They Won a VES Award… As Students?! | Azimuth VFX Breakdown

The VFX Process Podcast #86 How a student film won a VES Award + Cinematic VFX tips, pipeline secrets & real advice for artists. WANT EXCLUSIVE CONTENT? BECOME A MEMBER    / @thevfxprocess   📩 TVFXP NEWSLETTER :https://www.thevfxprocess.co.uk/getno... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 🎉 5% Discount Code on Rokoko Products - Use CODE: RKK_VFX_PROCESS 🌐 Rokoko: https://www.rokoko.com @RokokoMotion ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦ In this episode of the VFX Process Podcast, we sit down with the team behind Azimuth — a student film that went on to win at the VES Awards 2026. ‪@ArtFxOfficiel‬ We break down how this ambitious sci-fi project evolved from a student assignment into an award-winning film, covering everything from pipeline decisions and cinematic storytelling to the mistakes that nearly cost them everything. If you're into VFX, filmmaking, or pushing your work to the next level… this one’s for you.🎥 WATCH AZIMUTH:   • // ARTFX OFFICIAL // AZIMUTH / FILM   TEAM:Martin Bluy, Cassandre Cinier, Chloé Coudray, Thomas Courtois, Mathis Giraudeau, Damien Lagadeuc, François-Clément Michez, Thomas Teisseire Paul Allezard, Melvin Noudel We break down how this ambitious sci-fi project evolved from a student assignment into an award-winning film, exploring the creative decisions, technical workflows, and mindset required to push a project to a professional level.The team shares how they approached building a full cinematic world, how they structured their pipeline for a collaborative production, and what it takes to elevate shots beyond “good” into something that stands out at an industry level.From shot development and animation workflows to handling mistakes and refining the final result, this episode dives into the real process behind creating high-end VFX work as a student team.We also explore the mindset behind the project — dealing with imposter syndrome, learning through iteration, and why pushing your work further than expected can make all the difference.Whether you're a VFX artist, filmmaker, or working on your own projects, this episode is packed with practical insights on how to take your work to the next level.🎯 We dive into:• Turning a student film into a VES Award-winning project• Building a collaborative VFX pipeline• Making shots feel more cinematic• Animation workflows: mocap vs keyframe• Learning from mistakes during production• Managing references and visual consistency• Overcoming imposter syndrome as an artist ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 🔗 CONNECT WITH US: TikTok:   / thevfxprocessinstagram:     / thevfxprocessdiscord:     / discord   Website: https://www.thevfxprocess.co.uk/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ⏰ TIMECODES 00:00 Intro 00:50 From Student Film to VES Award 02:10 Building the Pipeline 03:30 Making Shots Cinematic 04:48 Team Feedback & Collaboration 06:13 Film References (Star Wars, The Creator) 07:58 Cinematic Realism & Lens Effects 09:22 Key Tools (Houdini, Arnold, Prism) 10:53 Challenges & Time Management 12:44 Teamwork & Passion 14:37 Influences & Shot Planning 16:20 From School to Industry 17:35 Pipeline & Organisation 19:00 Mistakes & Lessons Learned 21:00 VES Awards Night Stories 23:00 Team Dynamics 25:30 What Makes Great VFX 28:00 Future Plans (Azimuth 2 ?) 30:00 Final Advice ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 🎵 MUSIC:https://motionarray.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #vfx , #visualeffects , #VESawards, #VESawards2026, #Azimuthfilm, #student #VFXfilm, #cgianimation, #vfxshorts, #vfxpodcast