Tom Vaillant @_tomvaillant Twitter profile

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Tom Vaillant

1 month

The behind-the-scenes of my visual essay for @puddingviz . With links to the pitch, designs, data, code and some insights from mistakes made:

Tom Vaillant - Making of my data essay for The Pudding

Case study on the making of my Pudding article about sleep training.

tomvaillant.com

The Pudding

@puddingviz

1 month

New project! @_tomvaillant examines one of the most debated questions in parenting: whether or not to sleep train your child. In this essay, Tom depicts sleep training opinions across social media, popular media, and medical research.

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Last Seen Profiles

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Excited to be producing a truly fantastic web experience for the upcoming @Aten7Game and @cryptosylvan .

Aten7

@Aten7Game

2 years

A most excellent weekend to you all 🖖🎄 An interesting month coming up.. 🔥 #aten7 #gaming #RPG #scifi #solarpunk #gswap #niftyx

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

3 years

I'm looking for a freelance designer and WebGL developer to work with me on a fun project starting next week. If interested, or if you know someone available, please reach out!

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

3 years

I'm having a blast learning from the best! Here's a jolly Christmas scene to put everything into practice. Thanks teachers : 🎄 @bruno_simon for the incredible lessons on #threejsJourney 🎄 @wattenberger for the brilliant D3 course. Have a Bublé Christmas

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Using AI in creative production. These are the tools and possibilities that have caught my attention. I hope it’s helpful to someone. 🧵

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Uh-oh, it's that time of year again!

Immersive Garden

@Immersive_g

2 years

We are thrilled to share that Immersive Garden has been nominated for Studio and Site of the Year 2022 by @Awwwards . We are grateful for this opportunity and for your support. Please cast your vote for us! 🚀 👉 Studio 👉 Site

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

1 year

We had a blast working on this one @cryptosylvan , thanks for trusting us all the way and excited to play @Aten7Game . We might be crowding your waitlist!

Immersive Garden

@Immersive_g

1 year

After months of dedicated effort, we are thrilled to launch the Aten7 website — an entire universe meticulously crafted from the ground up. Our team has poured their heart and soul into this project. We hope that you will enjoy exploring it. 🌕🌖

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Excited for this one to drop, thanks for the wonderful collaboration @cryptosylvan .

Aten7

@Aten7Game

2 years

A little teaser for you of our upcoming web experience, the 'Toom Archives' - from the amazing team at @Immersive_g Thanks to them for all their hard work, we're really looking forward to the release! #gaming #webgl #aten7 #scifi #solarpunk

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

11 months

The 9 most important storytelling lessons from dozens of interviews with visual journalists. 🧵

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Producing an interactive documentary has been a dream of mine for the past 7 years, this project is the realisation of that dream. After a year of research and creative work alongside a brilliant team, I couldn't be happier with the result. #Kashmir

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

@dilshan_aruka speaking @Kikk_Festival , learnings from a decade of incredible experiences @Immersive_g !

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Internal learning sessions with the @Immersive_g team! Exploring latest developments in #AI and how to use them in production. Any recommendations?

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

3 years

Looking for a motion designer for a short gig! DM with a portfolio if interested.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

1 year

Announcing the Producer Course! Over the past year I’ve been working on a short course for producers and project managers working in digital, it’s finally ready.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

@trekcir @Aten7Game @cryptosylvan Thanks! The @Immersive_g team is cooking something exceptional for this project.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

3 years

Looking for a creative developer familiar with #VueJS available from next week!

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Designers often create with rational or emotional objectives. Efficient design uses best practices to combine familiarity with identity. Experience design pushes creative beyond the threshhold of ordinary. Identifying which holds priority avoids conflict.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

A producer who gives in too easily to client demands is quickly perceived as the vendor rather than the expert. The loss of that privilege is irreversible, the client begins to dictate feedback and dominate the collaboration. Challenge the client with structured feedback.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

1 year

The Usability-Aesthetic Effect suggests that aesthetically pleasing design enhances user experience and engagement. The same notion applies in information design.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Looking for #3D character modellers to start on a webGL project ASAP! Please DM

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

3 years

@etterstudio We're gonna need a link for this, it can't not be shared.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Most of us should work 80%. 20% of our time every week to experiment, learn, build or sell. Over a year that's 2.5 working months, 50 working days or about 400 hours. That investment in growth is as valuable to employers as to ourselves. [Thread]🧵

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

1 year

Back to school.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

@bruno_simon took me an embarrassing amount of tries, but finally found that boost cheat code.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Incredible work from Matthew and his co-authors, recommending this paper for anyone producing visual narratives.

Matthew Conlen

@mathisonian

2 years

New paper is out now 🎉 Cinematic Techniques in Narrative Visualization — we analyze and discuss techniques from filmmaking, and try to understand when they are (and aren't) useful for data vis Done w/ @jeffrey_heer , Hillary Mushkin, & @designinspace

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

The speed at which these processes are being automated or accelerated is baffling. We'll all have the potential to become ai-assisted armies of one sooner than we expect.

Sergei Galkin

@sergeyglkn

2 years

1/6 How I transferred a physical toy to the digital world in one hour with AI -> LumaAI (3D scan) -> Cinema4D (editing) -> Mixamo (rigging and animation) -> MetaSparkStudio (AR)

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Clients contact us with a challenge, and their idea for a solution - the brief. The solution is often incorrect or the problem is misunderstood. We need to analyse the problem and test those assumptions before accepting them as the basis for the project.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Always set deadlines. A deadline removes the superfluous, the decorative and the ordinary. It gives a sense of direction and progress. The deadline offsets perfectionism and encourages us to produce something different, something creative. While keeping a healthy budget.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Often designers use interactivity for the sake of novelty, we should think about how people are engaging with the experience rather than prioritising aesthetics for recognition from our peers. Using interaction meaningfully and not decoratively.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

We can already use AI to produce concept art, 3D models, textures, audio, copy and creative ideas. Looking at 2022 it feels like we're on the cusp of exponential progress, what will next year look like? Here are the tools I've been able to leverage for creativity.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

3 years

Looking for a front-end developer urgently, if available please DM me your portfolio.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

1 year

Data is an abstraction of reality. Visualisation is an abstraction of that abstraction. If reality is easier to understand with two layers of abstraction, is everything we see... An abstraction?

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

1 year

@mathijspb you really did something pretty magical here.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

4/ 3D in the near future We still need to test or find applications for the following: - generating models from text with Nvidia or - generating 3D models from images with @kaedim3d - create entire worlds in 3D with @Promethean

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

As a creative producer these are things I know at 30, that I wish I had known at 20. 🧵

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

10 months

Beginning to see how addicted to problem-solving most of us are. If there's nothing to solve we uncover or fabricate new problems. Trying to reprogram myself to be content with things as they are rather than constantly looking for potential improvements. Ordinary is magical.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

5 years

Offsetting emissions with Wren! Glad to have a simplified approach to this, great work. #ClimateAction

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Enrolled in the information design and data vizualisation certificate @TheNewSchool . Good to be studying again! Excited to apply new skills in upcoming projects.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

The producers and project managers I've known who could handle anything were always proactive - preparing solutions for potential points of failure. Reactive planning creates more work, more anxiety and loss of trust from the client. Fixed destination, flexible journey.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

1 year

This is what the future might feel like (magic). Wearing your Apple Glass you look up and see a live AR concert with real-time audio from the other side of the planet. Volumetric billboards reach out to you people from around the world are interacting with the same scene.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

8 years

We made it into the FWA!

FWA 🏅

@fwa

8 years

FWA of the day 06 July 2016: Chordsurfer #FOTD #thefwa

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

1 year

Looking for an event producer to help organise a project in Montpelier, any takers? Referrals are also appreciated.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

11 months

Details-on-demand unlocks such a joyful editing process. Eliminating contextual content from the central narrative without feeling remorse at removing information that might interest some readers. In 2024 hoping to produce articles where these interactions reward the reader by

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

3 years

Currently looking for a #WebGL developer on a project starting immediately, please DM if you have availability!

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Holy sh....

Carson Katri

@CarsonKatri

2 years

#StableDiffusion2 depth to image can texture entire scenes in Blender automatically. Try it for yourself:

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

8 years

In the desert, on a horse with no name!

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Sending a presentation of the studio's capabilities rather than preparing a pitch for incoming prospects has been the single greatest change I’ve made to free up days of my time.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

1 year

Wallrunners is the product of a consistent hard work from a group of volunteers dedicated to sharing their passion for sports to children. It started as a simple promise to help open a sports academy in Gaza and over time evolved into a small team across three countries. We've

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

1 year

Another fun challenge! Thanks to the team @MechaChain who has been such a pleasure to work with.

Immersive Garden

@Immersive_g

1 year

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the new website 2219 for @MechaChain , the cutting-edge web 3 mobile game that integrates NFTs.🤖 Take your time to explore the website: Big hanks to @MechaChain , @KevuruGames , @weare60fps and @Mooders_music !

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Personalization is transforming the way we experience stories. By including the reader's interests and perspectives we create more engaging and relevant narratives that speak to them directly. The creative potential is limitless, so is the impact.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

1 year

Producers should embrace the responsibilities of stewardship and strategic thinking. This approach elevates the entire process and empowers us to drive innovation, inspire teams, and create meaningful work that helps our clients. Here's why. 🧵

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

@naval @EricJorgenson just gifted your book for the 10th time this year. Ordering another 5 copies and keeping them safe for whoever starts a conversation about happiness or turning their passion into a business.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

When there is too much uncertainty in the brief we propose a Discovery to define scope and creative within the upper limit of the client's budget. Proposing a large price range gives us that upper limit. Smaller price ranges feel safer, but restrict possibilities.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

I found the answer to the recurring question "Is there an AI for this?" Thanks @imakecoolsites

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Clients might disagree with your creative team's ideas, if you can't convince them to follow your recommendation try to understand their perspective, is it strategic? Define these limitations and iterate on ideas that improve their vision.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Novelty has become a driving force for interactivity, often at the cost of simplicity. The creative focus shifting on making unique experiences for our peers rather than meaningful interactions for readers. Simplicity has become uncommon and refreshing.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

The obstacles to producing visual experiences are reducing exponentially. 3D, animation, illustration, dataviz - the disciplines requiring the collaboration of large teams today will have no-code or AI assisted alternatives for independent creators to leverage.

Luma AI

@LumaLabsAI

2 years

✨ Introducing Imagine 3D: a new way to create 3D with text! Our mission is to build the next generation of 3D and Imagine will be a big part of it. Today Imagine is in early access and as we improve we will bring it to everyone

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

4 years

Such a joy to have @OliverPercovich become the first advisor to Wallrunners. @Skateistan has been an inspiration for more than decade, I hope we’ll have what it takes to follow in your footsteps.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Storytelling is the future of learning. In a few years I hope we'll be able to educate ourselves through courses and articles that feel like stories.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Having way too much fun with #midjourney . Art for anything we can imagine: concepts, games, stories…

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

@ScottMusicSpot @StartupHasan @Ash_Ali I'll be sure to check out that book, thanks for the tip Scott!

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Looking at past projects I see so much that could have been been done to improve the result. Hopefully we continue to feel the same cringe in the future, having dedicated time to master new skills or deepen our craft.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

We're fundraising for the Wallrunners Academies in Gaza, Kenya and Kashmir to continue empowering children through sports in 2023! Over 70 students are enrolled in our martial arts and parkour programs today. Check out our fundraiser here.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

1 year

@thecosmos Looks interesting, sharing with the team and excited to see the product!

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

@hellopeiying @mooneighrah @gris_gabbing @jasenlo123 @nabbycat @earthtogwyneth Stunning work @hellopeiying . I loved the reading flow and the changes in design on the graphs as the article progresses, it kept things interesting and in tune with the story.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

4 years

In December, after a year of scrambling work hours in the evenings or weekends, we pushed together to open #wallrunners , the first non-profit #parkour academy in #Gaza . Now we want to open new academies in Kashmir and Kenya. Join us!

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

6 years

Thanks to our clients for trusting us, and to the whole team for pushing each other to do better every day. Looking forward to continue producing exceptional projects in 2019!

Immersive Garden

@Immersive_g

6 years

Such an honor to have received for the second year in a row the awards for STUDIO OF THE YEAR and DEVELOPER SITE OF THE YEAR! Thanks to the members of the jury who voted for us and thank you @AWWWARDS !

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

The magic of the wishlist. Anytime a client makes an out of scope request my default answer has become "Sure, let's add it to the wishlist." Escaping minor disputes at each request until you can negotiate a price for the entire wishlist.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Producers and creatives using AI will dramatically increase their capabilities, flourishing with more freedom to learn, experiment and iterate quickly. Conservatives will likely have a difficult time competing against such individuals.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

3 years

@LecornuThoma @titouanpellerin @threejs Loving the movement of the light on the ground!

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Anchoring is a cognitive bias where an individual relies too heavily on an initial piece of information offered. Which is why when possible we should offer our price first rather than wait for a budget. Preferably a higher price with room to negotiate downwards.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

8/ Pitching To be tested and confirmed soon, but it looks like @magicaltome might make it into my pitch building process. Combined with MidJourney and GPT the output within an hour would be extraordinary.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

I believe in visualizing complex issues and educational material to create depth and understanding. Information design will be used in classrooms, research and referendums to increase transparency, boost participation and improve decision-making towards a better future.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

11 months

@Immersive_g @RefletCo Stunning work, as always :)

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Audiences of large news publications reported that visuals increased their sense of trust in the story. The reason? The ability to see and interpret the data for themselves rather than being forced to trust a reporter's opinion.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

When it comes to people and creativity, the tacit skills we receive from tinkering are superior to the hard skills received from institutional education.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

First interview of the project! There's definitely room for me to improve as an interviewer but I was grateful for this educational conversation with Matt. Some highlights 🧵:

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

1 year

My current focus is to shift away from this approach, instead leaning towards honest conversations that identify the need and the potential value. Positioning us as experts rather than vendors, building trust and involving the client in the process.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Grateful to the clients who took a leap and trusted us as we got started over the past few months. Buried Signals is an educational project to collect inspiration and insights on visual storytelling. Nuanced is the commercialisation of that expertise.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

3 years

"The most important step a person can take is not the first or the last, but always the next step." — Brandon Sanderson

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

3 years

Working on an interactive web documentary about #Kashmir - we’ll be mapping historical, military and humanitarian data of the region along with choice-driven interviews of experts.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

5 years

'Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge’. – Isaac Asimov

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

3/ 3D in production A rapidly evolving space to monitor, crediting @RobinPoitevin for his research and experimentation at the studio. Our latest use cases : - generating textures with @StableDiffusion - generating model variations to populate WebGL scenes

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

When you remove complexity, clarity remains. Clarity reduces anxiety and uncertainty to incite action. Information design produces clarity, unlocking action.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

7/ Audio Looking at past experiences, we could save days of work using @SoundfulMusic or comparables to: - generate and test narrative voiceovers - generate sound effects for WebGL scenes - generate character dialogues for games

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

@GetChibiAI @buriedsignals @hellopeiying It's a good point, something I'm hoping to improve on soon!

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

1/ GPT for project management You can use it to: - produce copy and research for a pitch or client deliverable - generate idea listicles for clients or prospects - kickstart workshops and brainstorming sessions with more information, data and ideas

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

4 years

Thank you for the fact check. The tone in the article (and the title) is incendiary and biased, an anger piece with an agenda. Treating pandemic results as a competition between vastly different countries. Author has shown zero ability to acknowledge flaws...

Emanuel Karlsten

@emanuelkarlsten

4 years

Multiple errors in the New York Times article about Sweden's corona strategy @petersgoodman

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

You'll learn to run your own business. The result of which is an increase in independence, confidence and most importantly - perspective. This eliminates the anxiety we feel from having our entire lives focused on one job, to which we often attach our identities and egos. 3/8

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Passion sells. I've lost bids because competing vendors communicated more excitement for the project. This feedback has been echoed on bids with different teams and companies. Find a rational solution to the challenge, build an emotional response to its potential.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Agencies often combine the producer and project manager roles into a single person, traditionally these titles come with different responsibilities. Separating these roles would leverage each person to their fullest potential, benefitting studios immensely.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

11 months

Tight briefs. They might not look good on us but they do feel great on projects. A good ol’ brief that distills objectives and requirements, giving teams common purpose or narrative. I've lost way too much time trying to get away with loose briefs.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

9 months

@weischoice I would be applying for grant financing on the project, so yes.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

In my experience clients benefit from hard deadlines, not flexibility. Accepting late deliverables or feedback might be appreciated in the moment, but when your leniency delays the project it will damage the relationship. Visibility and accountability, occasional flexibility.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

1 year

Finally had time to start researching XR journalism! Will be producing XR adaptations for a handful of studio projects, keen to talk to anyone with hands-on experience (and possibly interview for the magazine).

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

1 year

Participants engaged most effectively with the sunburst visualization, while the beam tree and treemap demonstrated the poorest performance and were perceived as the least appealing. The sunburst highlights a correlation between aesthetics and usability in data visualization.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Project managers are specialists who use domain knowledge and processes to keep teams on track and deliver projects on time. Producers are generalists who handle uncertainty, using contextual knowledge to reconcile creative with the client's strategic goals.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

3 years

About a week away from opening the Wallrunners Academy in #Kashmir ! Thanks to all our supporters for getting us to this point.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Humans have always used stories to convey information, values and experiences. From the invention of writing to television, technology has continued to shape our stories. Now all of our inventions have converged into the computer, and the internet. Limitless stories.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

Experience stimulates proactivity because you’re familiar with the problem, but it isn't always reliable on experimental projects where the client, team, technology and creative are constantly pushing you into unfamiliar territory.

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Tom Vaillant

@_tomvaillant

2 years

6/ Video Although I haven’t tested it yet I will soon. @runwayml can apparently reduce production time on motion design and video drastically. Automatic subtitles, sound effect generation and beat detection alone would have saved me days on the last documentary.

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