VERTEX RETURNS FOR 2019 EVENT
Some of the biggest names in 2D and 3D art are coming to Olympia in London for the second ever Vertex event
What not to miss at this year’s Vertex event, with speakers across a huge variety of disciplines
3D Artist, 3D World and Imaginefx magazines are teaming up with Creativebloq.com to bring you Vertex 2019. On 8 March industry experts from across the world of CG will descend on Olympia, London for a day of inspiring talks, workshops, career advice, portfolio reviews and more.
A host of exciting speakers have already been confirmed across the world of games, VFX, VR, character creation and everything in between. 2019’s event will see the addition of a new area dedicated to 2D-themed talks, courtesy of Imaginefx, with key advice to help you take your work to the next level, regardless of your chosen medium.
There will also be a devoted archviz area, in which the top agencies and artists will discuss how they construct the best architecture in the business, also revealing some of their cutting-edge techniques.
Kicking things off on the Main Stage will be Industrial Light & Magic visual effects supervisor Alex Wuttke, discussing the design of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The talk will cover the entire filmmaking process, detailing the design decisions made in pre-production, the resultant methodology employed during the shoot and the execution of the visual effects shots in post.
3D artist and character designer Glen Southern will follow, discussing the evolution of VR creation tools. Attendees will be able to watch in real time as Glen proves the effectiveness of VR by rapidly building high-quality creatures and environments in Oculus Medium.
Later on the CG Awards will celebrate the best work across the computer graphics industry from September 2017 to September 2018. nine awards will be presented, recognising everyone from the lone student artist to the biggest Soho studios and all those in between. The public have voted for their favourites, with two nominations per category being given to an expert team of judges who will decide the ultimate winner.
Framestore will close out the Main Stage by lifting the lid on their work for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald. The studio delivered 490 shots of VFX and animation across their sites in London and Montréal. The team was creatively involved from the outset, working on set at Leavesden studios and, during post-production, the team created complex London and Paris environment builds. They were also responsible for bringing 15 of the titular beasts to life.
In the Project Room art director Ryan Stevenson will share behind-the-scenes visual development from Rare’s sharedworld pirate adventure game Sea Of Thieves, and explains the team’s approach to creating a rich and vibrant world.
‘Making Waves for Adrift’ will see Milk Visual effects recount the challenging scope of water simulation work that faced them on the feature film Adrift. They will cover everything from creating massive ocean and storm simulations and bespoke waves, to scaling up their rendering pipeline in the cloud. esteemed artist Martin nebelong will then talk us through taking Quillustrations into Blender for high-end rendering in his talk, ‘Taking VR to the next level’.
elsewhere, Keely Colcleugh, founder and CEO of Kilograph, will talk attendees in the Archviz Room through new ways of processing ideas and information in AR and VR. This promises to be a lecture full of tips about how to stray off the common path.
In the 2D Room, Ron Ashtiani, founder and CEO of Atomhawk, will be giving a talk on how to survive and succeed as an artist in the games industry. Atomhawk has created concept art, marketing art and motion graphics for the likes of Marvel, Warner Bros, Microsoft, Amazon and Lego. Ashtiani’s role in the running, creative direction and management of such a company makes him another speaker not to be missed.
The Industrial Light & Magic concept art department will then discuss how they got into the industry, what their career paths have been, and what it is like working in the in-house art department of a studio.
Vertex 2019’s Practical Workshops have been carefully curated to cover a broad range of techniques and skills. Among them, Adam Dewhirst of Dneg will look at what tools are available to use that not only speed up your visualisation process but also enhance your ideas.
Creative Assembly character artists Jas Dhatt and Danny Sweeney will present a workshop on the art of the Total War: WARHAMMER franchise. The pair will cover what to consider when developing cloth and armoured components for humanoid characters, as well as the techniques used to create fur and scales for fantasy creatures and monsters.
Anthony Gregson, talent manager at Saddington Baynes, with more than a decade of experience representing creative talent across CGI/VFX, motion graphics, digital design and more, is perfectly placed to provide tips for those taking the first steps into their career or artists seeking guidance for that next opportunity.
The incredibly popular Portfolio Review sessions are returning to Vertex, with each session now 20 minutes long. Last year’s review sessions sold out in just half an hour, so this time there will be even more time slots on offer.
This is an unmissable opportunity for artists taking their first steps into the industry or those planning their next big career move. Attendees will learn hands-on advice for improving their recruitability, as well as essential tips on how to boost their showreel and stand out from the crowd.
Freelance character artist Shayleen Hulbert will bring her extensive knowledge of current-generation pipelines and methodologies in the games industry to the sessions, as will Rare’s senior character artist Stevie Cole and senior environment artist George O’keeffe.
Tickets for Vertex 2019 are on sale now and available in three varieties. General Admission is free and includes access to the Main expo, Ask an Artist sessions, Sponsor Room, Sketch Wall, Life Drawing sessions and Portfolio Reviews.
Access All Areas is available for £49 (plus VAT), which includes access to all the above plus: the Main Stage, Project Room, Archviz Room, 2D Room and Practical Workshops. There is also a Student Access All Areas option, available for just £25 (plus VAT). For tickets, a full timetable of the day’s agenda, contact details, or more information on speakers, sponsors and the venue, head to