I am working as an Interactive Engineer at Bytedance for the Capcut app. I mainly create shaders and other real time effects that work as individual effects that end users can use for their own video edits. It’s been a steep learning curve as I dive head first into writing shaders and I’m loving it now. I feel it opened up a new frontier that had always been dismissed in my previous work and now it feels like a new dimension of freedom.
Hey, I'm WanYi. Welcome to my personal website! I'm a Houdini Artist from Singapore 🇸🇬 currently working in Guangzhou 🇨🇳.
I am an avid movie and animation fan like many others. I did not pursue an education in the arts because I stubbornly believe that you cannot measure art with grades and that art is everywhere.
My career began in ILM Singapore as a Technical Assistant learning the ropes of VFX production. Later on I was lucky enough to transition to the FX team and got to learn Houdini and observe FX elements as part of my job. I’ve had the pleasure to learn from the best and worked on a number of titles before I left ILM to explore the unknown land that is Guangzhou China.
ILM Singapore FX Team 2019
Having worked in VFX for 6 years, I have acquired a harsher critique for VFX movies. I enjoy them less and I tend to seek out movies more appraised for other aspects. Realizing it was time for me to venture out, I decided to explore other forms of storytelling with computer graphics, and that intention led me to where I’m working now.
I worked at **DeepMirror** as a Senior FX Technical Artist, using Houdini and Unity to help construct our Metaverse.
The work I do now is vastly different, with quicker turnarounds and visually less demanding. It took some getting use to and changing of mindset from a sleek production pipeline worker to finding my own direction and fighting for the work I want to do. I get to work with shaders and tinker with KineFX as necessary, also writing little scripts and making storyboards for shorts. Although I no longer fit into a pigeon hole of a typical FX job description, I look forward to making more stuff in the future.
Just last October I made this Halloween short for the company’s Halloween celebrations and social media profile. It was assembled in UE5 and edited in Capcut. Animations were a mix of my own and existing resources. The project took me 2 months from beginning to end. It was my first time creating a production as an indie creator. I’m thankful for the tools we have now making it so easy to iterate and quick to visualize.
As a result of a short collaboration with Pico VR, I ended up making 3 more VR videos using UE5.