The landscape of computer graphics and all related industries would not be possible to imagine without a powerhouse like Autodesk. This is why we at CGA Belgrade are honored to have their support year after year in different roles, including the most recent, our Diamond Partner.
In 2025, the Autodesk crew came to CGA Belgrade to share insights and expertise on some of their most beloved tools, like Autodesk Maya, its Bifrost plug-in for creating custom effects and powerful USD workflows. They also introduced us to the latest features in their palette, such as Autodesk Flow Studio (formerly Wonder Studio), an innovative AI toolset that can turn any footage into live-action animated scenes, or an array of Goalem products that make it easy to build a crowd of directable digital characters. These were followed by breakdowns of some high-profile projects such as Game of Thrones.
Overall, Autodesk brought an outstanding group of speakers. For Roland Reyer, this was his third CGA, and though much has changed since his last visit, he was again focused on Bifrost. John Paul Giancarlo was also back for the second time around, so our attendees got a chance to learn about Maya and its production pipelines.
Find sessions from the previous years featuring Roland Reyer and John Paul Giancarlo
on our YouTube channel.
On the other hand, this would be the first CGA for Nicolas Chaverou of Goalem (now an Autodesk company). This award-winning virtuoso on crowd simulation delivered two talks to show us how crowds were manipulated in Game of Thrones and other cinematic gems. Finally, on the stage of our main conference track, we were honored to introduce Milutin Sekulić of Wonder Dynamics, an Autodesk company, known for its innovative AI-powered VFX software that provides body and facial animation, lighting, and camera tracking data that works with various tools for content creation.
Yet, this was not our first introduction to either this innovative tool or to Milutin. Once a knowledge-thirsty student at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, Milutin is now an experienced Machine Learning Engineer at Autodesk. His first encounter with the world of VFX came at the inaugural CGA Belgrade. When our conference launched on a smaller scale in 2017, the Autodesk team, led by Nikola Milošević, Senior Product Manager, was there to kick things off and be the first to support us. The team also shared generous insights into color management and developments behind their 3D tools, which strongly resonated with students and younger participants. Nikola now fondly remembers this encounter – here’s how he described it:
“I was genuinely surprised, here was a student asking deeply technical yet customer-focused questions… That really stuck with men. I even said that he had a great future ahead, and I wasn’t just being polite. I remember calling out a few seasoned professionals in the room, pointing out how his question matched, if not exceeded, the complexity you’d expect from someone with much more experience.”
Today, Milutin states that his experience at the first CGA helped him choose his career path, eventually leading him to contribute to Autodesk Flow Studio.
It is striking to witness the Autodesk team now exploring the transformative power of AI, especially considering that at the previous edition of our conference, Eric Bourque, VP of Content Creation at Autodesk, offered a visionary perspective on the future trajectory of the creative industries:
“I think, when we look to the future, what’s really important is to try to take the technology away from the art. I think, looking forward, what becomes interesting is how artificial intelligence comes into this equation. Because I think artists are used to tuning things they understand, and with AI, they’re tuning things, but it’s kind of a black box. And so, how do we learn to use those black boxes to sort of get the ideas out of our heads to create compelling images?”
Both Autodesk and CGA share a deep commitment to supporting young talent, expanding the creative community, and fostering knowledge exchange. Together, we continue to create spaces where emerging creators can learn, connect, and grow, empowering the next generation to shape the future of Media and Entertainment.
Autodesk’s Media and Entertainment software collection includes some of the most popular tools for 3D modeling, visual effects, and game development, like Maya, Goalem, 3ds Max, Arnold, Mudbox, and MotionBuilder
