Cover Story – Trilochan Naik

Cover Story - Trilochan Naik

Tell us about your background. As in, where do you come from and how you came to MAAC?
I’m basically from Orissa & graduated in B.Sc. During my Graduation, I got acquainted with Multimedia and gained Interest in it. I used to love sketching & had interest in Art Field, so I started to look for the best institute for animation and multimedia in India. I learned about MAAC as my answer.

So, you always wanted to be a Modeller?
No, initially I wanted to do animation. But as I got deeper into the course and started to observe models in Autodesk Maya and Max, I decided to be a modeller.

Okay. If anyone gets a Models Blueprint, will there be any creative job left for a Modeller?
Normally a student modeller copies everything from the reference but the Final output is not as appealing as it should be. Creating a model requires creativity, but a perfect model requires visualization, where students lag behind as they only copy the reference.

Where do you get contacts from? You search for it or do you get them after they see your work? Is there anything online that you search & get work?
Earlier I used to search online, but now I get offers because everyone knows my portfolio. For that you have to prove yourself and must be strong in your field. If you are strong in it, you’ll get work.

What must a Student do to create a good portfolio?
A Student must showcase all his best works and while working the student must work as if he/she is making it for the top level.

What are the Modelling processes used in Studios? As in, what techniques do you use while you create a model?
It’s totally upto the modeller – whether he wants to create a Model using Box technique or Plane technique.  Studio is just concerned with the final output.

What if a Student doesn’t know much about sketching?
If he/she is not well versed with sketching, he/she would face problems due to lack of anatomy knowledge and would be unaware about proportions. This would result in an improper model.

What is important for modelling?
Basically Modelling requires Sketching, Anatomical study of human beings, animals etc. Creativity is a must as well as observation. One must also have an idea about proportions and a passion to do things. And the final and the most important thing is practice – if you don’t practice you won’t get it and things would get tougher.

Its very common that a student working on 24fps has better outputs than his own show reel. What could be the reason behind this?
Students working on 24fps work almost every day because they get enough time for production. But later when they are towards the end of their course, they hastily make their showreels in a bid to get into production studios as soon as possible. But this results into  showreels that do not remotely reach the expectations of studios. I’d advise students that they should have patience and look for jobs only after making an impressive showreel.

On what basis do the studios select candidates?
Normally they opt for experienced persons as that would save their time to train them in regards to the pipeline.

Then how did you get through the very first time?
When I went for my interview, there were a couple of experienced persons as well. A fresher like me was asked to model Angelina Jolie’s face and the experienced persons to detail model. Even though we were given 8 hours to complete the task, I finished it sooner. I also added details – mouth, eyeballs, expressions etc.  Of the two vacancies available at that production house, I was selected because of my speed and quality of work.

Give me a brief idea about the initial stages of production in a production house.
Firstly we have Story-Boarding. I must tell you that in India, Story-Boarding is not progressing at a good pace. It’s not up to the mark. This happens as the Producer doesn’t allow much time. He would expect to release a 3D movie within a year and that is the reason why they just make movies on epics or mythological topics like Ramayana, Mahabharata etc. because such stories are readymade, thus cutting the cost of production and work. However, even the required research is not done well.

Does that mean the Indian animated movies are not created targeting Worldwide Audience?
Well, if you see foreign movies are released worldwide, while our movies are only released in India. I’d rather say only in major cities of India because they face less audience due to common topic and the audience majorly consists of small kids. If you check out the percentage you’ll come to know that only 40% of the people watch 3D movies.

Are the resources insufficient in India?
Yes, as compared to foreign studios like Pixar, we feel that the softwares are insufficient. The foreign studios have the resources to create new softwares as per their requirements. They also have technical teams that create new softwares. Studios like Rhythm & Hues in India create new softwares only if they need it. Here we are told to create a particular thing in particular software as we don’t have the required funding.

As a trainee in MCS (MAAC Creative Shop), what did you learn?
I learned a lot from MCS. For example, if you want to give a model for rigging, you must visualise how your model must be. I also learned about the production pipeline. So that made my work easier in studio as I was aware about it and didn’t have to learn anew.

How do you get the Model?
We were provided with the model’s blueprint and they explained to us the character’s role in the story. That clears our mind about the model.

How is the Quality Check (QC) done? What happens in studio after the QC is passed?
During QC, they check whether the character is looking perfect or not and whether it matches the story’s character as per the blueprint. They check the Model’s proportion etc. After the QC is passed, the model is passed on to texturing artist and rigger. Rigger does the rig test and starts rigging, while texturing artist makes the model in UV Depth. After the Model has been rigged, it is forwarded to animator who does the animation on gray-scale. Later it goes to Cloth department and they adjust the cloth according to Animation.  Then it goes to Visual Effects Department and they do the final job. Lot of work is done simultaneously, thus saving a lot of time and money.

There’s a lot of Models that you have to make. How do you manage to detail them?
We detail only those Models who are in primary focus. For example, the characters in a crowd or at the back don’t need detailed modelling as they are not seen. There are certain Models which need detailed modelling, when the character is in close-up. Also, the models who are talking as we need to detail their lips, mouth etc.
I see. It was a pleasure chatting with you. Thank you for sharing this information with MSC.
You’re most welcome.

Caricature Design: Venus D’mello
Interviewer: Pritam Danve
Written by: Aakash Dwidevi
Edited by: Shaheen Guard