How bad does it look? For a first VFX shot

https://redd.it/1ry9gi0
@vfxbackup

IMPOSSIBLE 3D CAMERA TRACKING

https://redd.it/1rx9k2l
@vfxbackup

Coinbase shoots "all-practical" ad to look like low poly CGI
https://musebyclios.com/musings/the-story-behind-coinbases-amazing-oscar-film-your-way-out/

https://redd.it/1rxbipv
@vfxbackup

Getting back into VFX after 4 years of non-VFX Work

Hi guys!

I am a trained on-set VFX Supervisor and AE & Nuke Artist (stumbled almost a decade ago into it after "just trying a music video" and got hooked). After COVID broke almost everything, I went into IT (System administration and AI Work) and through that went full circle into VFX again. I am just stunned how much has changed in 4 years, it's really difficult to catch up what really happened.

I started again a month ago doing small projects with part-AI (ofc locally generated and meticulously edit so it doesn't look like fucking slop, it's a tool, not a one stop solution) and part real footage (of course putting all the usual work in at a way higher price, thanks subscriptions, I miss my Adobe CS6) and I'm a bit stunned how AI Slop makes Customer's demands... insane.

Got a project from a music studio. For a album presentation, I do my work, send him the final comp for review, he was happy with it.

After days, he messages me and says he showed it to others and he wants something more AI - like going with a bicycle to the moon, standing on the moon and catching the soon to be released CD there.

Aight, can do that, no problem - biting my ass here that I agreed to a flat fee.

Guess who is sitting here working in Maya, Nuke and Nucoda (yeah, don't laugh, I grew up my whole job-life with a film master setup) to make that happen because AI can, by god and a 32GB VRAM Card, not manage to grasp the idea of how a bike should work.

Maybe AI isn't really a threat. Not yet at least, because for good shots you still need a halfway good artist. It's good at taking tedious parts away (looking at you, set-extension and badly lit green screen removal). And people who fully use AI and call it a day weren't our customer base to begin with.

I am definitely trying to go back doing full-time vfx and editing again.

https://redd.it/1ryqtie
@vfxbackup

VFX artists who want to return to their hometown but have no local opportunities — what do you do?

Hi everyone,
I’ve been thinking about a situation that many VFX artists might relate to.
A lot of people in VFX spend their first 4–6 years in metro cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, or Hyderabad — away from their families — just to build their career.
But after some years, priorities start to change:
Want to be closer to family
Don’t want to stay in expensive metro cities forever
Looking for a more stable and balanced life
The problem is:
👉 Most VFX jobs are concentrated in big cities
👉 Smaller cities / hometowns usually have very limited or no opportunities
So it creates a tough situation:
Stay in metro cities for career
vs
Move back home for personal life
I wanted to ask people who have been through this or seen others go through it:
What do artists usually do in this situation?
Is remote work a realistic option in VFX today?
Do people switch to other fields (like real-time, teaching, freelancing)?
Or do most continue staying in metro cities long-term?
I’m not asking from a negative point of view — just trying to understand how people balance career vs personal life in this industry.
Would really appreciate hearing real experiences.

https://redd.it/1rytccv
@vfxbackup

VFX artists in India — let’s share REAL salaries (Fresher to Supervisor)

Hi everyone,
After reading so many mixed opinions about VFX salaries in India, I feel there’s a lot of confusion — especially for beginners trying to understand the real market.
Instead of guessing, why not make this thread useful for everyone?
👉 If you’re comfortable, please share your current salary + experience level in this format:
Experience: (e.g., 0–1 / 2–4 / 5–8 / 10+)
Role: (FX / Lighting / Comp / Crowd / etc.)
Salary (monthly or LPA):
City (optional):
No need to mention company name.
I think this can really help:
Beginners understand the real starting point
Mid-level artists see growth path
Seniors share what’s actually achievable
There’s a lot of talk about “low pay” or “good pay”, but real numbers are rarely shared openly.
Let’s make this thread transparent and helpful for the community.

https://redd.it/1rysvoh
@vfxbackup

Physically-based lens flare tool for Nuke (open source) – feedback welcome

Hi all,

I’ve just open-sourced a lens flare tool I’ve been developing for Nuke, and I’d love to get some feedback from the community:

Repo: [https://github.com/LocalStarlight/flaresim\_nuke](https://github.com/LocalStarlight/flaresim_nuke)
Release: [https://github.com/LocalStarlight/flaresim\_nuke/releases/tag/v1.0.0](https://github.com/LocalStarlight/flaresim_nuke/releases/tag/v1.0.0)
Tutorial: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEsBOQNG16Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEsBOQNG16Y)

# Credits

This project builds directly on the foundational work of **Eamonn Nugent** ([u/space55](https://www.reddit.com/user/space55/)).

His original CPU-based renderer established:

* The core ray-tracing approach
* The optical modelling
* The lens file format

This repo is essentially an adaptation/extension of that work into a Nuke context.

Original project: [https://github.com/space55/blackhole-rt](https://github.com/space55/blackhole-rt)

# What it does

This tool takes a more physically-based approach to lens flares:

* Treats bright pixels in the image as individual light sources
* Generates ghosting and flare elements based on optical behaviour rather than presets
* Produces flares that inherit structure from the source image

One of the more interesting side effects is that flares can actually contain **distorted versions of the source**—which feels much closer to real-world lens behaviour than typical sprite-based approaches.

# Current state

* Early / WIP
* Not especially optimised yet
* But already producing some interesting (and occasionally surprising) results

# Would love feedback on

* Whether this approach feels useful in production
* Performance vs quality tradeoffs
* Features needed for real pipeline use
* Any issues with the underlying approach

If people find it useful, I’d be happy to keep developing it further.

Cheers!

https://redd.it/1ryvhh1
@vfxbackup

Should I put VFX or compositing in my showreel?

I am making a showreel as a beginner filmmaker (I have a BA and an MA but not a ton of experience, been editing like 10 years, making my own stuff for about 6 years) and I am putting my roles in the corner (focusing on my favourite roles editor, director and VFX)

When I say VFX, I mean basic stuff, compositing, keying, rotoscoping, motion tracking, basic grading, keyframing, and other basic effects you can do in Premiere and After Effects.

Should I put my roles as director, editor, VFX, or something else, since I can't do very advanced VFX (I don't have the kit for it)?

Also, my showreel just starts and has music, clips and sometimes audio. I have the project title and my roles top right, and the name and showreel bottom left. At the end, I have my contact details. Should I put my name and roles in big letters at the start/end as well?

https://redd.it/1ryw03f
@vfxbackup

Good luck. Have fun. Don't die.

https://redd.it/1ryvz5o
@vfxbackup

Outpost Alpha - Full Trailer
https://youtu.be/dg3Cbtl00wo

https://redd.it/1rz40dm
@vfxbackup

Which smoke exhale looks most real?

Doing a "smoking candle" trend and trying to make the exhale look 100% real so it actually confuses people.

The smoke variations are labeled in this video: Smoke 1-6

Smoke 1: Final (can't edit).
Smoke 2, 3, 6: Haven't been modified yet. I have full control over turbulence, shading, and speed.
Smoke 2 & 3: Opacity is set high for the screen recording. Lighting: These still need a lighting pass. These are different speed but same. 2 is slower and 3 is faster.
Smoke 2-6 all can be edited further

Looking for feedback on:

1. Which option (1-6) has the most natural physics and "swirl"?
2. Any specific direction on color, shape, or volume to hit 100% realism?
3. Tips on mouth integration so it doesn't look like a digital overlay?
4. What would you change, like, or hate about these?

(High-quality renders coming once completed).

https://redd.it/1rz5a5l
@vfxbackup

how are you guys handling the "can you remove the background from this video" requests from clients

is it just me or has every client on earth suddenly decided they need video background removal? i swear this was a once in a while request and now its like half my inbox



the typical scenario goes like this. client shoots an interview or a talking head in their office. no green screen, no lighting thought, just an iphone on a tripod pointed at someone sitting at their desk with a bookshelf and a dying plant behind them. then they email me asking if i can "just remove the background and put our logo behind them instead." and they need it by tomorrow



last month alone i had:



a real estate agent who wanted his weekly market update videos composited over property photos. he shoots them in his car. IN HIS CAR. he wanted the car interior removed. seven videos a month



a startup that does all hands meetings on zoom and wants their CEO isolated with a transparent background so they can drop him over a branded slide deck for external clips. these come in batches of 4-5 per week



a wedding videographer friend who wanted the couple cut out from a reception clip to put over a different background for the save the date video. moving people, dim lighting, terrible footage



an ecommerce brand that needs product demo videos with transparent backgrounds for their website. the presenter holds up products and talks about them against a white wall



every one of these is a different situation with different footage quality. the real estate guy's car footage is basically impossible. the zoom recordings are easy. the wedding stuff is a nightmare. the product demos are hit or miss depending on how the lighting is



what ive been doing



for the zoom/talking head stuff where the person is mostly still and the background is simple, ive been using online removal tools. Unscreen Pro for the quick turnaround stuff, DaVinci Resolve's Magic Mask when i need more control. honestly for a person sitting at a desk talking these work fine and take like 2 minutes instead of 30 minutes of rotoscoping



for anything with movement or complex backgrounds i still do it properly in Resolve or AE. theres no shortcut for the wedding footage or the guy in his car. those just take time



the part that kills me is pricing these jobs. the easy ones take 5 minutes now but clients dont know that. the hard ones take hours. and clients think they should all cost the same because "its the same thing, just remove the background right?"



what i want to know



how are other freelancers handling this? are you charging per clip regardless of difficulty? do you have a standard rate for bg removal? do you just tell clients no when the footage is garbage?



also for the people who do a lot of these, whats your actual workflow? green screen when possible and tools for the rest? or are you doing everything manually still

https://redd.it/1rz96th
@vfxbackup

Houdini swirl vellum quick process

https://redd.it/1rzm0g2
@vfxbackup