Today we’d like to introduce you to Patton Tunstall.
Patton, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My love for CG started with Diablo: Hellfire and Starcraft in 1997. The cinematics in both games blew me away and inspired me to begin creating. I was able to get a license of Lightwave in middle school and began teaching myself the ins and outs of CG. In high school, I was able to land an internship at Turbosquid, and around the same time began doing Architectural visualization (Archviz) freelance work, work that carried me through high school and college.
Out of college, I began working at Bayou FX and got my first taste of cinematic VFX work. I worked there for a few years, executing shot work on films such as Just Go With It, 21 Jump Street, Looper, and the stereo conversion of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
After that, I followed my girlfriend and future wife, Elise, to Dallas and began working at Reel FX. It’s been a really fun ride here. I started there as a CG generalist on various marketing and film works, and am currently the CG Supervisor at ATK PLN, a sister company of Reel FX.
CG is still everything to me. I like to think 14-year-old Patton would be happy about that.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it hasn’t, but that’s part of what makes this industry great. We all have stories of really hard jobs. Everyone involved in what we do, including myself, have a passion for the art and push for what they believe in.
That can make things difficult, frustrating and stressful. But in the end, when it all comes together in the culmination of so many creative minds, seeing that final picture makes every up and down worth it.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about ATK PLN – what should we know?
ATK PLN specializes in commercial and short-form visual effects and animation.
We offer turnkey solutions for many different types of clients: product companies, non-profits, video game companies, film marketing, etc. We specialize and pride ourselves on our ability to achieve cinematic quality and scale in a commercial pipeline and timeline.
This is most evident in some of our studio work (The LEGO Movie franchise, Spiderman Homecoming, Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle, among), but we bring this approach to all of our work.
For me, I am most proud of our LEGO work. Technically, there was so much going on behind the scenes that went into achieving the look of the film but on a commercial timeline (6-8 weeks). We built an entire GPU rendering pipeline over the course of two months during the first campaign. It’s really cool to see how far we’ve come with it, and also how useful the pipeline has been for other projects.
With ATK PLN, you are getting the intimacy and creative attention of a boutique studio that has the scalability and resource of a studio. Part of that and a large part of my role is staying on top of the ever-evolving industry tech and figuring out how we can use it to make our workflow as efficient as possible. Allowing our artists to focus on art alone, unrestricted by technical hiccups: that’s the goal.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Patience and persistence. In a perfect world, a client loves and approves something the first time that I/we submit it. That generally never happens though; there are always notes. In order to be successful, I must remain patient (with myself and team) and be persistent.
The patience allows me to think through issues with a clear head, and the persistence tells me to never give up because I am confident there’s a solution to be found. I embrace the notes and feedback because it makes me stretch my own knowledge and ultimately become a better artist/manager in the meantime.
Where do you see your industry going over the next 5-10 years? Any big shifts, changes, trends, etc.?
It’s impossible to say where the industry will be in 2 years, let alone 5. Technology is moving so quickly. However, I see cloud computing as being crucial to the future of our industry (let alone the work).
The ease and flexibility that this software provides are unprecedented, and we are having a lot of fun working it into our pipeline.
Contact Info:
- Address: 301 N. Crowds St. Dallas, TX 75226
- Website: https://www.atkpln.com
- Phone: 214-979-0961
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atkpln/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atkpln/
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