Record numbers attend Vertex 2019

CG celebration The highlight of the CG calendar didn’t disappoint as it brought together creators and demystified the industry

Boasting names from the biggest studios in the industry, including ILM, Framestore and Atomhawk, Vertex 2019 certainly lived up to its promise as the ultimate event for 2D and 3D artists. This year’s conference attracted more attendees than ever, with artists travelling from far and wide to hear from the experts.

“The event was amazing,” says artist and host of The Student Art Podcast series, Ross Baxter, who flew down from Scotland to make it to the London-based event. “Vertex enabled me to get in touch with a lot of people in the industry and provided me with a stronger understanding of how things worked.” As well as meeting one of his idols, VFX supervisor Christian Manz, Ross was also given invaluable feedback at a portfolio review session. “I would recommend Vertex, because it is a life-changing event if you utilise everything that it provides.”

On top of speakers and reviews, this year’s event also saw demos from our sponsors, including the Oculus Medium team. “Our demonstration space gave us the chance to show people what Medium is capable of, and give them the opportunity to experiment with the tool in a lowpressure environment,” says Kelli Townley, executive producer and product manager at Oculus Medium. Amazed audiences got to see how the tool would work with architecture visualisation. “Glen Southern proved the effectiveness of VR during his talk on the main stage,” adds Kelli. “He showed how artists can rapidly build environments and creatures in Medium, and iterate on their designs.”

Roll on Vertex 2020. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

I would recommend Vertex, because it is a life-changing event if you utilise everything that it provides

Claire Howlett (Imaginefx) and Rob Redman (3D World) presented the CG Awards. Ron Ashtiani, founder of concept art studio Atomhawk, gave an inspiring talk on how artists can succeed in the video games industry. The Games Workshop team, including miniature designer Ben Jefferson, revealed how 3D skills can be used to make gaming models that are played with around the world. The Oculus Medium demo revealed its potential as an architecture visualisation tool. Attendees got creative as they sketched Andrew Crayford at Kan Muftic’s life-drawing session.

Freelance character artist Eugenia Peruzzo gave creators feedback at the portfolio review sessions, while the giant doodle wall gave attendees a chance to express themselves.