One year after his lively appearance on Episode #190, Shader Wizard Zap Andersson is back — and this time he's talking all things Open Shader Language (OSL). Now a fully integrated part of 3ds Max's viewport, this open-source language makes it quick and easy to use shaders across multiple rendering platforms, and tweak and develop your own. Zap discusses the development of OSL and how he put it to use via a 3D fractal, as well as revealing some neat 3ds Max tricks.

That's not all. Zap also tells Chris about his experiences at this year's SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles, including his thoughts on facial animation and how machine learning could help us cross the uncanny valley. He also discusses his meetings with renowned VFX YouTubers Corridor Digital, how he's developing his Android app Slightly Annoyed Rodents — and even arm wrestling Chaos Group's Co-founder, Vlado Koylazov.