I am an artist and a mother. I grew up in Toronto surrounded by creative people and knew I'd lean towards the Arts. In university I enrolled in architecture and, very quickly into the five year degree, realized I loved aspects of the study but was completely disillusioned with the industry itself.

While continuing the architecture degree, I started to amuse myself with some side courses in film theory. I made an abstract connection to try computer animation and enrolled in the Sheridan College computer animation program in 1993. I started in 3D but leaned towards 2D quickly, there was more work at the time, now it's just my preference.  The knowledge of both worlds is very helpful in communication and the process as a whole. 

The industry was so young when I first got out of school ( I refer to it as "pre-Jurassic") so I had a great opportunity to experiment down various paths. You name it: commercials, games, m.o.w.'s, films, and live television. I also had the opportunity to work/travel freelancing. I managed to carry something away from each experience. 

The crew I work with inspires me daily.  I am so proud to be part of the C.O.R.E. VFX team and I am perpetually in awe of the skill and creativity each person brings to the table. There is a lot of respect within the group for both talent and personality.  At the end of the day, I still think what we do is fun, challenging, and new. So all that and.... I just like to blow stuff up.

My compositing knowledge is mostly through trial and error. There were no courses in compositing, that I was aware of anyway. Come to think of it, compositing was almost an afterthought in the CG world back then but I was never very happy with the 'mathiness' of most computer-generated images.

I like to break the renders a bit, dirty them up, make it feel natural.  As I drifted more into live action or shot elements, I found I really enjoyed 'quilting' the images seamlessly into the world. I think that's why I like working on films. There is enough time to put effort into the final, it's never just good enough, it's got to be perfect because each of those pixels are going to be really big. Compositing is really all about problem solving. You need a solid toolset to approach each task as required. While experience helps, the same issues rarely repeat so you need to continue to hone your skills.

Films: Splice, Silent Hill, Blade 2, Firehouse Dog

Television: The Tudors, Wonderfalls, Happytown

Many years worth of commercials and other oddities including games and graphics. 

Fusion is the main package on the VFX comp floor and has been for years. We have Combustion and Shake to round off the team. We've managed to get the look required with any combination of these packages. 

I like how reliable it is. There is a sizable pool of very capable external artists that use it as their main toolset. I also find that it is easy to learn, intuitive, so I can ramp up a beginner fairly quickly. 

I seem to spend most of my time around Matte Control and Merge. I think that the rotoscoping is the best I've ever used. I am partial to Colour Gain. Most people seem to favour the Colour Corrector. Particles are also very intriguing.

Overall, I think Fusion is flexible for how you wish to work. Many different options and approaches are available. It's pretty artist friendly. 

I've merely eyed it from the sidelines. As a supervisor, I see great potential in easing some pressure off other departments by combining some simple 3D builds and tracks. As a comp artist, I am cautious of trying to wear too many hats. I can absolutely see it becoming invaluable as it evolves into the pipeline more and more. 

I think that film makers will become wiser to the VFX process, further challenging the industry capabilities. Effects will replace much more of the other more costly aspects of film, such as set builds, location shoots, etc. Films will need to bring FX houses in at the very start of the process for more than the obvious big effects blocks. Simpler tasks will be farmed globally for labour costs. Houses will be set up for specific tasks (rig removal etc.) We've seen that all of these points have already started in one form or another, so there are no shockers here.