Since 2012, BFX has grown into one of the UK’s largest festivals, designed to inspire and advance knowledge among creatives and professionals alike.
Masterclass: Grooming Techniques in Houdini
Gabriela Ruch Salmeron | 10:00am BST 1st June | Poole Gateway Building
This masterclass will cover Grooming techniques in Houdini, exploring in depth the toolset and how to use it for creating high-end characters for production. Both artistic and technical aspects will be discussed, showing how to get the best of both manual and procedural approaches. From guides combing, to clumping, parting lines and noises, all essential topics will be explored in detail. Real examples from Framestore will also be used to illustrate techniques and discuss challenges involved around it.
Talk: Academy Award & Future of Rendering
Josh Bainbridge and Nathan Walster | 10:00am BST 5th June | Kimmeridge House
Framestore is honoured this year to celebrate an Academy Award for the design, architecture and engineering of their proprietary layered shading system, devised and developed by Head of Lighting and Rendering Technology Josh Bainbridge and Head of Software Nathan Walster. This incredible accolade recognises the system’s significant contribution to filmmaking. Josh and Nathan, who are BU and NCCA alumni, will talk about the Framestore rendering tech that led to an Academy Award and the future of rendering for Animation and VFX.
Talk: Crafting Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
Edward Ferrysienanda | 11:00am BST 5th June | Kimmeridge House
From vast mountain landscapes and sweeping grasslands to detailed snow interaction and frozen tundras, Edward takes you behind the scenes of crafting over five hours of cutting-edge FX. He’ll break down the challenges, technical strategies, and creative problem-solving needed to achieve both visual excellence and scientific accuracy in this award-winning BBC Studios series.
Meet the Speakers
Gabriela Ruch Salmeron | Head of Grooming and Creature FX
Framestore’s Head of Grooming and Character FX, Gabriela, has ten years’ experience delivering the highest-quality visuals for high-profile advertising projects, TV series, immersive experiences and blockbuster films. She specialises in creating digital animals, for which she develops many of her own grooming and character FX tools inside Houdini, and she has her own tutorial series called Grooming Barry Bacon, where she details her approach and techniques in grooming.
Most recently, Gabriela has worked on hero creatures including Appa, Hei Bei and Momo for Avatar: The Last Airbender, Luffy and Albatros for One Piece, the Stag in The Crown, and Werewolf in Black Mirror.
Josh Bainbridge | Head of Lighting and Rendering Technology
Josh Bainbridge is Head of Lighting and Rendering Technology at Framestore, where he leads teams developing software architecture for computer graphics and VFX on feature films and episodic productions. He specialises in technology management, AI/ML, production rendering, light transport algorithms, and image processing.
A 2026 Academy Award recipient for Technical Achievement, Josh is Chairman of the Technical Steering Committee for the Academy Software Foundation's OpenQMC project and an Industry Advisory Board Member at WMG, University of Warwick. He holds an MSc in Computer Animation and Visual Effects from Bournemouth University and a BA in Animation and Visual Effects from Falmouth University.
Nathan Walster | Head of Software
Nathan is Head of Software at Framestore, where he leads R&D teams pushing the boundaries of VFX technology. Having been with the studio since 2006, his background spans both technology and production. He previously served as Head of Rendering, leading the creation of the proprietary 'Freak' renderer, and has held key roles on major films like Gravity, as well as acting as CG Supervisor on Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Ragnarok. His technical contributions have earned him the title of BAFTA Brit to Watch and a 2026 Academy Sci-Tech Award for his work on Layered Shading Systems.
Edward Ferrysienanda | FX Supervisor
Edward Ferrysienanda is a Bournemouth University alumnus who has spent the last decade bringing complex cinematic effects to life. As an FX Supervisor at Framestore, he steers the technical and creative direction of the FX department, overseeing everything from early R&D and master simulation setups to guiding artists through the technical pipeline across global productions.
Since graduating with a BA in Visual Effects, Edward has shaped the effects work on over 20 major films and episodic series. His work on Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age earned him both an Annie Award and a VES Award for Outstanding Effects Simulations. His portfolio of supervisor credits also includes the hit sci-fi epic Project Hail Mary, building on a career that features Thor: Ragnarok, Civil War, and The Jungle Book.
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