Week 1 Reflection - Pipelines & Industry

The first week covered the rendering pipeline fundamentals I've been meaning to write up for years. Here's what I learned from actually doing it.

What I Covered

The theme for the first block was Pipelines & Industry. Shadow proxies and occlusion culling had been on my list for a while - I knew what I wanted to say, but I'd kept putting it off. Breaking them into smaller posts made them more manageable to write, though in practice I went deeper than I'd initially planned to make sure the concepts actually came across.

The industry and career posts were a different kind of challenge. Those came from real experiences, which makes them easier in some ways and harder in others - you want to be honest without being uncharitable.

What I Cut

A few topics didn't make it into the first week. I had originally planned to demonstrate some of the Substance and shader tools I've built that have set projects up for success, and some rendering techniques with real examples. The short turnaround time was part of it, but so was the need to ask for permission from previous projects before sharing anything. I'd rather do those topics properly than rush them. If time allows, they'll show up later in the experiment.

What Writing at Pace Actually Feels Like

Consistent output requires momentum, and momentum takes a few days to build. Part of why I decided not to post on weekends is to give myself space to recharge and think about where to take things next. An extra consideration for me is that English isn't my first language, so proofreading and spell-checking adds time to every post. It's manageable, but it's worth naming.

What's Next

Block 2 moves into materials and how I approach material creation at a studio. I’d also like to revisit some of the more technical topics from this week in more depth if the interest is there. Let me know which ones you’d find useful.

© 2026 Stefan Groenewoud - All views are my own, not those of my employer.