CG Today : Prasad Studio, for whom you worked as a Graphic Designer from 1999-2000, is a one-stop media solution. What kinds of things did you do at Prasad?

Vijay : In Prasad Video Digital we were working on DVD menus for Indian Movies. At the time there were only few companies in India to make quality menus. Even our menu for a movie Pukar in Hindi, got the top rated menu at that time.

CG Today : You became associated with Pentamedia Graphic, Ltd. in 2000. Tell us about your involvement in the full-length, animated film, Ali Baba.

Vijay : I am proud to be a part of Alibaba which was a remarkable movie made with motion capture and was also a an Oscar nominee for that year. I was a budding artist at that time and there was a great learning curve which helped us a lot in our future careers. I would bet most of the well known artists today in India would be from Pentamedia.

CG Today : You worked on Disney’s Higgly Town Heroes. Is doing things the Disney way different from other processes?

Vijay : Higgly Town Heroes was a Broadcast series which was played in Disney home. There, the process was really different from all the others. Here we were catering to a series for an age limit of 6 to 12 years and their concern for each and every detail for the kids was truly astonishing. They never compromised even a pixel position and aimed for perfection. Though the series was done all over the world, the whole series had some consistency about it. We had a director in our studio from their team, named Clause. We learnt a lot from him about the angles and positioning.

CG Today : Can you explain, for those who are not familiar with the Digital Juice Company, what Digital Juice is all about?

Vijay : Digital Juice is a one stop solution for all broadcast needs. They are the world’s best broadcast content developers starting from soundtracks, Photo stock, Video Stocks, Animations and Post processing software Other than that they also have a very vast variety of creative content for print media. I would say it was a golden period for my career. It was a small company but gave me great inspiration for my profession. I think it is because the boss was directly involved in the creative inputs. Dave is an inspiration for my life and is still a great friend of mine.

 

 

CG Today : Yours was a featured portfolio on the new AutoDesk site, area.autodesk.com. That must have felt pretty good.

Vijay : Autodesk is becoming the artist’s basics nowadays. I love to post my works and one fine day I say that they made a featured portfolio because they recognize a good artist. Seeing that on that day, it gave a really good feel and gave me the boost to work more.

CG Today : You were also featured on Cgsphere. Why do you think they chose your “popping virus” on their site?

Vijay : Working for our passion is more important in the creative field and I believe, proving it with a creative touch will get you good recognition The virus was a really small work but the attention to details was good and that attracted people which pulled good number of votes making it a featured one.

CG Today : Your “pen name” is GoldLens. Can you tell us how you chose this nome de' plume?

Vijay : GoldLens actually doesn’t carry a big story of secrets. The movie GoldenEye of 007, where there was an eye shown in an orange tint was an inspiration. I thought not to repeat the same name. Instead of the eye I kept the name as lens. India is a land which loves gold and I come from that same goldsmith community and as photography was also a passion for me, ‘Lens’ really fits the name for a creative eye. That’s about it.

CG Today : Your VK Demo Reel 2010 on Vimeo is really, really cool. What characteristics about yourself as an artist and an animation professional would you like for your audience to take away from a viewing of this reel?

Vijay : As an Artist I would say always give your best within the given time. If your creativity spills more than the given time there is no use. Its better, you plan your creative inputs and have a stock and use it at the right time. There is nothing wrong about it, because a product not delivered before the given time is of no use. Enjoy my demo reel and feel free to comment on it.

CG Today : Vijayakanthan, thank you for joining us and best regards for the New Year.

Vijay : Well thanks Gebby it was nice and happy to share my experiences which really took me back a decade before. Thanks for the opportunity and I wish all your team great success in the coming years. I love to convey to all the individuals who read this article my hearty thanks for spending their valuable time. My piece of advice for the budding artist is “Learning is a part of our life, which ends only when there is no more life.”

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VK Vijayakanthan - Lighting Supervisor

Pixion, Chennai

Website: Goldlens | Pixion

e-mail : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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