Why Motion Designers Are Having a Moment — with Adobe’s Michael Tanzillo

From pouring drinks to lighting shots at Blue Sky to leading Adobe’s Substance 3D team, Michael Tanzillo’s professional path is anything but typical and his story is packed with lessons motion designers need to hear. Check out the corresponding blog post here: www.schoolofmotion.com/blog/adobe-michael-tanzillo In this episode of the School of Motion Podcast, EJ Hassenfratz sits down with Michael to talk about the state of 3D, why motion designers are impressing major animation studios, and how foundational skills (like lighting and storytelling) will outlast any software trend. 👉 CHAPTERS 👈 00:00 Coming Up... 00:50 Who is Michael Tanzillo? 07:18 Solidifying A Passion for 3D 14:55 The Inevitable Imposter Syndrome 19:04 Transitioning from Blue Sky to Adobe 27:38 How to Stand Out When Everyone Is the Best 35:48 How 3D Is Being Utilized 41:59 Learning to Pitch Yourself 50:42 Using Online Presence to Attract the Things You Want 01:01:30 What Exactly Is Adobe Substance 3D? 01:11:16 Upcoming Tools to Be Excited About 01:15:30 Why Foundational Skills Are Important Even With AI 01:22:15 Is AI Coming to After Effects? 01:28:55 Where to Follow Michael Online 01:32:43 That's a Wrap! 🗒️ SHOW NOTES Michael Tanzillo   / michaeltanzillo   The 3D Artist Newesletter https://3dartist.substack.com/ Jasmine Katadakarn   / jasmine-katatikarn   Alwyn Hunt https://www.therookies.co/about/team/... Andrew Kramer https://www.videocopilot.net/contact/... Sebastian Deguy https://x.com/sebdeguy?lang=en Nick Campbell https://nickvegas.com/ Connor Henkle https://vimeo.com/996490291 Connor Henkle on SOM podcast https://www.schoolofmotion.com/blog/c... Patrick Foley   / patrick_4d   Colosseum https://colosseum.co/ Jonathan Winbush    / @jonathanwinbush   PJ Richardson https://www.pj-richardson.com/ Victoria Nece   / victoria-nece   Sora https://openai.com/sora/ Midjourney https://www.midjourney.com Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/ Substance 3D stager https://www.adobe.com/products/substa... Omniverse https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/omniverse/ Structure reference tool https://www.adobe.com/learn/firefly/w... USD (Universal Scene Description) https://3dartist.substack.com/p/demys... Blue Sky App https://bsky.app/ NAB Conference https://www.nabshow.com/ Safe Space LA https://www.safe-space-la.com/ Camp Mograph https://www.campmograph.com/ Blue Sky Studios https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Sk... Pixar https://www.pixar.com/ 20th Century Studios https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/ Disney https://www.disney.com/ The Mill https://www.themill.com/ Frame Store https://www.framestore.com/ Buck http://buck.tv/ Finding Nemo https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266543/ Ice Age Three https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1080016/ Rio https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1436562/ Peanuts Movie https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2452042/ Nimona https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19500164/ Spider-Verse https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4633694/ Game of Thrones https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/ Severance https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11280740/ Flow https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4772188/ Wild Robot https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29623480/ The Whale https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13833688/ SCAD https://www.scad.edu/ Cinema 4D https://www.maxon.net/en/cinema-4d Maya https://www.autodesk.com/products/may... V-ray https://www.chaos.com/vray Redshift https://www.maxon.net/en/redshift ZBrush https://www.maxon.net/en/zbrush Blender https://www.blender.org/ Lightroom https://lightroom.adobe.com/ Substance Painter https://www.adobe.com/products/substa... Substance Viewer https://helpx.adobe.com/substance-3d-... Project Neo https://helpx.adobe.com/project-neo/h... Mixamo https://www.mixamo.com/ Firefly https://www.adobe.com/products/firefl... Unreal Engine https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US Mega Scans https://quixel.com/megascans