#0042 Back in the Hot Seat

Image via Wikipedia

Monsoon rains sometimes flood Mumbai
wet and warm

MUMBAI, INDIA–   I  flew to Mumbai in early August, right in monsoon season, and have spent the last six weeks getting settled into my bachelor pad, Mumbai life and the new job.  Mumbai is great, see my post on my VFX Supervisor site.  Later I'll probably say a few words about working in India.  The best I can say is patience and graciousness are rewarded with good relationships and overwhelming good-will and hospitality.




Since my June post, I've been swamped with activity.  Most of June and July was spent preparing for the new job.  I spent a good deal of time reviewing and brushing up on some applications, like Maya hair, NUKE, and FCP. 

Image via Wikipedia

My high-desert valley. 
I live somewhere in the hazy green
area in mid-picture.

Many days were spent idly enjoying the summer heat in Palmdale, California -and one wet monsoon-kind of afternoon (perhaps a little bit of Mumbai weather) with horizontal rain, floods and seven lightning fires in the nearby hills.  Personal time was a priority, with many afternoons spent beating the heat in the cool and shaded waters of Big Rock Creek with friends and family before the day of  travel and long separation arrived.

In my new position as DFX and CG Supervisor at GEON Studios, I'm once again living daily the pressure of simultaneously re-organizing and strengthening a department while working with clients and artists to get shots designed, revised and delivered.  The simple joy of sharing methods and techniques, which this column does not embrace, is once again an often-felt daily occurrence.  It's a great company, and unlike my last position, where I was also the CGFX Producer and IT Manager, I'm backed up with a solid production and IT team and a really terrific crew of artists, animators and compositors.  Plus we're doing some interesting stuff.


Part of my hiatus from writing is that the Pipeline series, that is yet to be completed, hit a spot where it became a bit less interesting for me.   We're at the point of discussing how to actually design and build a production pipeline.  Oddly  enough, this is the part of the process I prefer doing, and not talking.  I find myself constantly looking at and making small adjustments and occasionally large ones in how the pipeline works.  I'm not talking about GEON, I'm talking about all my past assignments.  I just sort of see stuff that needs fixing, and I like to dive in and get it done.

While I imagine many or most of my readers may look at pipeline design and management the same way, a big point and commitment of this column is to help all of us look at, talk about, and construct more efficient and effective pipelines.

First, for a little while here I intend to digress and talk about some topics of asset management and will then get back to the pipeline stuff.  I also am anxious to talk about leadership and how the CG-VFX-DFX-Supervisor/Producer can better work with and guide their teams. 


For now, enjoy asset management 101, and please write me about your wishes, questions and interests.  Best success to you all!

Speaking of leaders -- 13 more professionals joined the CG Supervisor's Group on LinkedIn today.  We're up to 177 members from around the globe -- all connected to CG-VFX leadership.