When Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots comes out June 12 for the PS3, our favourite grizzled soldier, Solid Snake, will be reunited with some old comrades. (Someone has to be there to yell “SNAAAAAKE?!” over the Codec, after all.) And as it happens, the game also gave two friends from their VFS days a chance to work together.

3D Animation & Visual Effects grads Yuta Shimizu and Joshua Herrig both worked out of Logan on the game’s cinematics. Along with Nick Smalley, Cory Bradshaw, Carlos Villarreal Kwasek, Lloyd Colaco, and Simon Young, they’re members of dutchTilt: a cooperative they formed as a way to continue their collaboration and keep in touch.

And keep in touch they do, though they’re scattered all over the world, working on all kinds of projects. So for Josh and Yuta, their brief time at Logan was an opportunity they couldn’t pass up. “Yuta and I became great friends at VFS and actually sat next to each other all the way through our time in the Ant Farm,” says Josh. “I keep trying to convince Nick and Carlos to come out to LA as well, as I’d love the chance to work with those former VFSers in any capacity!”

So with Metal Gear Solid 4 about to drop, we caught up with the pair to ask about their experience - collaborating “in real life”.

What’s it like to go from sitting side-by-side in the Ant Farm to working together on a professional production? Do you make your coworkers jealous with your in-jokes and ultra-secret VFS handshakes and Larry Bafia impersonations?

Josh: Ha ha ha ha! It was actually really cool, because there was a certain comfort level from day one. I didn’t feel like a random freelancer. I made some really great friends at VFS and I truly can’t wait to work with them in production.

I have worked a few places, and to be honest, there is a work ethic that the VFS students have that I just don’t see in many other artists I’ve worked with. And only Simon Young can do a good Larry impersonation!

Yuta: I didn’t feel any different working together with Josh in the Ant Farm or Logan. But it is very different from working with just co-workers - it’s simply really fun to work with a friend and really easy to say, “That looks really bad!”

I think the greatest thing working with such a close friend is that you are always competitive but helpful at the same time. We both want each other to be a better artist all the time and learn from each other. Or… do you wanna be better only yourself, Josh? Then I will steal your skill!

Maybe you could describe what your roles on Metal Gear Solid 4 actually were.

Josh: On the Metal Gear Solid cinematics I was brought in as a Lighter/Shader, but after they realized I had RealFlow experience, they quickly had me on some simulations. After working with the fluids, I moved on to rigid body dynamics in Maya. So I basically did the complete opposite of what i was brought in for! Typical small production, I guess.

Yuta: I was pretty much the generalist, as I always have been. Mostly I was responsible for look development from various aspects such as modeling, texturing, shading, FX and shot previz.

What have you been working on since MGS4, and what’s next for you?

Yuta: After working at Logan, I moved back to Germany, where I was before, and worked on a couple of TV commercials as a VFX artist. Also I worked on a couple of film projects with the directors who didn’t have a big budget but great passion for the films.

Now I am back in Vancouver and just starting at Zoic to work on their new films and TV series.

Josh: After those cinematics, I took a couple months off and decompressed in Germany and Austria. I came back to Rhythm & Hues to be a Lighter on the new Hulk film. [ed. note: stay tuned for more about Hulk!] I’m not sure what’s next. I’d most likely work on Land of the Lost with Will Ferrell. But first I’m taking another 6 weeks off to go back to Germany.

Yuta: My next would be the finishing short film/VFX short I am directing. Well… directing is too cool a word for me. I’m just working by myself. Ha ha ha!