#76 Magnus Møller: How Tumblehead Mastered Houdini for Animation & Built Their Studio

About this episode

Magnus Møller discusses building Tumblehead Animation Studio and the innovative use of Houdini for character animation.

In this episode, we talk with Magnus Møller, animator, 3D artist, and creative director of Tumblehead Animation Studio — an award-winning production company based in Viborg, Denmark, which he runs with his partner Peter Smith. Magnus shares how he built Tumblehead from the ground up and what it takes to run a successful animation studio. He offers practical advice on getting clients, maintaining creative freedom, and why he believes making original short films under your studio’s name is more effective than any showreel — helping attract the kind of projects and collaborators you actually want. The conversation also explores Tumblehead’s short film “Turbulence,” created with Christopher Rutledge in collaboration with SideFX to test the new Houdini animation tools. Known mainly for its VFX power, Houdini has rarely been used for character animation — until now. Magnus explains how the team built a custom Houdini animation pipeline, executed the film from start to finish inside the software, and ultimately switched their entire studio pipeline to Houdini. As he puts it, “having every department in the same software feels like living in the future.” ➡️ How to start and grow a…

People in this episode

Guest: Magnus Møller

Topics covered

• animation studio
• Houdini
• creative freedom
• short films
• Turbulence
• 3D animation

Keywords

• Tumblehead
• Houdini animation
• animation pipeline
• short films
• creative studio
• 3D artist
• VFX

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Tumblehead Animation Studio, SideFX

Books & works: Turbulence

Places: Viborg, Denmark

More episodes of The VFX Process

• #84 Nikola Todorovic: Spielberg Backed This AI Filmmaking Tool… Here’s Why · March 6, 2026 · 1h 33m
• #83 Seiji & Dave: How We Adapted a Classic Novel into an Unreal Engine Cinematic | F451 · February 20, 2026 · 1h 19m
• #82 India Barnardo: Disney Animator Shares the Truth About Successful Animation Careers · February 6, 2026 · 1h 4m
• #81 Nishaan Singh: We Hired This Blender Artist at 16... He's Now Animator of the Year · January 23, 2026 · 48 min
• #80 David Stapp: This Battlefield Cinematic Proves Unreal Engine Is the #1 Filmmaking Tool · January 9, 2026 · 1h 49m
• #79 Aaron Blaise: The Emotional Story of SNOW BEAR: A Hand-Drawn Animated Masterpiece · December 26, 2025 · 1h 12m