The VFX Process

In this episode we sit down with David Stapp, Cinematics Director at Form Studios and host of Virtual Production Insider, to break down his career journey and the creation of his latest Unreal Engine cinematic inspired by the Battlefield universe.

With over a decade of experience across film, VFX, post-production, cinematography, and virtual production, David shares how his background in traditional filmmaking directly informs his work creating real-time cinematics for video games.

We dive deep into the making of “Conquest,” a Battlefield-inspired Unreal Engine fan film developed as a full R&D project for Form Studios. The goal? To test and refine an end-to-end game cinematics pipeline that Form can now offer as a service.

What we cover in this episode:

✅ David Stapp’s career path from film to game cinematics
✅ Unreal Engine workflows for real-time cinematics
✅ Building a Battlefield fan film that stays true to the source material
✅ Using motion capture for realism in game cinematics
✅ Traditional vs markerless mocap solutions
✅ Virtual production pipelines
✅ How R&D projects help studios expand creative services

In this in-depth podcast interview, we sit down with Aaron Blaise, a legendary animator with 38 years of experience, known for his work at Disney Animation Studios during the golden era of the 1990s. Aaron shares incredible stories from animating Disney classics like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and directing Brother Bear.

Aaron opens up about his life-changing journey after the devastating loss of his wife in 2007, a moment that led him to leave Disney and rebuild his career from the ground up. He founded Creature Art Teacher (The Art of Aaron Blaise), an online education platform dedicated to teaching drawing, animation, and traditional animation techniques to artists around the world.

We dive deep into the creation of SNOW BEAR - A Hand-Drawn Animated Short Film. Created digitally while using classic traditional animation methods, the making of Snow Bear was fully documented across Aaron’s YouTube channel and website, building anticipation for the film, which has just been shortlisted for Best Animated Short at the upcoming Academy Awards.

Inspired by grief, healing, and finding love again, Snow Bear tells the touching story of a lonely polar bear searching for companionship, making it both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

In this conversation, we discuss:

✅ Aaron Blaise’s career at Disney Animation in the 1990s
✅ Working on iconic animated films like The Lion King and Aladdin
✅ Leaving Disney and starting Creature Art Teacher
✅ The emotional story behind Snow Bear
✅ How to create an animated short film from scratch
✅ Using traditional animation techniques in a digital workflow
✅ Art, loss, resilience, and finding purpose again

Whether you’re an animator, artist, Disney fan, or storyteller, this episode is packed with inspiration, practical insights, and honest reflection from one of the industry’s most respected figures.

🎬 Video Podcast:
🎬 Watch Snow Bear: https://youtu.be/xOXolSQcEb4?si=9LTK7XS0g4DfE97o
🌐 Official Snow Bear Film Website: https://snowbearshort.com/
🎨 Aaron Blaise’s Website / Creature Art Teacher: https://creatureartteacher.com/
🐻‍❄️ Polar Bears International: https://polarbearsinternational.org/

In this interview, writer, director, and self-taught animator Denver Jackson shares the incredible journey behind creating not one, but two solo animated feature films — Esluna: The Crown of Babylon and The Worlds Divide. From teaching himself 2D animation, to battling carpal tunnel and back issues, to reinventing his workflow in Blender 3D, Denver breaks down exactly how he built these full-length, anime-inspired films with a tiny team and massive determination.

We dive deep into his creative process — how he writes, how he animates, how he stays motivated, and what it really takes to make a solo filmmaking dream a reality.

If you're passionate about animation, indie filmmaking, anime films, or the idea of creating your own solo animated feature film, this conversation is packed with insight, inspiration, and practical advice.

➡️ The workflow behind creating two full animated features
➡️ Building worlds and characters as a solo filmmaker
➡️ Staying motivated through long-term creative projects
➡️ Advice for aspiring animators and indie creators
➡️ How combining 2D & 3D with Blender saved him

VIDEO PODCAST
DENVER JACKSON

We chat with UK-based illustrator Luke Preece, who started his career as a graphic designer, moved into video game GUI work, and eventually found his true calling — illustration. In this interview, Luke takes us on a creative journey from designing for games to producing iconic artwork and posters for some of the world’s biggest rock and metal bands, including Metallica, Blink-182, Pantera and Foo Fighters — and even the final “Back to the Beginning” show of Black Sabbath.

He’s also created art for major video games, movies and skate brands, including Gears of War, Alien Earth, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and the legendary skate label Santa Cruz Skateboards.

This episode is a little different from our usual deep dives into VFX, animation and storytelling — but we had to make it happen. We’ve been long-time fans of Luke’s work, and it’s simply too good not to share. In this special edition of the show, we explore his incredible career journey and creative process.

https://www.lukepreece.com/

VIDEO PODCAST

In this episode, we talk with Magnus Møller, animator, 3D artist, and creative director of Tumblehead Animation Studio — an award-winning production company based in Viborg, Denmark, which he runs with his partner Peter Smith.

Magnus shares how he built Tumblehead from the ground up and what it takes to run a successful animation studio. He offers practical advice on getting clients, maintaining creative freedom, and why he believes making original short films under your studio’s name is more effective than any showreel — helping attract the kind of projects and collaborators you actually want.

The conversation also explores Tumblehead’s short film “Turbulence,” created with Christopher Rutledge in collaboration with SideFX to test the new Houdini animation tools. Known mainly for its VFX power, Houdini has rarely been used for character animation — until now. Magnus explains how the team built a custom Houdini animation pipeline, executed the film from start to finish inside the software, and ultimately switched their entire studio pipeline to Houdini. As he puts it, “having every department in the same software feels like living in the future.”

➡️ How to start and grow a creative animation studio
➡️ Why short films can replace traditional showreels
➡️ Insights into Tumblehead’s Houdini pipeline
➡️ Behind the scenes of the short film “Turbulence”

Watch - TURBULENCE
Watch - VIDEO PODCAST
Connect -TUMBLEHEAD