Podcast Summary: Redefining VFX with JangaFX

Podcast: Reshaping Workflows with Dell Pro Max and NVIDIA RTX PRO GPUs
Host: Logan Lawler (Dell Technologies AI Factory with NVIDIA)
Guests: Jason Key (Principal VFX Artist & Evangelist, JangaFX), Cindy Olivo (Marketing Manager, Dell Media & Entertainment)
Date: December 18, 2025

Overview

This episode dives deep into how JangaFX is revolutionizing the visual effects (VFX) industry through its GPU-accelerated, real-time simulation tools—Embergen and Liquigen. The conversation focuses on practical workflows with Dell Pro Max workstations and NVIDIA RTX PRO GPUs, highlighting how cutting-edge hardware empowers creators to simulate fire, explosions, liquids, and more at unprecedented speed and quality. Host Logan Lawler is joined by JangaFX’s Jason Key and Dell's Cindy Olivo, offering insights into the tech, industry needs, and the future of VFX production.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction to JangaFX & Workflow Focus

• Jason Key's background: 30 years in 3D graphics, moved from engineering to games and film VFX.

  "I've been doing 3D graphics stuff... for about 30 years now... eventually migrated over to the media and entertainment and worked in games and film for the past 20 years." (03:30 – 03:46, C)

• JangaFX products:
  • Embergen: Real-time simulation of fire, explosions, steam, magic—anything gaseous.

    "Embergen is our tool for creating things like fire and explosions, steam and magics, basically anything that's a gaseous type phenomena." (02:49, C)

  • Liquigen: Real-time liquid simulation.
  • Both are standalone, highly focused, and export to DCC platforms (Unreal, Blender, Houdini, etc.).

    "You create in our tools and then you export and integrate into the other tools..." (03:30 – 04:03, C)

2. AI and Brute Force Computation

• Current approach: JangaFX tools are built on pure physics and math, leveraging GPU performance rather than AI.

  "We're not currently using anything in our tools right now. They're still based on, you know, pure physics and mathematics." (04:58, C)

• Some R&D on AI/ML for fluid simulation has been explored, and AI-generated 3D assets can be imported, but AI is not core yet.

3. GPU-First, Workstation Integration, and Performance

• Embergen/Liquigen are fully GPU-based: Real-time simulation and rendering with minimal use of CPU, designed for speed and efficiency.

  "Everything is built to be optimized and run on the GPU. So we're not even really using the CPU...when we're running everything in real time, which no one else out there is doing right now." (06:49 – 07:57, C)

• Recommended Hardware: Minimum is RTX 1080 (lower-end, lower-res possible), but modern RTX GPUs like ADA and Blackwell supercharge quality and complexity.
• Blackwell impact: New Blackwell cards (96GB VRAM) double memory, unlocks film-quality detail and massive simulations.

  "It's about twice as fast as the ADA generation...the double...VRAM is super critical...the amount of VRAM you have on a single GPU essentially controls how much detail you can get out of our tools." (12:12 – 13:17, C)

4. Technical Deep Dive—Customization & Scale

• Voxels, not pixels: Simulations are volumetric.

  "Voxels like to think of them as 3D pixels...width, height and depth...you'll see little cubes, like little Minecraft cubes. Now you never, you'll never see those in your output because we're dealing with millions and even billions sometimes of voxels." (08:14 – 08:51, C)

• Customizability: Users control flame shape, color, turbulence, and more—immediate visual feedback replaces old iterative wait cycles.

  "Yes...you have full control over the look." (09:30, C)

• Industry use:

  • Initially created for games
  • Now also critical for film, advertising, live shows (e.g., Grateful Dead, DJ sets, the Sphere in Las Vegas, Oscar visuals, NASA lunar landers, R&D, and military) (10:17 – 11:51 & 25:41 – 27:30, C)
  • Opens up effects work to new users due to speed and ease of use.

    "...people in the industry are picking it up that have, that are experienced, but we've also opened up this new market of people that would never be able to do it because the time investment and the expertise required just doesn't make sense..." (10:17 – 11:51, C)

• Simulation scale:

  • Ranges from a "match" to nuclear explosions like Tsar Bomba—only limited by GPU memory and optimization.

    "It really can go. That is the scale from a match all the way up to a nuclear explosion, basically." (22:07 – 22:16, B & C)

• Mixing fire and water: Simulated separately and composited for complex scenes.

  "So you would...simulate those separately and then put them together in another tool...all VFX are smoke and mirrors." (24:28 – 25:21, C)

5. Comparison to Other VFX Tools (Houdini, Unreal)

• Embergen/Liquigen: Extremely focused, easy to use, optimized for single-task, real-time GPU workflow.
• Others like Houdini: Broader, extremely customizable, but CPU-heavy and much slower to iterate.

  "So we're not only simulating in real time, but we're also rendering in real time. So you're getting, you're seeing like the blue flames fading to red. All that stuff is being done in milliseconds versus minutes or hours." (17:34 – 19:11, C)

6. Future Roadmap & Requests

• USD Support: Highly requested, on the roadmap; technically complex to implement.

  "So it's on our roadmap. We do get asked about it a lot...but we do have it in our plans." (22:27 – 22:45, C)

• Most-requested feature: Ability to direct simulations along drawn spline paths (e.g., for fire tornadoes).

  "A lot of times we get asked about spline paths. So for instance, if you want to direct a fire tornado along a specific curve..." (23:06, C)

• New tools in suite:

  • Geogen: Procedural landscapes.
  • Illugen: Procedural textures for game VFX.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On brute force and GPUs:

  "We are doing things with just pure brute force, which I thought was really funny." (04:24, A)

• On real-time benefit:

  "When you're able to see the results in real time, it allows people to iterate so much faster." (17:34 – 19:11, C)

• On industry impact and accessibility:

  "We're kind of...people in the industry are picking it up that have...experience, but we've also opened up this new market of people that would never be able to do it because the time investment and the expertise required just doesn't make sense..." (10:17 – 11:51, C)

• On simulation scale:

  "That is the scale from a match all the way up to a nuclear explosion, basically." (22:07 – 22:16, C)

• On USD file support:

  "It's a pretty tough format to tackle...we do get asked about it and we do have it in our plans." (22:27 – 22:45, C)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:30 – Jason Key on his history and JangaFX’s product goals
• 04:58 – No AI in core, GPU brute force approach
• 06:49 – Minimum and optimal hardware for workflows
• 07:57 – Explanation of voxels vs pixels
• 09:30 – Customizing fire/water/smoke in detail
• 10:17 – Industry adoption beyond games
• 12:12 – Impact of new NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs
• 14:52 – Real-world vs simulated effects and time-lapse controls
• 17:34 – Comparing Embergen to Houdini (focus, speed, iteration)
• 19:30 – Simulation limits and upcoming sparse simulation optimizations
• 21:44 – Maximum scale: match to nuclear explosion
• 23:06 – Most-requested features (spline paths)
• 24:28 – Simulating combined fire and water scenes
• 25:41 – Wild, cross-industry use cases
• 27:56 – Jason’s final pitch/recap
• 29:07 – Where to try/download and find Jason online

More Info & Links

• Try the tools: jengafx.com

  "Just go to JengaFX.com...and you can download any of our tools for free to try." (29:07, C)

• Find Jason Key: jasonkey.com

Tone and Vibe

• Conversational and technical, with lighthearted banter especially around breaking hardware and the limits of VFX ("Can you make a nuke?").
• Speakers emphasize accessibility, innovation, and the importance of iteration speed.
• Appreciative of partnerships (Dell, NVIDIA) and the opportunities created by new hardware advances.
• Forward-looking, with excitement over feature requests and industry evolution.

Essential Takeaways

• JangaFX’s tools—Embergen & Liquigen—enable real-time, GPU-powered VFX simulations for games, film, and more, fundamentally changing workflow speed and accessibility.
• Dell Pro Max and NVIDIA RTX GPUs, especially with new Blackwell architecture, unlock new creative and technical horizons—doubling detail, speed, and complexity.
• These advancements lower barriers to entry, enabling not just VFX pros but also new industries and creators to apply advanced simulation in their work.
• Future priorities include broader support (USD files), greater control (spline path animations), and continual hardware-driven scale and performance increases.

Episode Recap Quote from Jason Key:

"JengaFX, we make real time software tools for the visual effects industry...Everything we build is highly optimized for the GPU and we really appreciate Dell's help in getting us the latest hardware and GPUs and everything to, to show it off..." (27:56, C)