Hello creatives, Ryan wants you to meet Jet Olaño. Jet wears many hats; he works with Unreal Engine Virtual Production Fellowship as an Instructor/Unreal Engine Technical Artist and is the Owner Operator at The Secret Hideout. He helped to instruct Industry Professionals learn a hands-on approach to In Camera Visual Effects (ICVFX) using the Unreal Engine. Also, to teach skill such as: Camera Tracking with Optitrack System, Camera Calibration, Ndisplay Configuration Creation, LED Wall Panel Replacement of ROE Black Pearl panels and Stage Operations. Make sure to learn more about Jet Olaño at the links below. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jet-ola%C3%B1o-6a55709/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejetshow/?hl=en Learn more about Vertex School: https://www.vertexschool.com/ Want to learn skills for creative tech jobs in games, film, XR and the Metaverse? Apply for your spot in our upcoming Game Arts Program here: https://www.vertexschool.com/game-arts-program

Hello Creatives, Ryan wants you to meet Jason Belic. He has known Jason for a really long time. All the way back to when Ryan worked at Pixologic. Ryan is putting the spotlight on Jason, so you can see a whole other dimension to the type of people and jobs in our industry.  Jason is an artist, but he’s worked in development and building technology solutions most of his life. All of this is to get you ready for a class we’re building that will teach Creatives more about coding. Make sure to learn more about Jasonat the links below. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonbelec/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasonbelec Learn more about Vertex School: https://www.vertexschool.com/ Want to learn skills for creative tech jobs in games, film, XR and the Metaverse? Apply for your spot in our upcoming Game Arts Program here: https://www.vertexschool.com/game-arts-program

This week we're bringing you a talk by the amazing Ashley Sparling filled with career advice for those looking to get into the game industry. Ashley is a veteran of the industry having worked at studios like Ubisoft and others and now running his own company, K9. Make sure to learn more about Ashley at the links below. Ashley Saprling's Artstation: ArtStation - Ashley Sparling Instagram: @ashleysparling K9 DIGITAL: 3D character art | K9 Digital | United Kingdom Learn more about Vertex School: https://www.vertexschool.com/ Want to learn skills for creative tech jobs in games, film, XR and the Metaverse? Apply for your spot in our upcoming Game Arts Program here: https://www.vertexschool.com/game-arts-program

This week Ryan is turning the mic over to Jacob Claussen and his career talk. Jacob Classen is currently a Lead Environment at Fall Damage Studio in Stockholm, Sweden and a Mentor at Vertex School. In this episode, Bita and Jacob go through his amazing journey to become a professional artist and the courage to continue push his creativity. Along with being a recognized artist in our industry. Jacob is also an educator who resonates with his student and shares many of the workflows that he uses in the Game Industry. He has worked on with studios like Ubisoft (Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and The Division 2: Warlords of New York Expansion) and Starburst (Overkill´s The Walking Dead). Make sure to learn more about Jacob at the links below. Jacob Claussen's Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/jacobclaussen Jacob Claussen's Twitter: https://twitter.com/jacobclaussen Fall Damage Studio: https://www.falldamagestudio.com/ Learn more about Vertex School: https://www.vertexschool.com/ Want to learn skills for creative tech jobs in games, film, XR and the Metaverse? Apply for your spot in our upcoming Game Arts Program here: https://www.vertexschool.com/game-arts-program

This week Ryan is talking with the Co-Founders of The Rookies, Alwyn Hunt and Andrew McDonald. Together have put together a platform for first year artists to show their hard-earned talent, in a highly commentative industry. Alwyn has an established background in fine art and the CG industry. Some notable credits are The Hobbit 1 & 2, Watchmen, Harry Potter and many more. Andrew's background is as an Industrial Designer, Animatronics Specialist, and Full-Stack Web Developer. Some notable credits are Suckerpunch, Watchmen, The LEGO Movie, Legend of the Guardians and many more. Learn more about Vertex School: https://www.vertexschool.com/ Learn more about Filipe The Rookies (20) TheRookiesCO (@TheRookiesCO) / Twitter Learn more about Alwyn Alwyn Hunt | The Team | The Rookies (20) Alwyn Hunt (@alwynhunt) / Twitter Learn more about Andrew Andrew McDonald | The Team | The Rookies Andrew McDonald - Creative Director (myportfolio.com) Want to learn skills for creative tech jobs in games, film, XR and the Metaverse? Apply for your spot in our upcoming Game Arts Program here: https://www.vertexschool.com/game-arts-program

Join Ryan this week as he interviews Sean Spitzer, Unreal Enterprise - Senior Instructor/ Master Mentor Artist for VP at Epic Games. Sean has been in the games industry for 18 years working in both console and social gaming verticals. He has an extensive background in education teaching game art and design related topics at both the Academy of Art University and The Art Institute of California. During his time in the Games Industry, he has worked within and alongside companies such as Sony Entertainment, Interplay, Infogames, Zynga, Shiny Entertainment, iWin, and Gazillion. His credits and experience encompass titles like Run Like Hell, Enter the Matrix, Tribal Rivals, Yo-ville, Family Feud, and Wheel of Fortune as well as others. Over the last 8 years he has focused on servicing the social gaming industry and has built a deep knowledgebase of different art methodologies and pipelines. Sean’s experience includes TV production and the development of animation content. He has worked with the Academy Award Nominated studio, Bold Studios on interactive TV, animated children’s TV projects in Europe, raining Disney’s animation team and visual development to help create Frozen’s MYTH a VR experience and even Worked on Love Death and Robots Season 3’s short Vaulted Halls with lighting and shading work. Learn more about Vertex School: https://www.vertexschool.com/ Learn more about Sean Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/spitfire2709 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanspitzer3d/details/experience/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/snsptzr Want to learn skills for creative tech jobs in games, film, XR and the Metaverse? Apply for your spot in our upcoming Game Arts Program here: https://www.vertexschool.com/game-arts-program

This week Ryan is interviewing Dam Weiss, Senior Character Artist at Untold Studios. Dan has worked as a Character Artist, Creature Artist and look Dev Artist in some very well-known films and shows. From titles such as Man From U.N.C.L.E., Captain America: Civil War, Renegades, Lion King and  Moon Knight. Dan gives us a glance at working film in today's evolving industry, form being ready to strike at unexpected opportunities and how normal it is to move between studios.  Learn more about Vertex School: https://www.vertexschool.com/ Learn more about Dan Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/danielweiss Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artofdanweiss/?hl=en Want to learn skills for creative tech jobs in games, film, XR and the Metaverse? Apply for your spot in our upcoming Game Arts Program here: https://www.vertexschool.com/game-arts-program

This week Ryan is talking to the industrious Nora Shramek a Senior level Lighting and Render Artist. She helps shed some light on what it is to be a lighting artist in a studio. Learn how a robust skill set helps in her communication and collaborate in her studio pipeline. Plus, how modern artist can benefit from a background of traditional art skills, married to a fundamental knowledge of science and math to attain not just a look; but rather a functional understand of why the end result looks right. Learn more about Vertex School: https://www.vertexschool.com/ Learn more about Nora Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/norashramek/profile Twitter: https://twitter.com/norashramek?lang=en YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXrWRJ8ovHu__md8U_VDivA Want to learn skills for creative tech jobs in games, film, XR and the Metaverse? Apply for your spot in our upcoming Game Arts Program here: https://www.vertexschool.com/game-arts-program

Tune into this episode were Ryan sits with James Jacob Co-Founder of Ziva Dynamics and Director of Technology Incubation at Unity. James talks about his time working on project like Lord of the Rings and Avatar, as well as his current venture in tools for Rigging. See how the industry has blossomed through James eyes. Learn more about Vertex School: https://www.vertexschool.com/ Learn more about James LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesj/ Want to learn skills for creative tech jobs in games, film, XR and the Metaverse? Apply for your spot in our upcoming Game Arts Program here: https://www.vertexschool.com/game-arts-program

This week Ryan has the pleasure to present to you a conversation with Vimal Kerketta, a digital sculptor/character artist whose work has been featured in many movies, video games & toys.  To shed light on his beginnings for aspiring artists, Vimal recounts how he started off his artistic career. Like many it did not start in the area of art, but rather in a different field. Vimal has an unapologetic attitude that is too be admired about making art that he loves first and then share it with the world. Which helps us better understand what so many artists say, "...do what you have passion for." And he reminds us that this is different to each person and to be thoughtful in where our passion stems from. Vimal Shares what it was like to work on the Matrix and what it was like to sculpt some of the most recognizable face in the production. Learn more about Vertex School: https://www.vertexschool.com/ Learn more about Vimal Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/vimalkerketta/profile Portfolio site: http://vimalkerketta.blogspot.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kerkettavimal?lang=en Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vimkerk/?hl=en  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VimalKerketta87?app=desktop Want to learn skills for creative tech jobs in games, film, XR and the Metaverse? Apply for your spot in our upcoming Game Arts Program here: https://www.vertexschool.com/game-arts-program