Abhijit De

Tell me a little about your background in VFX?  

As a child I was very passionate about drawing and painting, which drove me into this creative field. I completed my Bachelor of Visual Arts degree in 2006 and started working as a Graphic Designer. Having an arts background, I’ve been drawn to digital asset creations, mainly digital sculpting. In 2007, I moved to the 3D industry and started as a junior 3d Modelling Artist. By that time, a few industry experts recognized my ability and helped me to develop my skillset to next level.

I then joined Prana Animation Studios and got a chance to work on international projects for Disney on the Planes franchise, among others, and to create Tinkerbell. I later worked on TRON: Legacy, which was my first VFX project. In 2013, I joined in MPC, where I learned more extensively about VFX pipelines and worked my way up through the ranks over the years from Modelling Artist to Asset Supervisor. I had the opportunity to be a part of some amazing projects, including The Jungle Book, Nutcracker, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, The Lion King, Artemis Fowl, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Prehistoric Planet, and many more.

Earlier this year I joined to Ghost VFX as an Asset Supervisor and started a new journey of my career.

In your own words how would you describe what you do at Ghost VFX?

As an Asset Supervisor I work closely with the VFX Supervisor, CG Supervisor and producers to understand the client requirements and deliver the assets for downstream departments. It involves communicating with the other departments and pipeline TD’s to find efficient methods to create assets that meet the needs of the projects, including ensuring the assets are ready for the VFX pipeline (shot preparation and rigging), and that they will render resourcefully and in-line with our pipeline.

A key facet of my role is working together with asset team and mentoring our leads and team members through technical and creative challenges. I listen to their thoughts and ideas, so we drive everything in the same creative direction to ensure only the best quality assets are delivered by our team in all aspects of asset creation.

What part of the job are you most passionate about?

I always push myself to enhance the visual aspects of any assets. I’m also passionate about bringing into life the characteristics of any digi double or creature.

Is there a particular project that you’re proud of that you worked on in your career that you can discuss? If so, what was the project and what was the work you contributed?

I loved working on Ghostbusters: Afterlife and helping to bring the character of Dr. Egon Spengler back to the big screen. Dr. Spengler had been played by the late, great Harold Ramis. It was challenging for the team to create the model using reference footage from the old movies as we didn't get any actor scans, but we were all proud to see the outcome on the big screen.

Also, I was fortunate enough to be a part of Prehistoric Planet sessions 1 and 2. It was a massive sculpt-heavy show, having 100 hero-level dinosaurs to build. We worked closely with the project’s paleontologist, understanding the characteristics and features of each dinosaur and artistically implementing them while dealing with a huge asset team and maintaining the quality of each and every detail.

Any advice to others looking to break into VFX?

You should be very passionate about your work and always be in practice to polish your skills. For newcomers, it’s preferable to have a showreel with breakdowns to show your work process. Technology is changing day by day and always good to keep yourself on the cutting-edge as much as possible.

Where do you see the VFX industry headed in the next 5 years? What excites you about the future?

The industry has grown dynamically over the past few years not only in India, but all over the world. Every project has more VFX-heavy shots these days. Evolving new technologies are constantly making it easier to bring our imagination into life. I really like the way collaboration of technologies and artistic skills constantly creates magic and opens new possibilities.

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