John Emerson
@jemerson.bsky.social
VFX Artist | Professor | Sometimes I make a cool thing. | Opinions are my own. | MPA and Finance | He/Him
Topics: #visualeffects #vfx #fx #rtvfx #realtimevfx #techart #gamedev #finance #publicpolicy #education
https://johnemerson.artstation.com/
Topics: #visualeffects #vfx #fx #rtvfx #realtimevfx #techart #gamedev #finance #publicpolicy #education
https://johnemerson.artstation.com/
Pinned
John Emerson
@jemerson.bsky.social
· Aug 4
John Emerson
VFX Artist
johnemerson.artstation.com
Wrapping up a contract and am available for work as either contract or FTE in real time VFX. If you need assistance meeting your goals, please reach out. Together we can achieve something great! #gamedev #realtimevfx #vfx #unrealengine johnemerson.artstation.com
Reposted by John Emerson
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.
buff.ly
October 8, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
Tron: Legacy
Best movie soundtrack?
Oh Brother Where Art Thou.
Oh Brother Where Art Thou.
Best movie soundtrack?
Wet Hot American summer
Wet Hot American summer
September 20, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Tron: Legacy
My only problem with this is the naming. We started with baseball terminology to describe the bigs so why not just keep using that? A (Kei), High A (Midi), AA, and AAA work.
'Kei' and 'Midi' are much more interesting video game definitions than 'AAA' or 'indie'
aftermath.site/video-game-gen...
aftermath.site/video-game-gen...
September 17, 2025 at 10:31 PM
My only problem with this is the naming. We started with baseball terminology to describe the bigs so why not just keep using that? A (Kei), High A (Midi), AA, and AAA work.
Getting that next level up on my demo project out there. Enjoying stretching myself in non-VFX ways. #UnrealEngine #gamedev youtu.be/sysc1B44VTc
Hoeae Design Demo
YouTube video by John
youtu.be
September 16, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Getting that next level up on my demo project out there. Enjoying stretching myself in non-VFX ways. #UnrealEngine #gamedev youtu.be/sysc1B44VTc
Started making the demo scene today and realized I had worked with a key mesh asset 2.5 times it's imported size so my scale was completely off for the rest of the world. Thankfully it was only 1 day and I can easily correct but... dang.
a man in a tuxedo with a microphone that says imdb on it
ALT: a man in a tuxedo with a microphone that says imdb on it
media.tenor.com
September 13, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Started making the demo scene today and realized I had worked with a key mesh asset 2.5 times it's imported size so my scale was completely off for the rest of the world. Thankfully it was only 1 day and I can easily correct but... dang.
Reminder for all the USA freelance and business owners. Quarterly tax payments coming due soon. I just spent an hour categorizing 2 months worth that I had back burnered. Don't be like me.
September 12, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Reminder for all the USA freelance and business owners. Quarterly tax payments coming due soon. I just spent an hour categorizing 2 months worth that I had back burnered. Don't be like me.
Some basic math today revealed I need around 800 dialogue entries for the demo of my game without considering duplicate use. At a max of 250 characters per entry that is 200,000 keypresses. I better start writing before the carpal tunnel gets me. #gamedev
September 11, 2025 at 3:11 AM
Some basic math today revealed I need around 800 dialogue entries for the demo of my game without considering duplicate use. At a max of 250 characters per entry that is 200,000 keypresses. I better start writing before the carpal tunnel gets me. #gamedev
Unpopular opinion: Akira (1988) is not as good as people want to believe it is, everybody just likes Tron style motorcycles.
September 2, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Unpopular opinion: Akira (1988) is not as good as people want to believe it is, everybody just likes Tron style motorcycles.
Getting a dialogue (narrative?) system up and running was easier than I imagined. Now I gotta come up with the words though. Something like 40 characters and 30 quests? This is gonna take a minute. #gamedev #UI #narrativedesign
August 23, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Getting a dialogue (narrative?) system up and running was easier than I imagined. Now I gotta come up with the words though. Something like 40 characters and 30 quests? This is gonna take a minute. #gamedev #UI #narrativedesign
It seems to me that CommonUI should be automatically enabled and used by Unreal. Course I'm on 5.3 so maybe it is in 5.6?
August 22, 2025 at 1:04 AM
It seems to me that CommonUI should be automatically enabled and used by Unreal. Course I'm on 5.3 so maybe it is in 5.6?
I see other parents of young children and can't help but feel so young in comparison. Is this impostor syndrome for parenting?
August 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
I see other parents of young children and can't help but feel so young in comparison. Is this impostor syndrome for parenting?
Wrapping up a contract and am available for work as either contract or FTE in real time VFX. If you need assistance meeting your goals, please reach out. Together we can achieve something great! #gamedev #realtimevfx #vfx #unrealengine johnemerson.artstation.com
John Emerson
VFX Artist
johnemerson.artstation.com
August 4, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Wrapping up a contract and am available for work as either contract or FTE in real time VFX. If you need assistance meeting your goals, please reach out. Together we can achieve something great! #gamedev #realtimevfx #vfx #unrealengine johnemerson.artstation.com
Reminder that before 1915 the US Postal Service technically allowed the mailing of your children. Only a few cases are known to have occurred, but it was with trusted (aka well known) carriers. How much do you trust that Waymo and do they have deliver at the same standard as the USPS?
July 23, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Reminder that before 1915 the US Postal Service technically allowed the mailing of your children. Only a few cases are known to have occurred, but it was with trusted (aka well known) carriers. How much do you trust that Waymo and do they have deliver at the same standard as the USPS?
Putzing around making my own version of the hologram map based on this video. Not sure yet if I'm going to go down the PCG route or not to bring in holographic buildings. May end up trying out my render target as a height mask to do some offsets. www.youtube.com/live/IBuqoNw...
July 10, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Putzing around making my own version of the hologram map based on this video. Not sure yet if I'm going to go down the PCG route or not to bring in holographic buildings. May end up trying out my render target as a height mask to do some offsets. www.youtube.com/live/IBuqoNw...
This is a nice breakdown of a sci-fi shield effects. Well done. #realtimevfx #gamedev
🧵 breakdown thread of the Halo energy shield vfx!
(there's a couple approaches you could take for this, and a lot of optimisations possible for each part, so take this more as a general 'approach' than a specific step-by-step!)
1/5
(there's a couple approaches you could take for this, and a lot of optimisations possible for each part, so take this more as a general 'approach' than a specific step-by-step!)
1/5
July 9, 2025 at 11:54 PM
This is a nice breakdown of a sci-fi shield effects. Well done. #realtimevfx #gamedev
Reposted by John Emerson
PLEASE SHARE 🧪‼️
Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr.
Scientific American has published a guide to the EVIDENCE-BASED vaccine recommendations in place BEFORE ACIP members were removed by the administration.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...
Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr.
Scientific American has published a guide to the EVIDENCE-BASED vaccine recommendations in place BEFORE ACIP members were removed by the administration.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...
Here’s Your Cheat Sheet for Vaccine Recommendations Backed by Science
These graphics will guide you through science-based vaccine guidelines for children and adults
www.scientificamerican.com
June 25, 2025 at 4:00 PM
PLEASE SHARE 🧪‼️
Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr.
Scientific American has published a guide to the EVIDENCE-BASED vaccine recommendations in place BEFORE ACIP members were removed by the administration.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...
Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr.
Scientific American has published a guide to the EVIDENCE-BASED vaccine recommendations in place BEFORE ACIP members were removed by the administration.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...
Geoff Keighley puts foot in mouth to please financial backers, news at 11. The only people upset by this are dev's and any C-suite with a production or finance staff knows its not true. This has been dragging on for a while gang and it really is much ado about nothing.
I'm glad folks are finally waking up that this ridiculous rhetoric is dangerous and I applaud the folks with visibility pushing back on it.
Be honest.
If we keep repeating it, the fat cats at the top will expect it and it leads to workers abuse and overscoping.
www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indus...
Be honest.
If we keep repeating it, the fat cats at the top will expect it and it leads to workers abuse and overscoping.
www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indus...
No, Geoff Keighley—Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was not made by a team of 'under 30 developers,' and devs say repeating the myth is 'a dangerous path'
SGF's fascination with small staff sizes discredits the integral work of external contractors and contributors.
www.pcgamer.com
June 7, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Geoff Keighley puts foot in mouth to please financial backers, news at 11. The only people upset by this are dev's and any C-suite with a production or finance staff knows its not true. This has been dragging on for a while gang and it really is much ado about nothing.
Havn't seen it posted here but looks like Unreal will have base coordinate systems updates rolling in the future. Y-up right handed is the future. #gamedev fixupx.com/TimSweeneyEp...
Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic)
Indeed Unreal Engine is moving to Left-Up-Forward coordinates everywhere, starting with UEFN, and coming to UE5-6 in an incrementally-adoptable way through UI settings and C++ helper functions/macros ...
fixupx.com
June 5, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Havn't seen it posted here but looks like Unreal will have base coordinate systems updates rolling in the future. Y-up right handed is the future. #gamedev fixupx.com/TimSweeneyEp...
Blasts from the past to make you feel warm and fuzzy after you close your 1000 browser tabs.
get it y'all
using this desktop background will fix things
using this desktop background will fix things
June 2, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Blasts from the past to make you feel warm and fuzzy after you close your 1000 browser tabs.
Someone put Star Wars Rebel Assault II on the Playstation classics and I am here for it.
a painting of a star wars x-wing fighter jet flying through space
ALT: a painting of a star wars x-wing fighter jet flying through space
media.tenor.com
May 31, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Someone put Star Wars Rebel Assault II on the Playstation classics and I am here for it.
Reposted by John Emerson
🟦 VFX Vault
VFX help ✨ 'Sharing some great tips which VFX Vault posted today - to help out very common issues with ribbons and trails in UnrealEngine ✨
Tutorial here:
youtu.be/nJBwKF7os8g?...
#UnrealEngine #UE #vfx #rtvfx #tutorial
VFX help ✨ 'Sharing some great tips which VFX Vault posted today - to help out very common issues with ribbons and trails in UnrealEngine ✨
Tutorial here:
youtu.be/nJBwKF7os8g?...
#UnrealEngine #UE #vfx #rtvfx #tutorial
Are you tired of your Ribbons and Trails looking stiff and rigid even if you spawn 1000 particles? Here's a new tutorial on one approach to help solve it!
Check it out at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJBw...
Check it out at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJBw...
May 28, 2025 at 6:00 PM
🟦 VFX Vault
VFX help ✨ 'Sharing some great tips which VFX Vault posted today - to help out very common issues with ribbons and trails in UnrealEngine ✨
Tutorial here:
youtu.be/nJBwKF7os8g?...
#UnrealEngine #UE #vfx #rtvfx #tutorial
VFX help ✨ 'Sharing some great tips which VFX Vault posted today - to help out very common issues with ribbons and trails in UnrealEngine ✨
Tutorial here:
youtu.be/nJBwKF7os8g?...
#UnrealEngine #UE #vfx #rtvfx #tutorial
I think my daughter's electronic piano has Chrono Trigger songs built into it. Get 'em started young on that video game music life!
a video game screen shows a chrono trigger from 1995
ALT: a video game screen shows a chrono trigger from 1995
media.tenor.com
May 21, 2025 at 12:55 AM
I think my daughter's electronic piano has Chrono Trigger songs built into it. Get 'em started young on that video game music life!
Reposted by John Emerson
Another "unexpected" behavior for this #VFXFriday
If frac() just leaves the fractional part of the number why is the result not this mirrored gradient that we'd expect?
Because what is happening under the hood is x -floor(x)!
So for example frac(-0.1) is -0.1 - (-1) = 0.9 🤯
#realtimeVFX #gamedev
If frac() just leaves the fractional part of the number why is the result not this mirrored gradient that we'd expect?
Because what is happening under the hood is x -floor(x)!
So for example frac(-0.1) is -0.1 - (-1) = 0.9 🤯
#realtimeVFX #gamedev
May 9, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Another "unexpected" behavior for this #VFXFriday
If frac() just leaves the fractional part of the number why is the result not this mirrored gradient that we'd expect?
Because what is happening under the hood is x -floor(x)!
So for example frac(-0.1) is -0.1 - (-1) = 0.9 🤯
#realtimeVFX #gamedev
If frac() just leaves the fractional part of the number why is the result not this mirrored gradient that we'd expect?
Because what is happening under the hood is x -floor(x)!
So for example frac(-0.1) is -0.1 - (-1) = 0.9 🤯
#realtimeVFX #gamedev
Meet your new Pope
a man in a gold robe and hat is holding a gold pole
ALT: a man in a gold robe and hat is holding a gold pole
media.tenor.com
May 8, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Meet your new Pope