To Code or Not to Code?

Do you need to know how to code as a VFX Artist? Does knowing a coding language guarantee career success?

In this career talk, VFX Supervisor and Virtual Production Supervisor for Realtime Group at Zoic Studios Scott Rosekrans shares his professional experience and gives advice on coding and Blueprints inside Unreal Engine 5.

Scott graduated in 2005 from Savannah College of Art and Design, with a degree in Computer Arts. He was trained as a generalist and chose to pursue my focus of rigging. He joined Zoic Studios internship in 2007; and within two years, he was handling all rigging work (in maya and LightWave 3D) for the entire studio.

Since then, Scott has been working to integrate Unreal Engine into every facet of the facilities post production workflow, from previz and on-set virtual production to final renders. He is also Unreal Authorized Instructor Partner for Epic Games.

In this video, Scott gives some VFX insight on whether your coding ability will affect your career success.

Whether you’re starting out in VFX or you’re looking for your next career breakthrough – check out this Allan McKay interview with Zoic Studios’ Scott Rosekrans!

And GET INSPIRED!

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[AllanMcKay]

Do you need to know how to code in order to become a VFX artist? VFX and Virtual Production Supervisor for Realtime Group at Zoic Studios Scott Rosekrans shares his opinion here. But what do YOU think? Let me know. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[blackspear]

I graduated with a bachelor's in computer science, yet after I graduated i took a 180 degree turn and delved into the realm of CG as a modeler. I had an affinity for the creative more than the technical until i ended up full circle back to houdini when I found FX to be my passion. it is there that I realized that the link between full explorative creative freedom is having a combination between the technical such as code, understanding software...etc and the fundamental such as composition, color theory, lighting...etc. Coding intimidated me and I definitely wasn't born with an inherent affinity towards it, however, understanding vex is what allowed me to crack open Houdini and understand it's backbone. Once you do that, you'll notice that the knowledge you gain from it, transfers easily to nearly any other software.

[mattbarkerart]

I've always liked nodes and visual scripting better too. This talk made me feel better about it :D
Nice stuff scott and Allan.

[duendex]

Id spend sometime getting familiar with basic scripting and coding mindset... Itll make you a better problen solver and give u an edge...

[beecee]

I think coding is going to be a required skill for being a human being period in the relatively near future, or at least the fundamental understanding of it (which includes visual coding or similar, not saying everyone needs to understand memory management in C, but mainly the flow of logic and problem solving). All the buzz and fear over AI right now is mostly born of a misunderstanding (or outright lack of understanding) on how some of these systems work that are not as complicated or "black box" or magical as many people seem to think for example. And in terms of 3D or VFX, it is an insane advantage to be able to automate certain kinds of tasks yourself or streamline a process using a script.

[odiagam]

more or less if you can that's great ... when i switch to houdini it more than a code but you surpassed what the options can give ... its finicky at first but it kind of a must in certain scenario

[admorris]

The utility of learning how to code in order for it to teach you how to think can't be understated in animation and VFX. Python is a great starting point and the basics from year one of a CS undergrad course are all most artists will ever need. Definitely a very useful skill to acquire

[adanimations]

i am a big fan of Allan Mckay, i am very greatfull to you.