Co-Founder & Training Architect
Founder of SimplyMaya & The Simply Sites Group
The man who built one of the internet's longest-running VFX training communities — and who understands better than anyone why video tutorials alone will never be enough.
In 1999, David James launched SimplyMaya — one of the earliest dedicated online training platforms for 3D and VFX artists. Long before video learning became an industry in itself, David was building the infrastructure, the curriculum, and the community that would help tens of thousands of artists find their footing in the industry.
Over the next 25 years, SimplyMaya and the wider Simply Sites Group grew into a network of over 300,000 members: artists at every level, from complete beginners to working professionals, sharing knowledge, seeking feedback, and supporting one another through the real challenges of learning a craft that changes every year. It was not just a training site — it was a community that shaped careers.
But after two and a half decades at the front line of VFX education, David arrived at an uncomfortable conclusion: the model was broken. Video tutorials, however well-produced, cannot replicate the feedback loop of real production. Artists were finishing courses, building reels, and still arriving at studios without the problem-solving instincts or professional habits that the work actually demands. The gap between training and employment was not getting smaller — it was getting wider.
That insight is what brought David and Jason Edwards together to found The VFX Bridge. Not to abandon what online learning does well, but to build something it has always lacked: structured mentorship, professional grading, and the production-hardened feedback cycle that only comes from someone who has lived it.
SimplyMaya closed its doors but its legacy lives on. The community forums remain online as a historical archive, and the complete library of video training content has been made freely available as a thank-you to the community that built it. Visit the archive →
A career spent creating the tools, communities, and platforms that shaped a generation of VFX talent.
David launches one of the internet's first dedicated Maya and VFX training platforms — years before online education became mainstream. The focus from day one: practical skills for artists who want to work in the industry.
SimplyMaya expands beyond tutorials into a thriving forum community. Artists from around the world connect to share work, troubleshoot problems, and support each other's development — building something no single course could replicate.
David expands his operation into the Simply Sites Group — a network of training and community platforms that collectively grew to over 300,000 members and ran for more than two decades, covering a broad spectrum of 3D and VFX disciplines.
After 25 years, David closes SimplyMaya's doors — not out of failure, but out of conviction. Watching thousands of artists complete courses and still struggle to land jobs, he concludes that passive video learning in isolation cannot close the gap between education and employment.
Partnering with Jason Edwards, David applies everything learned over 25 years of running training platforms to build something fundamentally different: a mentorship-first programme designed not to teach software, but to produce production-ready artists.
From the co-founder
"I spent 25 years making video training as good as it could possibly be. And I watched thousands of talented artists finish our courses and still struggle to get hired. That told me something important: the problem was never the content. It was the absence of real mentorship, real feedback, and real production standards. That's the gap The VFX Bridge exists to fill."
Building SimplyMaya taught David everything about what online learning can do for an artist — and everything it cannot. A well-produced tutorial can demonstrate a technique. It cannot tell you when your topology is wrong, why your shot isn't reading, or how to behave when a Lead gives you a note you disagree with.
Those things only come from people. From mentors who have been on a studio floor, who know what a production pipeline actually demands, and who are willing to give honest, professional-grade feedback rather than encouragement. That is the missing ingredient that The VFX Bridge was built to provide.
David brings to The VFX Bridge not just two decades of experience building learning platforms, but a clear-eyed understanding of where traditional training ends and real preparation begins — and an uncompromising commitment to making sure every artist who trains with us crosses that line.
Two founders. 45+ years of combined experience. One mission.
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