Syn Studio Podcast

In this Syn Studio podcast, Anthony, Stephen and Bing sit down to chat with Frédéric Bennett, senior concept artist at Eidos Montreal. Frederic is currently working on the exciting upcoming game Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and has worked as a concept artist in the video game industry for over 8 years! His past contributions include various projects in the Conan, Transformers, Wet and Kung Fu Panda universes. Frederic is actually one of our amazing teachers here at Syn Studio and has taught our popular Character Rendering class with wide acclaim!

WARNING: This podcast contains raunchy, insensitive humour and some views on art you may find controversial. If you are easily offended, get ready to be outraged and otherwise, get ready to laugh and to learn! In this special Syn Studio podcast, Anthony and his co-host Stephen chat with Eytan Zana, Concept Artist at Naughty Dog, and Shaddy Safadi, Art Director at One Pixel Brush. The podcast was sponsored by ArtStation and Wacom and the podcast video footage can be watched on ArtStation’s YouTube channel here.* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fso4HB3Axw   Eytan Zana is a senior concept artist at Naughty Dog. His work includes The Last of Us, all of the Uncharted series and illustrations for Magic the Gathering. He has been widely recognized as a master of digital painting and his work has been featured at E3, Imagine FX and other major industry publications.   Shaddy Safadi is an art director and concept artist with 14 years of experience working in the games’ industry. His designs can be seen in Naughty Dog

  In this Syn Studio podcast, Anthony chats with Justin Yun at the Effects Montreal conference. Justin flew in from Los Angeles and is co-founder of the art outsourcing and game company Section Studios and also founder of Blue Canvas, a magazine publication as well as an online artist community. He has worked as an art director, concept artist and illustrator in the entertainment industry for the past 9 years and his work has ranged from video games to television, music videos and film. Some of the clients of Section Studios include Riot Games, Harmonix, Sony, Gearbox and Microsoft, among many others. Justin is currently teaching at the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.

This is a special podcast recorded at the Montreal Comic Salon event at Syn Studio. It’s a comic-book making panel with three industry veterans: Salgood Sam, Thierry Labrosse and Jose Holder.   Salgood Sam is now an independent comic book publisher worked with Marvel and DC comics in the early 90s on series including “Dr. Strange”, “Wonder Woman”, “Spider-Man 2099” and “Ghostbusters.”   Jose Holder is a veteran comic book artist as well as writer/director/producer, storyboard artists and concept artist for film, television and videogames. His clients include Ubisoft, Universal Pictures, Marvel and DC.   Thierry Labrosse started doing storyboarding for advertising and animated TV series. He has since transitioned to the world of BD as an award winning comic book artist, writer as well as cover illustrator for several major French publishers.   These panelists give answers to audience questions about their process and how to be successful that are sure to enlighten aspiring artists.

In this follow-up to last month’s podcast, we continue our interrogation of senior artist and visual effects supervisor Robert Bonchune. You can read a description of Robert with some of his credits in the previous episode. He started as a physical model maker and transitioned to CG during its television debut on seaQuest DSV and Babylon 5. As one of the pioneers of CG and VFX and having worked on most of the top sci-fi shows of the last couple decades, Robert is in an excellent position to share some industry insight and some juicy Hollywood stories.

In this exclusive Syn Studio podcast, we spoke with senior artist and visual effects supervisor Robert Bonchune. Robert has had over 20 years of experience and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including three Emmy Awards. He is known for his work on legendary television series’ like Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Lost.

In this episode, Anthony speaks with concept designer Henry Fong in Toronto. Henry is best known for his work on Hollywood movies like Immortals, X-Men: Days of Future Past and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  He also worked on productions shot in Hong Kong such as The White Vengeance on which he was also the artistic director. In this Syn Studio podcast you will learn how Henry began his career in the film industry. Henry emphasizes the importance of networking and staying open minded while building a career in the industry. He also explains the differences between North American projects and those filmed in Hong Kong and how these differences have influenced his work.

In this episode, we talk with Bruno Gauthier Leblanc. Bruno is currently at Eidos Montreal where he is a senior concept artist specializing in character design. He recently finished working on Deus Ex: Universe and is now on a top-secret unannounced project. He has also worked for Ubisoft where he designed the iconic character Vass for Far Cry 3, considered one of the best “villains” in the history of gaming.

In this Syn Studio podcast Anthony speaks with Nick Oroc about his career as an illustrator and concept artist in the video game and publishing industry. During this episode you will learn how a traditionally trained artist has transitioned to 21st century techniques and how it has influenced him in his career. Nick discusses how he started in the industry as an texture artist and how he rose to become internationally renowned within a few years.

In this podcast Anthony chats with artist Karla Ortiz in San Francisco where she currently resides. Karla has worked as an artist-designer and she is currently freelancing as an independant artist for the movie, video game and illustration fields. In this exclusive episode, we invite you to discover this incredible and optimistic artist. You will find out what tips and tricks she is using to improve in her art, how to accept the feedback in a constructive way and above all how to continue the drive to create again and carry on.

The world famous Concept Artist, Transportation Designer and Educator chatted with Anthony after hosting an intensive Workshop presented by Autodesk ® SketchBook® Pro, Wacom®, Design Studio Press and CG Masters Academy in June 2014 in Montreal. In this Syn Studio Podcast Scott chats about the difference between becoming an entertainment designer and an industrial designer, using Sketchbook Pro and how to market yourself as a freelancer. The insights he provides are invaluable, making this podcast episode a must-listen event for every aspiring concept artist.   Scott's fan page - How to Draw - How to Render - SRW - Design Studio Press

In this special episode of the Syn Studio podcast, Anthony traveled to Singapore and met Ben Mauro and Eduardo Peña, two of the most cutting edge concept artists around who’ve worked together on projects such as The Hobbit Trilogy. Ben’s credits also include Elysium, Man of Steel, The Amazing Spiderman 2 and Call of Duty, while Eduardo has worked with Bethesda, Square Enix and Edios.Check out the website of these amazing artists below - definitely worthwhile ! Ben Mauro : www.artofben.comEduardo Peña : www.facebook.com/Eduardo.Pena.Visualist PS: We have switched to a monthly release format for this podcast. See you all next month for another amazing show !

On this episode of the Syn Studio podcast, we are joined by the famous comic book artist Geof Isherwood. Geof has worked with Marvel and DC Comics for 18 years on series such as Spider-Man, X-Men, Silver Surfer, The Avengers, Thor, and many more. He has also worked in the film industry as a concept and storyboard artist for several major blockbuster films, including latest X-Men film, Battlefield Earth, and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Learn more about Geof's work at his fan page: Fans of Geoffrey Isherwood

In episode 12, we were joined by matte painter and concept artist Dhamindra Jeevan. We talked about his work on the much-anticipated TV series Cosmos, the Riddick movies and on the film Mars & Avril. Also, we also talked about the digital painting class he developed and taught at Syn Studio. Be sure to check out the digital painting class: http://synstudio.ca/digital-painting/ Learn more about Jeevan's work at: http://www.djeevan.com Note: This concludes the 2nd season of the Syn Studio Podcast, thank you for listening and see you again in the Summer for season 3 !

Thierry Doizon, a.k.a Barontieri is the special guest for episode 11 of the Syn Studio Podcast. Thierry is an art director at Ubisoft Montreal and has an impressive portfolio, which features work from the Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia and Tron Legacy universes, among others. In the podcast, we discussed how to get hired in the game industry and the challenges of the future. Thierry's Web site: http://www.barontieri.com 

In episode 10 of the Syn Studio podcast, we spoke with the Andrew Maximov, a 3D artist, concept artist and technical art director. He shared some stories about working on the very popular game World of Tanks when he was in Belarus. We also talked about his experiences at Gameloft in Montreal and he offered some advice to people trying to improve their skills. To learn more about Andrew, please visit his website at: http://artisaverb.info/index.html

This week we are very lucky to welcome Daniel Kvasznicza as our guest. Daniel is a formidable compositor and concept artist currently working at Warner Brothers Montreal. In the podcast, we talked about the work he did for them on the acclaimed video game Batman Arkham Origins along with many other things.    Find out more about Daniel on his blog : http://www.inetgrafx.com

In Episode 8 of the Syn Studio podcast, our guest is the multi-talented Alp Altiner. In fact, Alp has worked for Marvel, Blizzard, Eidos and taught classes at Art Center. Plus, he founded the online school VFX Workshops and is also an awesome electronic music maker. In the podcast, we talked about how Alp started his carreer as a DJ in LA's Korea Town, then became a comic book artist, and later founded VFX Workshops. He also gave us a sneak peek at his latest endeavor: VFX Art Portal.   Find more at:    www.alpaltiner.com   vfxworkshops.com   vfxartportal.com   soundcloud.com/secretnoise

In Episode 7 of the Syn Studio podcast, we spoke with Jung Park,Lead Concept Artist at Sony Santa Monica working on God Of War Ascension. He's also designed and illustrated for Lineage, Guild War 2, Transformers 4, Hawken, Battle Los Angeles and Magic the Gathering, among others. In this podcast we spoke about his experience at Midway, on Lineage and as a co-founder and instructor of Red Engine Studios, a top art school in Los Angles. You can find out more at: http://www.jungparkart.com/ http://www.redenginestudios.com/

In Episode 6 of the Syn Studio podcast (recorded April 6th, 2012), we spoke with Meinert Hansen, an amazing concept artist artist and illustrator with 28 years of industry experience! His recent credits include Batman Arkham Origins (Warner Bros. Games Montreal), Splinter Cell Conviction, Myst IV Revelation (Ubisoft Montreal) and 300 (Warner Bros. Pictures). We had an interesting conversation about the differences between working in the games and film industries and the golden age of illustration. You can see some of his work at: http://meinerthansen.com/