These guys have some serious collab spirit, infact this interview really only happened because Nick, a co-owner in the boutique contacted me about volunteering some of his skills to help out on a collab VFX project I'm working on...but that's another story...

The focus of this article is to get some insight on how these guys manage to organize and operate their collab business to create some very cool and complex VFX work via the web. 

The guys meet every week using instant messaging and they were kind enough to allow me to drop in and ask a few questions during one of their meet-ups. Some light editing has been done to clean up some repeat answers but other than that, what you read below is exactly how the interview went.

collabunlimited: I've read your team info, can you tell us a bit about how you all met and what led up to forming boundaryvfx?

David Hackenburg: We all met though working together in the Pixel Corps. After years of working together on projects through that group and learning to depend on each other it seemed like a natural fit.

jamespina: it would be like we were hiring each other for lots of different freelance projects so we decided, hey why not sell us as a package and go for bigger jobs

Magno Borgo: Each of us were already working with vfx as freelancers in the same areas, compositing/rotoscope so teaming up looked very promissing

Nicholas Lambert: We have built up such a good relationship over the past 3 years that we know we can depend on each other

Rob Geddes: we all liked the idea of joining forces to allow us to bid on projects that were larger than any one of us could handle alone

David Hackenburg: It wasn't until SIGGRAPH in New Orleans this past august that any of us had ever even met face to face.

Rob Geddes: David, Nick and myself made the trip this year.  It was great to finally meet.  :D

collabunlimited: that's an aspect some find challenging working in a collab over the net...was nice you actually had a chance to meet!

David Hackenburg:We are not really sure if James and Magno actually exist!

jamespina: we don't. it's the same guy doing 2 jobs. ;)

collabunlimited: lol

Magno Borgo:Magno Borgo: heheh

 

collabunlimited: so, How is your team structured? How do you handle finding and working on projects together?

  jamespina: thats a good question

  David Hackenburg: WE are all equal partners.  For each project, one takes a seat as "manager" and is the face of the company for that project. This rotates from project to project.

  jamespina: usually an email comes in, or a phone rings, and then one of us brave souls takes the call and works with the client as manager from that point. Larger jobs, as we found out can take 2 managers

  Nicholas Lambert: For example if it's a UK based company it makes sense for me to supervise. It's good having a local contact

  David Hackenburg: Once the project comes in we set up using Shotrunner, the project managing system. This way we can track each others progress, post questions or tips.

  Magno Borgo: To fid projects we actually invested on a initial advertisinment on a specilized magazine and some web placement fo our website (free directory listings, free services at most), vfx communities websites and vfx jobs listings.

  Nicholas Lambert: Yes, we have advertised in Cinefex & have a good presence on the internet. I have also networked at IBC & Siggraph. Also user groups. We even got a job off twitter!

  David Hackenburg: We also have past clients that we have brought in and introduced to the group.

  jamespina: I have been steering my new freelance clients towards boundary as a way to offer an extension of service that I can provide them

  Nicholas Lambert: Boundary also gives clients more confidence in a company that has more than the 'one man band' feel

  jamespina:there really are a variety of mediums for people to contact us, and it comes in many different forms, twitter, email, phone, skype, IM, but the jist of it is that we can communicate, agree on prices/delivery, do the work, send it in all electronically and never have to change out of pajamas.

  David Hackenburg: you wear clothes?

  jamespina: sometimes if it's cold,  hehehe

  Rob Geddes: we're also pretty flexible in the sense that we all can shift work around based on each person's availability at any given time

  Nicholas Lambert: We have all grown up with the internet & I think now it is coming of age for collaboration. For me it was the final piece in the puzzle

 

  collabunlimited: time zone differences must also help...you guys ever hand of work to the next time zone and keep working on rush jobs

  Nicholas Lambert: Yes, for example I can work a day shift that covers James' night.

  jamespina: yeah.. there are positive and negative sides to that. We had our days mixed up once and had to scramble to get things in. But overall i really notice this, it helps especially with Australian companies to have my work by the time they come in the next day and not have to worry about having a guy at their facility all night.

 Rob Geddes: plus we have always have someone around to contact, clients don't have to wait till we all roll out of bed, because there's always at least one of us up working

 

collabunlimited: So you have been in this mode for a while...but have all of you always been collab inclined or were some of you lonewolf CG guys at one time?

Magno Borgo: I have been freelancing alone for like 3 years

jamespina: I started as collab, worked inhouse for a few months, but now am back to collaborating. It's a lot easier to work from home, but it's a LOT more demanding. I think of it not as working from home on the internet, but instead, living at work.

David Hackenburg: I am always inclined to collaborate.  This is another ting that is a huge help to me...  I sometimes find myself in a place where I simply am in over my head with a shot, for years I have depended on these guys to pull me out of the pit of misery.

jamespina: yeah.. it really helps to have people around if you are stuck

David Hackenburg: There is a wide range af skills that the group has and I know that lets me take risks I would not take alone... I know I have support.

Rob Geddes: i've been working at a 3d company for a while, i'm pretty introverted so even though i'm on forums like CGTalk a lot, i tend to just lurk.  It wasn't until the Pixel Corps and meeting up with these guys that i realized I could get involved in VFX work on a larger scale from where i live in Canada.

I think spreading the workload is part of it, but the benefits of collaboration that i see, is being able to draw on a larger skillset, having other critical eyes looking over work, solving problems, suggesting alternate workflows.  There's always a danger of a single person being too close to the work to spot any obvious shortcomings.  I think as a team we make each of us better. Canada.

Nicholas Lambert: I've been in the TV industry for 20+ years, I set up back in 2000 as a LightWave shop to get work outside of London. It was very difficult to convince people that the same job could be done by anyone but the big boy's. After joining the pxc & expanding into vfx we have not looked back.

Magno Borgo: Another beatiful fact of our way of work is that our structure can be expanded at any time without much effort, so we can always hire more people to work with us.

Rob Geddes: it's no different than any strong team, i suppose, the main difference is that we are handling it all online.

 

collabunlimited: Thanks for giving me your time and your thoughts...it's been a great interview! Lets wrap it up with your thoughts on - What would you say to persuade someone who is apprehensive to try online collabing?

jamespina: get some people you can rely on.. be active in the online community with what you do, try them out, and get started!

Magno Borgo: I would say that there is far more oppurtunities online then only in your local marketplace, the number of clients hugely increases going online.

David Hackenburg: If you have good relationships, good communication, Collaboration online is really no different than in any other setting.  The benefits are that by comming together you can take on so much more than would ever be possible by yourself.

Rob Geddes: I think the barriers that were once presented by online have pretty much been eliminated.  Bandwidth, applications, etc.  These are all not a big deal.  What is important is focus on the collaboration itself.  Good people, strong communication, building trust.  The online environment provides far more benefits than obstacles at this point.

Nicholas Lambert: I would suggest that they look at the community within such sites as CGTalk, fxphd, pxc etc. This is what conviced me. The people who can deliver, on time, on budget.

collabunlimited: Thanks again guys!

 

Boundary VFX is run by a distributed team of professional digital artists based in the US, UK, Brazil and Canada.

We all share a passion for visual effects, improving our craft, and delivering quality work.  Our artists have worked on commercial and television projects for Discovery Channel, Showtime, PBS, and Channel 4 (UK). We have also contributed feature film work to The Love Guru, ‘77, Synecdoche New York, and Feast 3.

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