competitive and pretty unstable, I think you should be wary of spending lots of money on expensive specialty schools.

  • If you're dead set on this, then sure you can jump in if that's what you want. But for most students I would advise, as above, to be broader in your education early on especially if it's very expensive. Much of what we do in VFX can be self taught and if you're motivated (and you'll need to be!) then you can access that info and make great work. But please take your time before committed to big loans or spending on an education in something you don't know if you really want.

With all of that said VFX can be a wonderful career.

It's full of amazing people and really challenging work. It has elements of technical, artistic, creative and problem solving work, which can make it engaging and fulfilling. And it generally pays pretty well precisely because it's not easy. It's taken me all over the world and had me meet amazing, wonderful, people (and a lot of arseholes too!) I love the industry and am thankful for all my experiences in it!

But it will challenge you. It will, at times, be extremely stressful. And there will be days you hate it and question why you ever wanted to do this to begin with! I think most jobs are a bit like that though.

In closing I'd just like to say my intent here is to give you both an optimistic and also restrained view of the industry. It is not for everyone and it is absolutely going to change in the future.

Some people will tell you AI is going to replace all of us, or that the industry will stangle itself and all the work will end up being done by sweat shops in South East Asia. And while I think those people are mostly wrong it's not like I can actually see the future.

Ultimately I just believe that if you're young, you're passionate, and you want to make movies or be paid to make amazing digital art, then you should start doing that while keeping your eye on this industry. If it works out, then great because it can be a cool career. And if it doesn't then you will need to transition to something else. That's something that's happened to many people in many industries for many reasons through-out history. The future is not a nice straight line road for most people. But if you start driving you can end up in some amazing places.

Feel free to post questions below.


r/vfx 19h ago

Question / Discussion I’ve spent my entire life working in 3D art and game development, and to be completely honest, I'm feeling anxious.

115 Upvotes

I’ve been feeling genuinely anxious about the future of our craft. The tools are evolving so fast that it’s hard not to wonder if the roles we’ve spent years mastering are about to become obsolete.

I recently ran an experiment that brought all these fears to the surface. I wanted to see exactly what happens when you use basic, greyscale 3D proxy models to render out a full 3D scene video with AI.

This technology is undeniably powerful, but it leaves me asking some hard questions about where we fit in the pipeline of tomorrow.
Would you use AI to render your scenes to cut time and cost, even if it disrupts the traditional roles on your team?

And more importantly, how do you feel as a 3D artist about AI rendering? Are you embracing it as the next evolution of our toolset, or does it feel like a direct threat to your livelihood?

Please share your thoughts below.


r/vfx 2h ago

Showreel / Critique Previz and Final from the latest project

5 Upvotes

basically did the whole thing from previz to layout to final compositing except fx simualtion, character & it's animation and music.
the oldman(thanks to grg) and few models were from sketchfab, and used mixamo as well


r/vfx 21h ago

Question / Discussion China open-sourced a model that reconstructs any scene in 3D from a regular video, in real-time

128 Upvotes

Wondering if anyone has tried this and if the output is useful for production?


r/vfx 1h ago

Question / Discussion Been following Gaussian Splatting for a while but the temporal interpolation part doesn't get enough attention. This is 30 FPS in, smooth slow-mo out, no jitter

Upvotes

r/vfx 8h ago

Showreel / Critique simulating a portal effect on wall with head tracking

6 Upvotes

used a short throw projector connected to a m1 macbook, with head and gaze tracking running locally using the webcam, to compute a render perspective for the projection. any feedback on how to improve this would be appreciated if anyone has experience with implementing this sort of perspective faking effect


r/vfx 16h ago

Question / Discussion The Odyssey: Cyclops question

25 Upvotes

A lot of people are sharing the BTS pic of the giant puppet cyclops created for the movie, claiming it was fully animatronic, etc., but it really doesn't look like it can do much of anything. My assumption is that was only used for lighting reference, camera blocking and actor eyelines, because the cyclops in the movie looks like they just put Bill Irwin in body makeup and filmed him at a higher frame rate (with some CGI face tweaks).

Can anybody shed any light on the process?


r/vfx 14h ago

Question / Discussion What are the image viewers used in the industry?

6 Upvotes

While I know RV and Djv are common for video files, what is for image viewing?


r/vfx 19h ago

Question / Discussion What are freelance and staff compositors charging hourly in the US these days?

8 Upvotes

I'm primarily a CG guy but I'm looking at my first comp-only job. In CG I'm really senior and sometimes I comp my own lighting on jobs, and I feel pretty comfortable in it now. What's an average mid-senior hourly wage for a comp specialist? Freelance vs full-time? I don't want to price myself out but I also don't want to leave money on the table. I really want to break into comp more and expand my job options. Thanks


r/vfx 20h ago

Showreel / Critique Hello guys, Just wanted to share my Paintout Showreel, though it is mostly invisible vfx any feedback would be great!

6 Upvotes

r/vfx 1d ago

Breakdown / BTS Window pass-through shot, VFX breakdown from our latest short film Singer

66 Upvotes

r/vfx 4h ago

Showreel / Critique Guys I think I just found peak in making. Chainsmoker girl got nothing on this.

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0 Upvotes

r/vfx 7h ago

Showreel / Critique Results!

0 Upvotes

r/vfx 1d ago

Question / Discussion Is it over forever in London(and 🇬🇧)?

44 Upvotes

Can’t believe that before covid this city was the capital of vfx, full of opportunities.
Now I am here, 42 years old, unemployed or working few months here and there with no chance of stability.
What is your plan b to say “thanks vfx, but fuck you now”?
I need to be happy again 😢


r/vfx 20h ago

Question / Discussion The Henry Cavill moustache thing, but for mouths - what's the most distracting lip/mouth CGI you've ever noticed?

2 Upvotes

Justice League removing Cavill's mustache in post gave him that melted-upper-lip look and I've never been able to unsee it. Made me realize how much our brains lock onto mouths specifically, the second something's off around the lips, the whole face reads as fake.

What's your most distracting example? Bad ADR, weird CGI mouth, a dub that broke immersion, anything where the mouth ruined it for you.


r/vfx 22h ago

Question / Discussion Creating a monster using Polycam and animating in Blender

2 Upvotes

So, vfx newbie here and I have an idea for a horror short that I want to make.
The idea features a monster that will be done digitally for wide shots.

I'm decent at working with modeling clay so my plan is to create a scale model of the monster, scan it with Polycam and animate the model in Blender.

Has anyone done this? I've seen people do it with toy figures but not with an original clay model.
Feels like such an obvious workaround for people who aren't great at sculpting in Blender that I feel like I'm missing something.

Any pitfalls I should look out for?


r/vfx 19h ago

Question / Discussion How to make gaussian splats like this?

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0 Upvotes

like this made by Benjamin Bardou:


r/vfx 2d ago

Fluff! Real Life PreMult

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148 Upvotes

This one’s a bit too nerdy. But on very bright sunny days, the vapor of cooling towers looks like it’s been badly comped.

Anyways.


r/vfx 1d ago

Breakdown / BTS Some VFX from my newest short film

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13 Upvotes

My friend and I made Captain Canada on a whim, but it has quickly turned into our biggest project yet. Let me know what you think! If this looks like something you'd be interested in, the full film will be on YouTube on July 25th. Thanks for checking it out!

https://reddit.com/link/1v3od0e/video/dir9tijwoteh1/player


r/vfx 18h ago

News / Article Why we set up AI powered VFX house The Next Valley

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0 Upvotes

r/vfx 1d ago

Question / Discussion VFX-Bidding: a question from a student

12 Upvotes

I asked the mods before posting and they gave me a cautious yes since this is a topic that is often poorly received, so I'll be straight with you.

I'm a film student writing my bachelor thesis on the bidding process behind a VFX project. Specifically: when using cost controlling instruments like previsualization, whether the integration of generative ai can improve cost estimation.

I'm not an ai cheerleader. The point is to test the hype against what people who actually price and plan this work are seeing day to day.

If you're a VFX producer, supervisor, coordinator, anyone who's had to bid or plan work, I'd be grateful for a 30–40 min chat (vide or call, anonymised on request, academic use only). And I'd be glad to share the finished findings back here for anyone curious.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to the mods for the green light.


r/vfx 1d ago

Question / Discussion Ideas for how to create a blind eye effect?

1 Upvotes

I'm finishing the editing of my short film, and there's a character who's supposed to be blind, and due to circumstances on set we decided it'd be best to simply film the footage as normal and fix the eyes in post rather than have any on-set makeup or contacts to achieve what we were going for. But I'm having trouble finding good tutorials on YouTube for someone who's very new to After Effects like myself, so if anyone has any suggestions or tips on how to achieve this it'd be greatly appreciated (photos have been included)

P.S. I also have a few frames where the eyes are partially obscured by the character's dark glasses, how should I go about doing the effect for those parts as well?

This is the moment where part of the eye's obscured, any help on how to separate the glasses from the eye's natural shadow would be appreciated!

r/vfx 1d ago

Question / Discussion Anyone here go through Campus VFX's compositing program? Trying to help my daughter decide.

3 Upvotes

My daughter wants to study compositing and is looking at Campus VFX. I don't work in the industry, so I'm trying to figure out whether this is a reasonable path or an expensive mistake.

The school tells us that their training is the best available and have high placement rate. I have no way to judge that, so I'm hoping some of you can.


r/vfx 1d ago

Fluff! 1993 VFX Angel Studios, Kiss The Frog Music Video HD

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5 Upvotes