To become a successful FX guy

To become a successful FX guy, do you find it necessary that you have knowledge of physics terms? If not, then which concepts must be clear?

Really FX and most areas of this industry benefit from being both technical as well as a creative artist. I wouldn’t have survived to this day if I were just a programmer or just an artist, so the real secret is bridging both of those strengths together to make you into an efficient as possible Technical Director. I tend to learn as much as I can on every subject I can, and keep myself thinking as both an artist, compositor and producer when tackling projects – as this keeps me thinking creatively as to what the client or director might want, and making sure I deliver it to the compositor in the most flexible and efficient manor so they can make the most out of every piece of work you output – and as a producer making sure everything is done as efficiently and cost effectively as possible ;) and lastly of course with as much technical knowledge as possible allows for either building tools or efficient scripts/expressions to get effects to not only work, but be easily changeable and replicatable now and on future projects.