From the streets of Compositing meet our new kid on the block of Software Development, Jared Glass.
What
did you study after school?
I studied digital media, animation and
visual effects. In school I one of my chosen subjects was Java (programming
language) which made the foundation of my programming knowledge.
What
did you do at TF before becoming Software Developer?
I
was employed as a compositor. We started as a team of just two guys and in the
beginning there wasn't very much work. So in the downtime I downloaded pretty
much the whole Foundry youtube channel. The Foundry is the company responsible
for Nuke (an awesome, node-based digital compositing tool). I basically went
through all of the tutorials gaining knowledge on different compositing
techniques and colour theory and then moved on to plugin development and
scripting. Studying the tutorials helped quite a lot. In many cases the Nuke
veterans believed that they already knew everything so they dismissed the
tutorials. But I've learnt that in keeping an open mind I am keeping myself
open to learning. So that was pretty cool because I was able to teach a thing
or two to some people who were way more experienced than me.
How are you settling into the new job?
It's
crazy! I always have about five different things open on my PC, helping people,
developing things and finding solutions to various other technical issues. A
lot of my time is spent juggling all these tasks. I've found it best to just
make a list of what I need to do and run through it in order of priority. That
and a few hundred sticky notes reminding me to do various other things. I went
from doing more of an artistic thing, compositing and started creating post
effects. This lead to the creation of some compositing plugins, then a few
pipeline scripts and finally ended up in full-time pipeline development and
plugin design. My current job is basically to create a smoother workflow for
the artists. As hectic as it is I do still enjoy the combination of helping
people and overcoming various mental challenges that coding can present.
What exactly do you do?
The
pipeline is an ongoing thing, and then I do plug-ins and general tools. So, for
example, in a lot of cases someone might be clicking a whole lot of buttons and
changing a whole bunch of values, which could be quite a long and especially
laborious process for them. Though I could take take half an hour to write a
quick script for them, that saves them time and decreases room for human error
resulting in them just having to click one single button and it's done in a
matter of moments. In my mind everyone should learn programming, even if it's
just the basics, because you can automate so many mundane tasks and spend more
of your life doing things that are actually productive. It can make life a lot
easier and faster!
How
would you describe yourself both at work and outside of work?
Work
wise, I guess I'm quite strict and diligent. If something needs to be done
right, it needs to be done right. There are strict rules and regulations that
need to be followed otherwise they can have a knock-on-effect down the line
that leads to a later disaster. In many cases I end up writing scripts that
take all the admin away from the artists so that they can focus on their art
and not have to worry about naming conventions etc. A lot of what I do is also
just general technical support - if someone comes to me with a problem I'll
either sort it out immediately, or if I'm really busy I make sure they have
something else they can do in the meantime until I get a chance to solve their
problem.
Outside
of work I stay as far away from computers as I can! I get enough of them at the
office. I enjoy almost any kind of pyhsical activity, whether it be soccer,
slack-lining, hiking, running, cycling, gym or anything else that gets my heart
pumping. I like to keep a balance between sitting in a chair infront of a
computer and doing physical activities. This being said, I do do a fair amount
of tutorials on my home PC. I try to keep my brain exercised by learning new
things and most of the work I do at home ends up helping my work at work haha.
Who is the character that you most
relate to in the current feature you're working on, Khumba?
Ha!
I'd probably say I'm most like Khumba's dad, Seko, because I have to direct
people. Even though they don't always listen I kind of have to keep everyone in
line and keep everything running smoothly.
Do
you feel like you have big shoes to fill?
Yes,
I do. But I also feel like I've been prepared properly. And if I'm not prepared
enough in one aspect I will push myself and step up to the plate. I've been
lucky to work under two great bosses: Dave Clark and then Simon Anderson. It
helps to have a good sense of direction and I've been very fortunate to have
worked and learned from quite a few talented people. So if I can succesfully
implement what I've picked up along the way, then I'm sure my teams will
prosper.
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