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OUR MISSION

At Digital Frontier FX (DFFX), our mission is to empower storytellers through world-class visual effects, virtual production, and cutting-edge AI integration. From concept to final pixel, we serve as a creative and technical partner for content creators at every stage of the production pipeline.

We deliver high-impact visuals by nurturing a team of passionate artists — blending emerging talent with industry veterans to push boundaries in animation, simulation, and real-time workflows. With over 30 years of combined experience, our leadership guides each project with precision, creativity, and efficiency.

We’re committed to using the most advanced tools and methodologies to streamline production, optimize budgets, and exceed expectations — all while keeping client satisfaction at the core of everything we do.

At DFFX, we don’t just deliver effects — we help craft innovative, immersive, and memorable visual experiences that elevate every story we touch.

Our Services

Pre-Production & Virtual Production

We provide a wide range of pre-production services including:

Storyboarding
Concept Development
Previsualization (Previs) & PostVis
Virtual Production Planning

On-premise, our facility features a 28' x 20' x 10' Vicon motion capture stage and a 54-camera photogrammetry/gaussian splat rig, designed for high-fidelity scans of talent or props. These tools allow us to generate rapid asset builds or capture precise datasets that can be used for training AI models such as LORAs — giving you deeper control over generative AI workflows.

Our Unreal-powered virtual production pipeline enables real-time Previs creation, mocap-to-AI workflows, and the flexibility to iterate faster with maximum creative freedom.

Traditional VFX Services

Since 2013, our experienced VFX team has delivered high-end visuals across features, episodics, and commercials. We specialize in:

3D crowd simulations
Creature animation & digital doubles
Magical and destruction FX (fire, smoke, explosions)
Set extensions & environment creation
Plate cleanup & compositing for vehicle and greenscreen shots

We also provide on-set supervision and pre-production VFX breakdowns and budgeting to ensure seamless integration from shoot to post.

Volumetric Capture & Animated Gaussian Splats

At the heart of our studio is a cutting-edge 54-camera 4D video/photogrammetry rig, purpose-built for volumetric capture. What makes our system unique is its ability to generate animated Gaussian splats — a lightweight, neural point cloud representation of actors or props that captures both geometry and surface detail in motion.

These splats can be:

Re-lit in real-time or in post using custom lighting setups
Integrated seamlessly into Unreal Engine virtual production environments
Used for traditional VFX comp workflows, replacing green screen or stand-in assets
Leveraged as training data for AI models such as LORAs or diffusion-based face/body doubles

This 4D capture system enables fast, high-fidelity digital doubles and performance capture without the overhead of full mesh-based CG pipelines — dramatically reducing turnaround time and cost, while maintaining cinematic quality.

Whether you're visualizing a scene before shooting, capturing a one-of-a-kind performance, or building an AI-driven workflow, our volumetric pipeline gives you an unprecedented level of creative control and technical flexibility.

AI Integration & Machine Learning Pipelines

At DFFX, we’re embracing the future of content creation. Our evolving AI/ML toolset enhances workflows in:

Face replacements
Digital doubles
AI-driven beauty work

We’re committed to responsible and ethical use of AI, always guided by creativity and collaboration.

Let's Build Something Together

Whether you're producing a commercial, feature film, episodic series, or exploring the new frontier of AI-generated content, DFFX is ready to be your creative partner. From storyboards to final pixels — or training data to real-time renders — we’d love to hear how we can support your next project.

Our Work

Company Reel

Feature Films

Episodics

Commercials

Short Films

Our Clients

About Us

WHY DFFX STARTED

Life partners Chad and Jaimie Finnerty, formed Digital Frontier FX in 2013 with the goal to find a solution to the ever shrinking visual effects job market in Los Angeles.
As more visual effects work is awarded to companies providing tax incentives in Canada, the UK, and Australia DFFX strives to build a company that will keep work in Los Angeles. We provide competitive pricing and high quality products that will keep our clients coming back.
With Chad and Jaimie’s combined experience of over 30 years in visual effects they continue to build a tight knit family of artists that like themselves, want to bring creative visions to life in the movie capital of the world.

Chad Finnerty, owner / vfx supervisor

Chad has been a key team member in the creation of some of the most memorable visual effects feature films. In 2006, Chad and fellow artists on the team earned an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for the film Happy Feet.

As a Digital Artist at the award-winning visual effects studio, Digital Domain, Chad served as a Crowd Simulation Lead, Animation Lead, and Motion Capture Lead. He has contributed to Clint Eastwood films including Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima.

Chad’s feature film experience also includes work with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and the Roland Emmerich blockbuster, 2012.

As the Animation Supervisor at Pixomondo, Chad had the pleasure to work on the feature films Star Trek: Into Darkness and After Earth.

Before forming Digital Frontier FX he entered new territory, directing the Previsualization and Animation for the Wanda Group’s “Space” theme park ride in China.

Chad has outstanding experience in designing and coding robust animation pipelines. He is well versed in lighting and compositing. With an expert eye for camera design, he can plan, direct, and execute motion capture shoots. Chad’s true passion is animation, which allows him to blend motion and emotion: to bring a story to life.

Jaimie Lee Finnerty , owner / vfx producer

Jaimie Lee Finnerty has over 15 years of experience in visual effects production management. She began her career in the late 1990s as a receptionist at Digital Domain. She was inspired by the studio’s groundbreaking work on James Cameron’s Titanic, and chose to pursue the production side of visual effects. She has worked at some of largest VFX studios in the world including DreamWorks Animation, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Rhythm & Hues Studios, Zoic Studios and Tippett Studio.

Jaimie’s exceptional list of films credits include the first Transformers, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and Matrix Revolutions. In addition to live-action films, Jaimie has also contributed to entirely computer-generated projects such as Open Season, along with heavy character animation in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.

More recently, Jaimie’s passion for films has spilled into the commercials and episodic world, allowing her to deliver film-quality VFX within shorter timeframes and tighter budgets. The Emmy Award-winning series, Dragons: Riders of Berk, is one example of Jaimie’s contribution to television. With her all-encompassing experience, Jaimie aims to ensure the timely, accurate, and cost-effective production of every client’s uniquely creative vision.

AHMET ZAPPA , CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER

Ahmet ☥ Zappa is an entrepreneur, NY Times Best Selling Author, film and television screenwriter, director, producer, inventor and futurist. He also runs the extensive Frank Zappa estate through the Zappa Trust as co-Trustee.

Zappa consults or partners with a variety of businesses and brands often creating content for their marketing strategies. He helped form the company Blk-Ops which has made a significant amount of Microsoft’s commercials since 2014. As a creative, he stays involved from pre-production to post-production on all projects.

As a Co-Trustee he manages and administers all assets of the Frank Zappa business. This includes recordings, publishing, name image and likeness as well as furthering the Zappa business and trademarks in the marketplace.

Under his entertainment shingle, Monsterfoot Productions, he conceived the story, developed and produced “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” for Walt Disney Pictures. He also originated the ideas and wrote the screenplays for “Monster Witness Relocation Program” and “Tiki.” At Sony Pictures, he is producing the movies “Dodge & Twist” and “Savage Planet.”

Zappa wrote the critically acclaimed novel “The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless,” the picture book “Because I’m Your Dad,” graphic novels and co-created the new Disney brand and book series “Star Darlings” with his wife.

Zappa began his TV writing career working on short form, comedic web content for various production companies and animation studios. He then moved into scripting family content, sitcoms, action oriented dramas as well as supernatural and science fiction based high concept television shows.

Zappa has written and produced songs for animation, recorded tracks for motion picture soundtracks, scored the music for commercials, web series, reality series, specials and other television projects . He has been a member of a few bands, made a handful of albums and music videos and also toured the globe playing his music.

Contact Us

General Inquiries: info@digitalfrontierfx.com
Submit reels and resumes: jobs@digitalfrontierfx.com

DFFX - LA
1633 S La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90035

Phone: (310) 596-4507