Rahul Dabholkar
How did you get into the industry? Where are you working now?
I started my career in 1996 when 2D animation was still in demand. Soon after I graduated from the University completing a BFA in Graphic design and Illustration I was hired by a 2D Animation Company and I was trained on board. I was soon promoted as a Lead Animator. I worked there for 3 years. In the year 1999 2D animation market was unfortunately drying up and 3d Computer animation was growing big with movies like Jurassic Park, Toy Story, Antz and Bugs life's doing incredibly well at the box office. I had decided then that I wanted to work for these amazingly talented studios. Obvious choice was to take my 2 dimensional drawing skills/ knowledge and translate it to 3 dimensional computer world. I choose to do a Diploma in Computer Animation from Van Arts in Vancouver, Canada. I got my first gig even before I graduated which helped me boost my confidence.
I started my career in 1996 when 2D animation was still in demand. Soon after I graduated from the University completing a BFA in Graphic design and Illustration I was hired by a 2D Animation Company and I was trained on board. I was soon promoted as a Lead Animator. I worked there for 3 years. In the year 1999 2D animation market was unfortunately drying up and 3d Computer animation was growing big with movies like Jurassic Park, Toy Story, Antz and Bugs life's doing incredibly well at the box office. I had decided then that I wanted to work for these amazingly talented studios. Obvious choice was to take my 2 dimensional drawing skills/ knowledge and translate it to 3 dimensional computer world. I choose to do a Diploma in Computer Animation from Van Arts in Vancouver, Canada. I got my first gig even before I graduated which helped me boost my confidence.
What do you think employers are looking for in an entry level applicant?I think at all levels the employers are always looking for someone who is dedicated to his job and at the same time is a good team player. You can be the best animator but not having the right attitude to work in a team or take critiques well might stagnate your career prospect. Bad reputation spreads like a fire and that's the last thing anyone would want. Besides that as mentioned earlier stay true to the position you apply for. If you are an animator only focus your reel towards character animation spending less or no time on lighting and renders. Show your best shots only even if that makes your reel short.
I moved to LA last August from London, England where I was the Animation Lead at Framestore CFC working on Tale of Despereaux. I am presently working as a Senior Animator at Sony Pictures Imageworks on Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs. Soon after Cloudy, I will start working as a Senior Animator on Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. I am extremely excited about both these shows.
Do you feel the 3D industry has a stable career path?
Animation is not for the weak hearts. It can be an unstable industry to be in. Most of the time especially in today’s economic conditions your job contracts typically last up to 6-12 months. Sometimes you also have to make a big move to different countries to find your next gig. This mostly happens a lot with the movie industry. However, I've heard from my friends who work in the video game industry that gaming is very stable. I personally have been very fortunate to be offered long term positions in the movie industry. The joy of watching your shots on a big screen and have the audience react to it in a positive way gives you tremendous joy.
Animation is not for the weak hearts. It can be an unstable industry to be in. Most of the time especially in today’s economic conditions your job contracts typically last up to 6-12 months. Sometimes you also have to make a big move to different countries to find your next gig. This mostly happens a lot with the movie industry. However, I've heard from my friends who work in the video game industry that gaming is very stable. I personally have been very fortunate to be offered long term positions in the movie industry. The joy of watching your shots on a big screen and have the audience react to it in a positive way gives you tremendous joy.
Is formal training and qualifications important?
It's always ideal to have some strong 2D and acting training to be a successful animator. I got trained in 2D animation on the job and my stage acting background has helped me with the animation performance. But I did have 5 years of BFA in Illustrations which helped tremendously.
It's always ideal to have some strong 2D and acting training to be a successful animator. I got trained in 2D animation on the job and my stage acting background has helped me with the animation performance. But I did have 5 years of BFA in Illustrations which helped tremendously.
Can you tell me more about your first job in the computer graphics industry?
My first job in 3D animation was at Sirius Animation in Vancouver, Canada. I was extremely excited as I landed my first job even before I graduated. I was hired as a junior level animator to work on a TV Show called The Elf King. It was a great learning experience.
My first job in 3D animation was at Sirius Animation in Vancouver, Canada. I was extremely excited as I landed my first job even before I graduated. I was hired as a junior level animator to work on a TV Show called The Elf King. It was a great learning experience.
What made you specialize in your particular discipline?
As a kid I loved drawing, capturing everything I saw on paper, loved performance art for e.g. dancing and acting. Of course being a kid I had no clue how this was going to add up and shape my life in the future. I remember being wonder struck when I saw movies like Jungle book, Pixar's Toy Story and deep inside I knew that somehow I needed to connect my love for drawing and acting. Both these movies were just the inspiration I needed. ILM's Jurassic Park completely blew me away. Watching these movies I was amazed at how the audience completely forgot that these characters were computer generated images, nothing was real yet the performances made everyone believe in the character/ story. This seemed like a dream profession for me where I could combine my childhood passion for drawing and acting. It was in the year 1999 when 2D animation market was unfortunately drying up and 3d Computer animation was growing big with movies like Jurassic Park, Toy Story, Antz and Bugs life's doing incredibly well at the box office. Obvious choice was to take my 2 dimensional drawing skills/ knowledge and translate that to 3 Dimensional computer world.
As a kid I loved drawing, capturing everything I saw on paper, loved performance art for e.g. dancing and acting. Of course being a kid I had no clue how this was going to add up and shape my life in the future. I remember being wonder struck when I saw movies like Jungle book, Pixar's Toy Story and deep inside I knew that somehow I needed to connect my love for drawing and acting. Both these movies were just the inspiration I needed. ILM's Jurassic Park completely blew me away. Watching these movies I was amazed at how the audience completely forgot that these characters were computer generated images, nothing was real yet the performances made everyone believe in the character/ story. This seemed like a dream profession for me where I could combine my childhood passion for drawing and acting. It was in the year 1999 when 2D animation market was unfortunately drying up and 3d Computer animation was growing big with movies like Jurassic Park, Toy Story, Antz and Bugs life's doing incredibly well at the box office. Obvious choice was to take my 2 dimensional drawing skills/ knowledge and translate that to 3 Dimensional computer world.
Can you briefly describe what happens in a typical day?
Once the shots are assigned by the Lead next thing I do is go through all the points and notes given by the directors to understand the shot thoroughly. Understand what the character is going through in that sequence. Once I have all the answers I come up with different effective ideas to approach. Next step is to act these ideas out in front of the camera. After coming up with several different takes, I decide which one works the best. I start blocking my shot and at a very ruff stage I show it to my lead to make sure I am on the right track and that the acting choices are well read by the audience. Every morning we have Supervisor dailies at Sony where all the animators come together in a big theatre and screen our shots on a big screen where we critique each other’s work. The supervisor makes the last call and gives his notes. We try an address these notes for the afternoon director reviews. This is where the directors make their calls. This is a typical work day at Sony. Oh, not to forget the ping pong games we have after every 3 hours. It's very important to take healthy breaks as it results in faster and effective productivity.
Once the shots are assigned by the Lead next thing I do is go through all the points and notes given by the directors to understand the shot thoroughly. Understand what the character is going through in that sequence. Once I have all the answers I come up with different effective ideas to approach. Next step is to act these ideas out in front of the camera. After coming up with several different takes, I decide which one works the best. I start blocking my shot and at a very ruff stage I show it to my lead to make sure I am on the right track and that the acting choices are well read by the audience. Every morning we have Supervisor dailies at Sony where all the animators come together in a big theatre and screen our shots on a big screen where we critique each other’s work. The supervisor makes the last call and gives his notes. We try an address these notes for the afternoon director reviews. This is where the directors make their calls. This is a typical work day at Sony. Oh, not to forget the ping pong games we have after every 3 hours. It's very important to take healthy breaks as it results in faster and effective productivity.
Is there a big difference in work flow, between Animated Features and VFX projects?
The biggest difference is that on a VFX show almost all the time you have to animate to match the live action plate and camera. You are restricted in that sense. Whereas for a full CG animation sometimes the cameras can be changed to best suit your animation. You can try various ways of approaching a shot since you are not locked down in live action actor’s choice of acting. Some VFX movies also have a lot of mo-cap use in it which needs a different set of mind to be approached. Rest the work flow is very similar as in the animation launches with the director, morning dailies with the Supervisor and afternoon director dailies.
The biggest difference is that on a VFX show almost all the time you have to animate to match the live action plate and camera. You are restricted in that sense. Whereas for a full CG animation sometimes the cameras can be changed to best suit your animation. You can try various ways of approaching a shot since you are not locked down in live action actor’s choice of acting. Some VFX movies also have a lot of mo-cap use in it which needs a different set of mind to be approached. Rest the work flow is very similar as in the animation launches with the director, morning dailies with the Supervisor and afternoon director dailies.
What part of your job do you like the most?
The day my shot gets approved and is appreciated is the best part. It is a very creative process and I find it extremely challenging to get true human emotions on a CG character. I love the entire process from putting the ideas down on paper to translating them onto the computer. Besides that I love the travelling aspect of it. I have been extremely fortunate to live in some of the best countries/cities in the world. Meeting people from different cultures, learning to work in a multicultural environment attracts me to this job.
The day my shot gets approved and is appreciated is the best part. It is a very creative process and I find it extremely challenging to get true human emotions on a CG character. I love the entire process from putting the ideas down on paper to translating them onto the computer. Besides that I love the travelling aspect of it. I have been extremely fortunate to live in some of the best countries/cities in the world. Meeting people from different cultures, learning to work in a multicultural environment attracts me to this job.
What part of your job do you least like?
The only thing I can think of is the instability of this field. Movie industry is always unstable even for the big Hollywood actors. You either love and enjoy it or settle down for a more stable job if that makes you happy. At the end of the day you have to be happy with what you do and the choices you make to give your best. What other companies have you worked at? Besides Sony Pictures Imageworks I have worked at Framestore Animation (London), Industrial Light & Magic (San Francisco), Rainmaker (Vancouver), DKP/Starz/IDT (Toronto), Bardel (Vancouver), Animation for Walt Disney, EA (Vancouver), Mainframe and Sirius Animation (Vancouver).
The only thing I can think of is the instability of this field. Movie industry is always unstable even for the big Hollywood actors. You either love and enjoy it or settle down for a more stable job if that makes you happy. At the end of the day you have to be happy with what you do and the choices you make to give your best. What other companies have you worked at? Besides Sony Pictures Imageworks I have worked at Framestore Animation (London), Industrial Light & Magic (San Francisco), Rainmaker (Vancouver), DKP/Starz/IDT (Toronto), Bardel (Vancouver), Animation for Walt Disney, EA (Vancouver), Mainframe and Sirius Animation (Vancouver).
Where do you see the CG Industry going in the next 10 years?It's really hard to predict. Nowadays every studio wants to make an animation movie and they assume it'll be as successful as any Pixar movie. In this rush rush process of getting the movies out in theatres, somewhere we are losing in on quality script and only focusing on effects. If we come up with well scripted animated movies whether it's full CG or VFX, I think there is lot more we can explore and have better future stored.
Do you have any mentors in the Industry?
I don't have any specific mentors that I have followed over the years but I do learn a lot from the people I work with. I am blessed to work with some of the best talent in the industry and getting critiqued by them every morning in the dailies is the best way to learn. You have to listen to what the audience has to say about your performance or else you'll never improve. But in the recent past I had the pleasure of working with Michael Schlingmann, Tim Watts, Sam Fell, Gabriele Zucchelli, Hal Hickel, Pete Nash and few other amazing animators. Hopefully someday I'll be as good as they are. Hope is a good thing!
I don't have any specific mentors that I have followed over the years but I do learn a lot from the people I work with. I am blessed to work with some of the best talent in the industry and getting critiqued by them every morning in the dailies is the best way to learn. You have to listen to what the audience has to say about your performance or else you'll never improve. But in the recent past I had the pleasure of working with Michael Schlingmann, Tim Watts, Sam Fell, Gabriele Zucchelli, Hal Hickel, Pete Nash and few other amazing animators. Hopefully someday I'll be as good as they are. Hope is a good thing!
Any other advice that you would give to CG students?
Of course it's very important to be a good animator to get animation jobs but it's also equally important the way you carry yourself in the studio once you get that job. A good positive attitude and ability to work in the team takes you long way! Of course there is plenty of stress with the tight deadlines but one still has to achieve those goals, then why not do it with a smile and making it a pleasurable work place for everyone else around you. Remember you are in this field coz you love it, so enjoy every bit of it.
Of course it's very important to be a good animator to get animation jobs but it's also equally important the way you carry yourself in the studio once you get that job. A good positive attitude and ability to work in the team takes you long way! Of course there is plenty of stress with the tight deadlines but one still has to achieve those goals, then why not do it with a smile and making it a pleasurable work place for everyone else around you. Remember you are in this field coz you love it, so enjoy every bit of it.
Your Reel: If you are applying as an animator I would highly recommend the students to keep your reel strictly focused on animation. You don't even need to have fancy lighting or renders. Make sure the animation is strong displaying all the principles and the audience can read the characters thought process. Keep your reel up to maximum of 2 minutes and please try and avoid using any background music to your reels. Keep it straight to the point.
Networking: Thanks to the internet you can always keep a check on which studios are hiring and get in touch with the recruiters. Networking done in a tasteful way always works wonders in getting job offers.
Which 3D character would you play in a movie and why?
You mean on the movie Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. I will play the monkey's role. It'll come naturally to me. He has no dialogues and still gets paid tons of money. J Kidding!
You mean on the movie Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. I will play the monkey's role. It'll come naturally to me. He has no dialogues and still gets paid tons of money. J Kidding!
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