In this episode of The Generalists, I sit down with Michał Potakowski (aka Manus) a senior real-time VFX artist who's worked on The Witcher: Monster Slayer, Immortal: Gates of Pyre, and more. He is part of FX Chamber and also works with Mad VFX.

Links:

Michał on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micha%C5%82-potakowski-49bb35166/

Michał’s Portfolio: https://www.artstation.com/manusvfx

Jack: https://linktr.ee/jack.the.generalist

We discuss:

Why optimization in real-time VFX is critical

The lack of educational resources for mobile and VR FX

The lonely road of being a solo VFX artist

Building healthy communities in gamedev

Timestamps:

00:00 – Intro & Meet Michał

01:00 – Early Days in VR & Mobile

04:00 – What They Don't Teach About Optimization

07:00 – FX for VR, Mobile, and PC

10:30 – GPU vs CPU Explained

13:00 – Implementation vs Creation in FX

16:00 – Networking Inside Studios

21:00 – The VFX Role is Misunderstood

28:00 – Tutorials and the Learning Trap

35:00 – Why Research Skills Matter

42:00 – Community & Real-Time VFX Discord

47:00 – Rethinking Junior vs Senior Titles

53:00 – Final Thoughts & Words of Advice

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