In this episode, I am thrilled to sit down with one of my personal inspirations, creature animator Maarten Leys. Maarten is known for his incredible work on major shows like Apple TV's Prehistoric Planet and the upcoming feature Primitive War.

Maarten shares his deeply inspiring personal story, starting as a creative kid in Belgium who loved Walking with Dinosaurs. He opens up about his story and the pivotal moment his father encouraged him to follow his true passion. This path led him through animation school , to his first industry job at Framestore, his journey as a freelance artist and eventually to his role at Pixomondo.

This conversation is packed with invaluable advice for animators at any level. We cover everything from the mindset required to achieve high-quality animation to the practical workflows that top professionals use.

In this episode, you will learn about:

• The "100 Versions" Mindset: Why Maarten believes passion is key and is willing to throw away days of work to get a shot right.
• Pro-Level Workflows: Our discussion on "straight-ahead" vs. "stepped" animation and the power of a "world space" workflow.
• Freelancing vs. Studio Life: Maarten breaks down the pros and cons of being a full-time employee versus a freelancer.
• How to Get Noticed: How to use personal projects and social media platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram to build a reputation and land your next job.
• Working on Prehistoric Planet: What it was like to work on his dream first project, animating a huge variety of prehistoric creatures and collaborating with paleontologists.
• Maarten's Step-by-Step Process: He details his personal workflow, from creating a reference edit in Premiere Pro to blocking in world space and layering his animation.