This week Scott Kirvan shares his unique and in-depth understanding of the VFX pipeline, from on-set supervision to rendering the final frame. While working as a VFX programmer at Blur Studio, Scott developed Brazil R/S, the early ray-tracing renderer used on Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Sin City. That’s not all — he also VFX supervised movies including Swordfish and Jeepers Creepers. And he’s started Slaughter County Brewing, a successful craft beer producer.
After a hiatus from the entertainment industry, Scott is now back on-set for I’m a Virgo, the upcoming Amazon TV series from Sorry to Bother You director Boots Riley. Scott reveals how he’s embracing a new suite of tools for VFX production, including real-time engines and virtual production technology, to get talent to believe they’re interacting with a 15-foot-tall teenager.
Links:
4:15 Programming games on a ZX81 and early CG on an Amiga
10:10 Employee #11 at Blur Studio
15:08 Changing the way rendering works
19:44 Being part of the ray tracing revolution
23:40 Is Brazil renderer still alive?
27:48 Starting a brewery
33:12 Getting back into VFX supeing
39:58 The realities of virtual production
45:52 Thoughts on real-time ray tracing
52:31 Communication with creatives
56:22 The joy of being back on set
Chris is a CG industry veteran and Director of Chaos Labs. He can also be heard regularly as the host of the CG Garage podcast which attracts 20,000 weekly listeners. With a background in both VFX and Design, Chris has worked for Gensler, Digital Domain, Imageworks and Method Studios. His credits include Maleficent, Oblivion and Tron: Legacy.