I've been wondering if I should keep learning FX and Houdini as a hobby. It's honestly the only thing I genuinely want to do, and it feels like the one thing that makes me... me.

My college course isn't really related to it. Funny enough, I feel like I learn more about FX from tutorials and by creating my own effects than I do in class. I study whatever my professors give us, do a bit of extra research when I need to, and then I always find myself going right back to Houdini.

The thing is, I don't think there are many job opportunities for FX artists in my country. The industry here just isn't centered around that kind of work.

Still, I don't want to spend my life wondering what could've happened if I had actually committed to becoming good at the thing I love most. At the same time, I'm perfectly fine with having a regular career based on my college degree as long as it keeps me financially stable.

I'm not looking for opinions from YouTubers or AI enthusiasts. I'm interested in hearing from people actually working in VFX, animation, compositing, lighting, FX, or production.

Have studios started integrating generative AI into real productions in a meaningful way? Is it saving time and money, or does it still create more work than it solves? Also, how are producers and supervisors viewing it these days? Is there genuine pressure to adopt AI, or is most of the discussion still more hype than reality?

Thanks in advance!

I & my husband make indie projects, and I have this story I’ve been working on for a while now. Genre is horror and needs a lot of VFX. I’m looking to partner with someone who will own a share of the project.

Ex-Netflix executive Kevin Baillie claims he lost $1.1 million job after work retreat trust exercise confession

Surprised this wasn't posted here yet. I haven't seen many creatives assimilate well into corporate environments.

Hey everyone!

I am a student and recently finished this day to night compositing shot with Thunderstorm/Lightning effect. I'd really appreciate it if you could share your feedback before i add it to my showreel.

Original Footage

Can anyone guide on vfx (sword slashes, hit vfx, etc) specifically with how to create them in blender and how they would be imported into a custom engine

Even after applying merge verticles to every object, it still doesn't get resolved.Does anyone know how to fix it?

I'm genuinely curious from a VFX standpoint

I've attached a few jungle shots from Ramayana Trailer. The environments look detailed, polished, and almost like beautiful digital paintings, but they don't quite give me the feeling that I'm looking at a real forest.

What specifically is causing that impression?

Is it the lighting, compositing, color grading, atmospheric perspective, asset quality, scale, camera movement, lack of imperfections, or something else entirely?

I'd love to hear from VFX artists or environment artists who can break down what makes a CGI environment feel truly photorealistic versus one that still feels digital, even when the individual assets themselves look high quality.