Rainbow Spotlight 2026
26th November, Framestore
After two years of Rainbow Conference, we're evolving.
Introducing Rainbow Spotlight - a new monthly series bringing London's Computer Graphics community together this autumn.
Three evenings. Three venues. Two talks per night.
🎬 A 20-minute spotlight — sharp industry insights, demos.
🎥 A 45-minute deep-dive — studios, projects insights.
September · October · November 2026
Framestore · FOMO House Shoreditch· Framestore
As always, all events are free to attend - because we believe knowledge should be accessible to everyone.
We know it's a tough time for many across the industry. That's exactly why we think showing up for each other matters more than ever.
Stay tuned for speakers and tickets.
The Evolution of Framestore’s Academy Award-Winning Rendering Tech
Join Framestore’s Head of Applied Machine Learning, Josh Bainbridge, as he charts the course of the studio’s layered shading system. From the initial architecture to receiving an Academy Sci-Tech Award, Josh will trace the engineering and collaborative milestones that redefined Framestore’s approach to realistic surfaces and explore how the relationship between artists and technology is shifting.
Josh Bainbridge, Head of Applied Machine Learning
Josh Bainbridge is Head of Applied Machine Learning at Framestore, where he leads the studio's machine learning team and its drive to innovate with the technology across creative production. He is helping shape Framestore's wider AI strategy, guiding how emerging tools are explored, adopted and brought into the pipeline. Over more than a decade at the studio, Josh has enabled teams and developers to build software for computer graphics and visual effects on feature film and episodic production. He has architected systems grounded in research that range from light transport and shading systems to Quasi-Monte Carlo techniques, and denoising algorithms. In 2026, Josh received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement for the design, architecture and engineering of Framestore's layered shading system, developed with Nathan Walster and used on more than 100 film and television productions. He serves as Chairman of the Technical Steering Committee for the Academy Software Foundation's OpenQMC project and as an Industry Advisory Board Member at WMG, University of Warwick.
RENO: Building a sci-fi film as a testing ground for next-generation VFX workflows by BlueBolt
Lux Aeterna is known for its award-winning visual effects on productions including The Dinosaurs, The Crown, Human, and Our Universe. With RENO, the studio took a different approach: producing its own original sci-fi short film to explore how emerging tools and production methods might reshape the VFX pipeline.
Created as both a narrative project and a technical experiment, RENO allowed the team to rethink how a traditionally post-driven VFX studio could operate within a virtual production environment. The film became a practical testing ground for new approaches to capture, environment design, and real-time filmmaking.
In this session, the Lux Aeterna team breaks down the production of RENO, from adapting their pipeline for a newly opened virtual production stage to integrating technologies such as Gaussian splat scanning, automated rotoscoping and marker removal. Through the lens of a small, high-ambition production, the talk explores how emerging tools are reshaping the relationship between production and post.
Rob Hifle, Founder & Director, Lux Aeterna
Rob has more than 25 years of industry experience, and as Creative Director at Lux Aeterna, he runs large-scale teams working across cinema and television VFX. He has built up an impressive portfolio of work, particularly in drama recon, science and natural history, which have been recognised with BAFTA, Emmy, and Royal Television Society awards. Throughout his career, Rob has continually refined his ability to understand a project's technical requirements and combine them with highly creative solutions. This powerful combination has resulted in a body of groundbreaking visual work that combines CGI VFX with location direction. Rob’s recent credits include landmark Netflix series Our Universe and BBC Studios’ 8 Days: To the Moon and Back.
Clive Llewellyn, FX Supervisor
Clive leads the technical aspects of the FX pipeline, shaping both its structure and creative direction while working closely with the FX and CG Artist. Clive, a seasoned Houdini artist and FX supervisor, has played a key role in developing scalable pipelines that support a wide spectrum of complex simulations, effects and CGI work. His portfolio includes projects such as The Dinosaurs, Solar System, The Crown, Secrets of the Neanderthals, and Our Universe.
Paul Silcox, VFX Director, Lux Aeterna
Paul has technical oversight of Lux Aeterna’s visual effects pipeline and provides creative direction to the VFX and CG supervisors. He is a skilled Houdini artist and VFX supervisor, pivotal in implementing the robust framework and VFX pipelines for diverse simulations and FX. Some of his credits include: Solar System, The Crown, Secrets of the Neanderthals, Our Universe, The Manhattan Alien Abduction and The Dinosaurs.
