What is your job?

[thegreenyogi]

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

I'm a software developer working on products for use to create visual effects for films, games, television shows, architectural visualization, NASA simulations, product design, that sort of stuff.

My biggest cred is working on Avatar for James Cameron in the mid-2000s. I worked mostly on pre-production on simulation of small creatures like bugs and insects in Pandora.

With James Cameron, he's such a demanding and uncompromising director as far as his vision so with our first prototype, we managed to simulate around 10,000 little critters in real-time. He looked at the preview and said it looked too lifeless. So we doubled it and he still thought it needed work. We kept repeating like this until we were simulating over 300,000 critters in real-time and then he finally approved the simulation.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

He also fired his previous VFX team. I was brought in as part of the replacement. He was one of the toughest bosses I ever worked under but actually my favorite. I like extremely ambitious people with an uncompromising vision.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

Before I switched to computer graphics R&D, I was a video game developer. Mostly I learned how to simulate computer graphics from my gamedev background and generally focus on real-time simulations and previews, less so the offline sims and rendering (my colleagues specialize in that area).

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

I also worked on some of the VFX code for Sin City under Robert Rodriguez. That one wasn't as cutting-edge in terms of effects and I just worked on tools to optimize the production process but unlike Avatar, I actually really like the film. 😅
https://youtu.be/T2Dj6ktPU5c

[thegreenyogi]

Wow!! Your Job is a really cool one!! What would you say were the advantages and disadvantages in your line of work?

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

Cheers! One of the advantages for me is that it can be quite exciting to watch the final product and be a part of the process of getting it to come together, and I get to name-drop a bit (less so these days since I work remotely now from Japan and no longer living in Hollywood). 😅

Biggest disadvantage for me and it's showing up more with age is that I have to read new papers on computer graphics techniques (algorithms and data structures) all the time, and I'm starting to get slower at learning all these new techniques the older I get: "Can't teach an old dog new tricks."

That's becoming one of my biggest fears with age is that I might no longer be able to keep up with learning everything that's new one day and become totally obsolete. I'm already struggling now when I read brand new papers and also slowing down in understanding all the math behind it.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

With computer graphics, it's an ever-evolving field. If you compare the computer graphics in video games just decades ago like this:


To simulating stuff like this now in real-time:


The techniques to do all of this get exponentially more complicated and difficult to learn while I'm simultaneously growing older and slower. So I constantly feel like I'm being thrown into the deep end of the pool each passing year expected to swim or sink, and I worry that one day I'm going to sink.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

One thing that's happening now, although it's been turbulent in the game industry (less so in my VFX one), is that real-time raytracing is starting to become popular.

Raytracing (drawing things to the screen based on ray intersections) actually simplifies things over rasterization (drawing the front-most triangles to the screen/frame buffer or all triangles within depth clip range if there's transparency involved).

So that gives me some hope since most of the complex real-time techniques these days are based on rasterization. With raytracing and especially path tracing, everything becomes simpler. The difficulty is doing it fast enough with our current hardware and techniques.

[Darkest-Knight]

I work as a civilian for a major police service. Lots of computer work, assisting officers, adding information to the Canada wide computer system. Dealing with the public. And most importantly petting the police dogs.

[Karolina03]

Still study but have part time job at bookstore.

[Bilboes]

I've been working as a bartender for the last 5 years, and it looks like this will continue like this for another 10 years..

[JacobJordan]

Now? Nothing. I am retired but I am putting additions on our house. Before that I was a biochemist and lab owner. I still own the lab and technically manage it but more in the sense of I have final say on hires

[ChiTown33]

Stand-up philosopher!😂

https://www.youtube.com/embed/tl4VD8uvgec

[Mr_twoface]

Right now, administrative assistent. Every three to five years we rotate so then I can potentially be third embassy secretary.

[BCRanger10]

I'm a purchasing agent for a manufacturing company.

[AmeerX]

I have a fuel station and farm and personally I do a lot of engineering related stuff and solar installation. And I have an orchard:)

[Nikki1989]

Rental properties manager.

[NathanDavis]

I'm a manager...

[exitseven]

I am a Natwork Adminisrator/ College professor.

[_no_one_]

I am an AI expert for this startup

[Still-alive]

Food delivery, gig economy work

[dolemite58]

I run a gourmet mushroom farm

[petitedollbabee]

Assistant cook

[laly520]

software developer

[laly520]

@Batsy01010101 do I even know u?

[eagle1951]

retired

[jamesgoldman]

Gold buyer

[Hardman07]

, Ciao, Puoi scrivermi?