Hi RTVFX!
My name is Andrew Lyons, I am a VFX Artist and Tech Artist for a mobile games studio called N3twork. Previously I worked on a number of projects for Kiz Studios in Charleston, SC where I live.
I focused on Lighting while studying Visual Effects at Savannah College of Art & Design, but I have been in game dev since I graduated, and VFX for the past 5+ years.
I’m really loving this site and I hope to be a part of it.
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Hello Everyone!
Coming from a strong 3D background, I have been looking to expand into the VFX world and development. REAL-TIME VFX was recommended to me from my previous Art Lead. He told me this would be a great place to gain knowledge and to share.
Thanks for letting me be a part of the VFX community!
Frank
(aka Moffafa)
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My name is Chase and i am a student self-teaching myself FX. I have been learning using Houdini and have been attending gamejams recently. I would like to learn more about realtime FX using either Houdini or Maya.
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Hi everyone!
I am Jhong-Yi Zeng(Ryan Zeng) a senior VFX artist in Taiwan.
I`ve been in the game industry over 10 years.
In the past few year working for VR game within Unity.
The effect in VR is a new challenge and great fun for me.
In addition to VFX, I am also doing trailer with after effect and premiere. High interested in movie, game and animation.
It always bring me a lot of idea for visual effect.
I am proud of be part of the great forum and appreciate for every talent`s work and share.
Cheers!! Friends around the world.
Here is some my work in youtube.
Reel 2017
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Hi everyone!
My name is Juliusz Bieńkowski and I’m just beginning my adventure in VFX. I have been working as a modeler and asset manager for almost 4 years now in a few places, most recently 3D4Medical, which is far away from what you guys do here, but for some time it was my goal to make real time VFX and so I am finally ready to re specialize myself and learn to become a VFX Artist. And that’s why I’ve finally decided to join this community! I have been following a lot of artists, most notably Jason Keyser (@Keyserito) who is my mentor but doesn’t know about it yet and Sirhaian (@Sirhaian) to name just a few. Without you guys it would be impossible to get into this world on my own!
Here are some of the exercises I’ve done and recorded from various artists and tutorials to get a feel of a lot of different styles and software. I would like to make mostly stylised VFX like in Blizzard games or League of Legends, but I want to be able to do other styles as well.
https://vimeo.com/user26172790
You can also find here some fanart VFX for Gwent by CDProject RED which I prepared to show during Promised Land Art Festival in Łódź and they really like them 
I will also be participating in the Riot Creative Contest 2017 in VFX category (like probably most of people here) and as I have means to focus on my VFX progress entirely for next few weeks I want to make the most out of it, so I’m planning to make 3 entries in those three months. We’ll see how it goes!
Thanks for reading this and it’s really good to finally join you guys!
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So… I’ve actually already posted once before in this thread.
It’s a quick silly introduction off from GDC '17. I was not ready at the time to give a full detail of why I’m here, and my story in getting here. That said, there is far too much detail to give a true full version. You’ll probably have to buy “that book I’m working on” for that. 
So here is the abridged version. Yes really.
Halo. To think, I was never going to play this game. Then Halo PC, and while in a multiplayer match, I found out about “Mods”. Through happenstance at the same time, I got my hands on Photoshop, and the next thing I knew I was able to mod Halo PC. After making all sorts of mods, and finding my self apathetic at making the same stuff again and again, I decided I wanted to mod something that had yet to be modded. No one had modded effects, so I figured I would give it a shot. After extensive trail and error, I made a mod that altered and improved the effects of Halo 1 by altering both the texture cards and values. When it was all said and done I was amazed. Flabbergasted on how making simple tweaks in a speed of a particle or adding a little spin can change how things feel. It truly did feel like a whole new game, and nothing else I ever did, sans an unreleased A.I Mod, came close to the sheer game play impact. Yet, I had done nothing to the game play, just how it looked. “This is the COOLEST thing ever ever ever”, I exclaimed. Yet, getting a job in this, or really any other job in games was at the time a forbidden dream. Absolutely a forbidden dream. I’m not smart enough, nor artistically skilled enough. That’s a fancy way of saying I can’t math nor art, so a real one two punch.
That said, this Photoshop thing was… just the 2nd coolest thing ever. I wanted to get better at Photoshop. So I read a book on Photoshop, cover to cover. I find I enjoy using this program greatly. I understand it well enough, and enjoy using it so much, that I feel I can get a job that uses it and excel at said job. So I go and get my AA in Graphic Arts. In the process of doing this, and choices made, I learn the entire Adobe Suite sans Flash. In retrospect, this is a bummer considering where I’m posting this, but at the time HTML5 was THE brand new thing and it didn’t make sense to learn something that was to be dying out. I didn’t know. The sheer possibility of getting a VFX job wasn’t even on my radar. In my mind the immediate goal was to be a Graphic Designer, or at least a Designer of some sort.
I then go for my BFA in Graphic Arts, and after two or so years in this action, provenance made a play. Just like some sort of “Liquid Luck” I asked the right questions, to the right people, at the right time, right when it would matter the most. Next thing I know, suddenly, * poof *… I’m in that trade school I found out about by happenstance in Secondary/High-school. The one that teaches VFX for Movies. How in the world did I get here? I have now crossed the door labeled impossible, and I was looking forward to learning programs like Nuke & Realflow, though sadly I never did. I did learn Maya from a guy who LITERATELY, I mean LITERATELY, wrote the book on Maya, so that was rather boss. If I can become the living encyclopedia in VFX, as this man was in Maya, I’ve probably “made it”.
Just as I was changing my goals to work for either Blur or Blizzard for CGI VFX, another opportunity presented it’s self. A few months in at this school, the Dean, who I had told my Halo story to, set me aside and mentioned to me that they were testing out a Videogame Program. They needed guinea pigs to test out the program the school made. It would reset me into the Videogame Program, and the fee would be waved. Basically put, it was more education, for “free”. Seeing this as getting me ever closer to that impossible dream, I said yes. After all, if I had joined the school at any other time, I would have missed this. I was going to learn from industry veterans ( mostly from Terminal Reality ), and do this Hands on! I couldn’t pass that up.
Unfortunately, as would be realized in the guinea pig phase, Realtime VFX has abit more nuance then Movie VFX. It would have added far more time then the school was willing to put into the course. In the guinea pig phase it was decided to focus on the Environment/Object portion of the video game professions and create Generalists for the Videogame Program. So I learned everything I ever wanted to know, or could learn about making video games… except effects. * SIGH * 
. A real bummer, but it’s not all bad through.
In the process of my time there, I also learned 3dsMax, which is my current go to modeling wise, as well as Modo, Unreal 4, Unity 4, Perforce, Scrum, Agile … all sorts of programs, skills, and workflows. What it should be like (and shouldn’t be like) in a well functioning game studio. As unfortunate as it was that I learned everything but the one reason I went to the school in the first place, the numerous experiences I gained, the things that I learned that you can’t learn from a video or a book are priceless. It may be a little strong for me to say this, but honestly if I wanted a job in anywhere else in the creative industries, I would have it right now. I already have those skills and know how. Yet, after coming so close but so far…
I want it, dam it! 
I want to be a Realtime VFX artist. So that is my task here. To absorb so much knowledge, ask many more questions, ask many more questions after that, try to not be obnoxious with my brains unyielding hunger, make a kick-ass demo reel, and get-that-job-in Realtime VFX !
Ok! And it’s as simple as that. That’s the abridged version! 
Yet, I also want to throw out one more thing. I had found this place September '16, but there was no reason to sign up, as I had no computer. I mean I did, but… take my word on it, I didn’t. If it was anything else holding me back, I would have problem solved up a solution. Yet for this, well… no computer tends to be a rather absolute stopper. A real showstopper, if you will. As such, coming to this site, or any thing else VFX based, was just a painful painful reminder of what I wanted to do, but couldn’t. Having said that, I would like to deeply thank Christina Wun of Riot Games for her suggestion of looking into older styles of drawn FX. I burned many a post-it note due to your suggestion, and while I didn’t make anything I feel worth showing right now, it was at the very least a valuable learning experience. Thank you again.
…and now you know, the rest of the story.
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You bet Matt Radford, I am still ongoing showcasing your work with the cebas.com Insights Interview link.
So much to do and so little time. Your realtimevfx.com has been pre-approved for the cebas Visual Technology Inc. pro site to embed any of cebas created /curated videos and we will also be releasing the video interviews there. Talk again
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Hey guys,
I’m Tom from Eleven Eleven, working with AAA studios around the world on various art positions but with a focus on realtime VFX. Most of the projects I am working on are realistic UE4 (or a similar engine) games and that’s the type of FX Artist that these studios are looking for. I’ve actually helped a couple of the guys here (like Chris Judkins) find new opportunities!
I mainly deal with mid-lead level roles (at least 3 years AAA experience for a mid-level), but I do occasionally have junior roles.
If you’re looking for something new right now or in the future feel free to get in touch.
Thanks,
Tom
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Hey all !
My name’s Maxime, and I’m currently a student living in France, who aspires to become a VFX artist. I discovered my passion for VFX last year, it’s such a fantastic universe to play with ! I learned a lot from the great tutorials made by Sirhaian and several others, thank you guys for these videos 
Even if I like all VFX styles, I’m particularly attracted by the well-timed/animated and dynamic ones, it’s something very important for me. I’m very inspired by oriental VFX art, with websites like CGwell, I find their work extremely precise and rigorous. Beside that, I actually enjoy realistic VFX too, so, I don’t know in which style I could specialize myself right now.
If you want to take a look at my portfolio, here is the link : https://www.artstation.com/spyro
Thanks for creating this awesome community !
Max
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Hey everybody.
My names Devin Spencer, I’m currently a student at the school known as Ful Sail University whos trying his darnest to become a VFX artist. I first got inspired by VFX from a little old game series known as Devil May Cry, where its powerful visuals made me go nuts as a kid, especially the 4th edition of the series. But that was what simply got me interested in doing VFX, I’ve always been a huge fan of how things happen within games, how explosions are created or how fireflies float around in the forests. Its just something that’s always interested me, make my eyes sparkle with a bit of wonder ya know?
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Hello everyone, been lurking a while and just surfacing.
My name is Sebastian (28), but some call me ‘Hati’. I’m from Germany and part of a small gamedev team on the adventure of founding a gamedev studio ( Yes quite insane ) and would describe myself more of a Tech Artist currently. Part time I also teach game programming.
My way into VFX… I really don’t know where it started, like if there was a “that moment”. Probably all that spell effects in Secret of Mana / Secret of Evermore / Seiken Densetsu 3 and in general melee combat effects in early Monster Hunters like proper bleeding on characters and procedural animations.
After failing my first studies in computer science, I restarted studying a year later computer science again.
Did lots of computer graphics stuff like shader programming, rendering engine programming for personal fun, render optimization work here and there (for applications aside from games), procedural generation, particle/fluid simulations/gpgpu programming.
In my last years during bachelor I started focusing more on workflow and drifted more into a Tool Programming direction from there I would say. So I started focusing more on workflow for gamedev as a programmer in general, working on utility and empowering the designers in our team drifting more and more into Tech Artist territory.
I used Unity for ~3 years, mainly as for small augmented reality applications and location based storytelling applications. And still use it here and there for work. We just switched to Unreal for our current title after some evaluation time (~1,5 year ago).
Our current title is called Paused ( WIP Title - as it is just not that easily searchable with “paused game” ). An action-adventure about time manipulation and telling the fairy tale of an ancient otter civilization possesing the power to slow down time. I mainly do programming and effects here, currently busy working on the combat system as next slice.
We try to have a full vertical slice ready by the mid of the year
( Sorry for german narrator, budget is tight for prototype and we are very lucky to have him )
Aside from that I try to get better in VFX overall by doing studies and small sketches of ideas / learning stuff basically for either Paused like here:
Or just simple experiments with spell effects and getting better at creating bases for VFX.
Also nice to meet everyone 
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Hello All!
I am Jawad currently working as VFX Artist at Fiverr and Upwork. I have been in industry from last 5 years. I use 3Ds Max, After Effects and Adobe Premier. If anyone need VFX Services can reach to me through my following profiles:
https://www.fiverr.com/veajawad
https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~012ed838941b424d1e?viewMode=1
Thanks
Regards
Muhammad Jawad
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Hey everyone,
Found this forum from last year’s GDC (2017). Came back to GDC again this year (2018) and really love this community so I figure I’d better join and contribute!
Received a BFA and MFA in 3D computer animation and music from the Ohio State University. My primary passion is creating real-time visualizations of music. Completely procedural worlds, effects, and fun visuals that can help tell stories and visually portray music in new ways using a game engine for rendering. Previously worked at DreamWorks animation in layout and completed their FX challenge program. Currently building 3D animations and visualizations predominantly using Unity3D, Maya, Realflow, and AE. All of my music visualizations are real-time and generated in Unity. You can check out many of my works on my website or Youtube channel.
http://www.livemusicvisuals.com
Nice to meet everyone and please don’t hesitate ping me!
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Hey all! My name is Cris and I’m here to learn learn learn.
I am just starting my vfx career, I have been a general artist on 4 small game projects while in undergrad. I did everything from directing, concepting, modeling, animating, level design, vfx, and tech art. I graduated with a bachelor’s in studio art and now I’m starting to specialize in vfx! I’m currently digging into Unity (can’t wait for the visual shader to come out!).
For now I’m working on a little game project with some friends but I still have so much to learn and I’m really excited to engage with this community! Y’all are doing some really inspirational work ^U^
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Hey guys!
I’m Rizzo and I’m currently a UI artist at BHG in Baltimore. I started in the game industry about three years ago and ~one year ago discovered my love for VFX and shaders! I’m very into stylized, juicy FX (hatched from an eternal love of Kingdom Hearts, probably) and am so excited to soak up all the knowledge on these forums.
I found this place via GDC 2017 VFX roundtable and have been lurking ever since, so I figured now was as good a time as ever to join.
Currently most familiar with Unity & C#, semi-familiar with HLSL, and pretty new to node-based systems like Houdini, Shaderforge, Amplify, etc.
Please don’t hesitate to ping me! I’d also love to follow you on twitter if you’re on it - I’m @rizzodaly 
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Hey dude! Welcome to the forums! I totally have to reply to this because the love for stylized juicy FX (SPECIALLY KINGDOM HEARTS …must…not…fanboy…)!
Since you do UI, be sure to check our boy Alexander’s post. Some pretty amazing splash screen stuff with scrolling texture with mask setup!!
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Hi!
My name is Emil Christenson and I am a technical artist at a R&D studio under MTG(modern times group, not Magic the gathering ) in Stockholm, Sweden. I got my bachelor degree in game design from Uppsala University in 2017 and I stumbled upon this awesome site and it has really got me inspired to delve deeper into VFX as that is something I am lacking in my current skill set as a TA. Love to be here and I am looking forward to all the discussions and all the feedback I can get from you guys!
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Hello friends.
I’m a 3d animator looking to explore the world of vfx. I just started with UE4/Cascade about a month ago, so there’s a ton to learn! See you around.
Love,
Tyler
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Hi everyone!
I’m Mik and I’m a VFX artist for mobile games at Ludia in Montreal. I’ve been working on VFX in Unity for about a year now after transitioning from Motion Graphics.
Nice to meet you all, I’m eager to be part of your community.
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Hello,
I`m Greg, a VFX Artist that lives in Brazil - Amazon
I work at Black River Studios, a studio inside one of the Samsung`s office.
I was a game programmer graduated in Computer Science and with a Master Degree in Data Science (Image retrieval). But my passion for games a skills with illustration dragged me to VFX after I got my first job as Game Programmer (Took me a year to learn 3D and shaders before becoming a VFX Artist).
Ive been posting around some Effects from the game Zelda BotW, that Im recreating for studies. So if youve seen those, its me here o/
I also worked on the game Conflict0 - Shattered for GearVr.
It`s really nice to meet so many good FX Artists here 
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