Animation & Visual Effects Videos Hacker News Recommends
Animation & visual effects videos on HackerTube: the talks, lectures and explainers Hacker News commenters keep sharing, covering 3D animation, Blender, Pixar, motion tracking, compositing, CGI breakdowns, practical effects, virtual production, motion graphics, after effects.
64 videos · ranked by HN recommendations · showing 1–48
Most recommended animation & visual effects videos
The ones HN returns to most often when a thread turns to this topic.
explainer#27The Beauty of Bézier Curves
Freya Holmér
“it's genuinely one of the best math/graphics/explainer videos ever made”
16 HN recommenders · 2021–2026
talk#101Ed Catmull, Pixar: Keep Your Crises Small
Stanford Graduate School of Business
“one of the most useful talks of all time for building organizations is by Ed Catmull (of Pixar)”
9 HN recommenders · 2010–2017
interview#195"Money doesn't interest me" - Ton Roosendaal 2017 Interview
Blender Guru
“I highly encourage to watch the whole interview”
7 HN recommenders · 2018–2025
other#309DNA animation (2002-2014) by Drew Berry and Etsuko Uno wehi.tv #ScienceArt
WEHImovies
“Seeing the mechanical nature of gene transciption and chemical signaling blew my mind.”
9 HN recommenders · 2020–2026
explainer#387"NO CGI" is really just INVISIBLE CGI - 1
The Movie Rabbit Hole
“I highly recommend this 5-part essay series”
6 HN recommenders · 2024–2026
talk#522Captain Disillusion: World's Greatest Blenderer - Live at the Blender Conference 2018
Captain Disillusion
“this is a must watch for inspiration and laughs”
4 HN recommenders · 2019–2022
demo#612The Inner Life of the Cell Animation
XVIVO Scientific Animation
“For anyone who hasn't already seen it, I highly recommend The Inner Life of a Cell”
5 HN recommenders · 2017–2024
talk#710World Building in Blender - Ian Hubert
Blender
4 HN recommenders · 2019–2026
tutorial#851Learn Low Poly Modeling in Blender 2.9 / 2.8
Imphenzia
“until this tut by Imphenzia, which made me comfortable in under 2 hours”
4 HN recommenders · 2020–2025
documentary#972How Prince of Persia Defeated Apple II's Memory Limitations | War Stories | Ars Technica
Ars Technica
“Essential viewing for anyone interested in game development history.”
5 HN recommenders · 2020–2026
explainer#1116Chinese Invisibility Cloak Hoax DESTROYED!!!
Captain Disillusion
“My favorite video about green screens and chroma keying, from Captain Disillusion”
4 HN recommenders · 2021–2025
explainer#1249CD / Color
Captain Disillusion
“I went looking for an understanding of how color works in video systems, and ran across this gem from Captain Disillusion”
3 HN recommenders · 2020–2021
tutorial#1311Wild Tricks for Greenscreen in Blender
IanHubert
“My favourite guides of his are not in the Lazy Tutorials playlist, though.”
3 HN recommenders · 2020–2026
other#1320[4k, 60 fps] San Francisco, a Trip down Market Street, April 14, 1906
Denis Shiryaev
“You can see pedestrians, horse-drawn carriages, and early automobiles all "flowing" together.”
3 HN recommenders · 2020–2023
tutorial#1392Blender Motion Tracking - Room Transformation!
IanHubert
“This video of his really opened my eyes to what Blender can do”
4 HN recommenders · 2020–2022
tutorial#1401Blender 3.0 Beginner Tutorial - Part 1
Blender Guru
“the Donut tutorial is great.”
4 HN recommenders · 2022–2023
documentary#1434Flight of the Navigator | VFXcool
Captain Disillusion
“I highly recommend this video on the making of Flight of the Navigator.”
3 HN recommenders · 2021–2025
explainer#1570Prius Hybrid Drive Explained
Niels Blaauw
“here’s a great video explaining how it really works. It blew my mind...”
3 HN recommenders · 2019–2024
demo#1583ANIME ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS
Corridor Digital
“the quality of the animation (modulo some instability in shadows) is mind blowing”
3 HN recommenders · 2023–2026
explainer#1599How does a Bowling Pinsetter Machine work? (Brunswick GS-X)
Jared Owen
“some of the best I've ever seen, and relatively recent.”
4 HN recommenders · 2023–2026
documentary#1600They Shall Not Grow Old – New Trailer – Now Playing In Theaters
Warner Bros.
“It's really incredible and makes the war (which was only 100 years ago) feel much more modern than old black and white footage.”
3 HN recommenders · 2019–2023
demo#1716Stargate Studios Virtual Backlot Reel 2009
Stargate Studios
“This is an amazing demo reel of effects shots used in "mundane" TV shows”
3 HN recommenders · 2013–2024
demo#1821How I animate 3Blue1Brown | A Manim demo with Ben Sparks
3Blue1Brown
“I want to highlight the demo video [0], where Grant explains how he works with Manim.”
3 HN recommenders · 2024–2026
talk#2015Classic Game Postmortem - Another World
GDC Festival of Gaming
“it's one of the better GDC talks”
4 HN recommenders · 2020–2023
talk#2032Animation Bootcamp: An Indie Approach to Procedural Animation
GDC Festival of Gaming
“Here's a video I've enjoyed of David Rosen giving a presentation at Game Developers Conference 2014”
4 HN recommenders · 2021–2026
demo#2038Salad Mug - DYNAMO DREAM, Ep1
IanHubert
“I always post this link when Blender is discussed because it's so impressive.”
3 HN recommenders · 2021–2023
commentary#2058VFX Artists React to DUNE Bad & Great CGi
Corridor Crew
“a really good example of this is this comparison between the old and new Dune movies”
4 HN recommenders · 2021–2023
explainer#2150Smoother animation ≠ Better animation [read pinned comment]
Noodle
“A really good video on the subject”
4 HN recommenders · 2022–2024
documentary#2162HBO Intro - Behind the Scenes
archivefilms
“looks CGI but is entirely physical models, motion controlled cameras, and clever compositing”
3 HN recommenders · 2019–2025
commentary#2166Why CG Sucks (Except It Doesn't)
RocketJump Film School
“This video from a few years ago is a great counterpoint”
3 HN recommenders · 2017–2023
explainer#2189Disney's Practical Guide to Path Tracing
Walt Disney Animation Studios
“here's a great Disney video introducing path tracing”
3 HN recommenders · 2017–2021
explainer#2259Satoshi Kon - Editing Space & Time
Every Frame a Painting
“Watch Every Frame a Painting’s video[1] and pick any movie.”
3 HN recommenders · 2016–2022
tutorial#230112 Principles of Animation (Official Full Series)
AlanBeckerTutorials
“The video I linked will help the animation more compelling for the viewer.”
3 HN recommenders · 2018–2024
music#2372Philip Glass - Sesame Street - Geometry of Circles.mp4
SamCam2011
“Philip Glass scored an animation for Sesame Street.”
2 HN recommenders · 2018–2023
interview#2400How Toy Story 2 Almost Got Deleted: Stories From Pixar Animation: ENTV
@HOLLYWOOD
“which I highly recommend if you are in storage, DevOps or SRE”
2 HN recommenders · 2016–2026
explainer#2409Back to the Future | VFXcool (1/2)
Captain Disillusion
“is a really good yet succinct documentary on it”
2 HN recommenders · 2018–2024
explainer#2457The Uncanny Valley Is Wrong
This Place
“here's an amazing video making a convincing argument that "Uncanny Valley" isn't a thing”
2 HN recommenders · 2021
explainer#2526This Invention Made Disney MILLIONS, but Then They LOST It!
Corridor Crew
“is a fantastic watch.”
2 HN recommenders · 2025–2026
demo#2639HERO – Blender Grease Pencil Showcase
Blender
“the demo the foundation commissioned was amazing. I love how seamlessly they mix the 3D in with the direct illustration.”
2 HN recommenders · 2018–2021
music#2805Kylie Minogue - Come Into My World (Official Video) [Full HD Remastered]
Kylie Minogue
“One of the best music videos, in my opinion.”
2 HN recommenders · 2018–2025
commentary#2938YMS: Kimba the White Lion
YMS
“Here's a nearly 3 hour video from someone whose Special Interest is The Lion King where he researches the claims that it's ripping off Kimba.”
2 HN recommenders · 2020–2024
other#2974🏆Award Winning🏆 CGI 3D Animated Short Film: "LAST DAY OF WAR" by Dima Fedotov | TheCGBros
TheCGBros
“I think that scifi shorts have the duty and power to show us the paths that certain developments entail.”
1 HN recommenders · 2018–2023
documentary#3177Walt Disney's MultiPlane Camera (Filmed: Feb. 13, 1957)
fireurgunz
“Here's a fascinating video in which Walt Disney showcases how his multiplane camera worked”
2 HN recommenders · 2019–2024
comedy#3231Bill Hader impersonates Arnold Schwarzenegger [DeepFake]
Ctrl Shift Face
“this DeepFake video (SFW) is the most impressive I've seen so far”
2 HN recommenders · 2019–2022
documentary#3296The Virtual Production of The Mandalorian Season One
Industrial Light & Magic
“This video has a lot of examples”
3 HN recommenders · 2020–2023
music#3515Shop Vac (kinetic typography animation)
jmheather
“this amazing piece of kinetic typography / video done to Jonathan Coulton's Shop-Vac”
2 HN recommenders · 2011–2023
other#3592Nuggets
Filmbilder & Friends
“Here is a perfect video to do that”
1 HN recommenders · 2022–2026
explainer#3646This 30-Year-Old Terminator VFX BLEW OUR MINDS!
Corridor Crew
“Highly recommend to watch their video.”
1 HN recommenders · 2021–2022
Channels HN cites most for animation & visual effects
Each channel page lists every video of theirs that HN recommends.
More in Design, Graphics & Visual Media