Sreyans Bardia - Director of India Operations and Head of Production at Bot VFX

Mr. Sreyans Bardia is the director of India Operations and Head of Production at Bot VFX, an outsourcing facility for rotoscopy that eliminates inefficiencies and uncertainties through shorter turnaround times. Before working for BOT VFX, he was manager of projects at Sony Pictures Imageworks India. Mr. Sreyans also has a penchant for poetry and photography, which confirms his eye for beauty and aesthetics.

CG Today : Mr. Sreyans, thank you for accepting our request to speak to us. I am sure our readers would be delighted to hear about your experiences and insights in the animation industry.

Sreyans : Thank you for having me.

CG Today : We will start with your present company. You are a director of Indian operations and head of production at BOT VFX, which carries out arduous aspects of post-production, 2D to 3D conversion, rotoscopy, green screen extractions and matchmove. What is your role in handling other studios or companies with such requirements?

Sreyans : As the head of production, I am invariably involved in most, if not all, the projects that come to our facility. With the provision of our basic services to each of these projects lie specific client pipeline requirements that have to be delivered. My role in the company thus includes constant communication with the client team and BOT vfx’s producers in the U.S. to clarify the needs, point out potential issues, or simply to work through the nuances of a given project.

CG Today : BOT VFX is a reputed outsourcing facility started by Hitesh Shah which aims to break the prototype and brings a refreshing change as far as production pipelines are concerned. How has your experience been so far, working at the dynamic environment that BOT VFX constantly strives to be?

Sreyans : We and our relationship with our clients are driven by the philosophy, that discipline in production drives quality and predictability. Hitesh, myself, and the core team has worked hard to create a workplace that is disciplined in getting the job done, without being stiff and conventional. It’s been a blast being, working and growing in an environment where people understand and appreciate that.

CG Today : BOT VFX has a very reputed clientele which includes names like Cut & Run, Exozet, AlienKungFu, Riot and Lux VFX. Can you share with the readers your experiences of any specific projects that captured your imagination?

Sreyans : It’s hard to single out any one project that has most captured my imagination because each major show has taught me something new and helped me grow in one way or another. Whether it’s effectively dealing with motion blur across a sequence of high-action shots, tracking a shot in which the camera traverses two complete 360 degree rotations using a hand held camera, or creating clean-plates for areas of shots sans a reference image, each project has posed new challenges for us. Such situations have kept us from becoming complacent, and more importantly, kept our creative problem-solving juices flowing.

CG Today : BOT VFX boasts of some illustrious production work including 2D to 3D stereo conversion in Chronicles of Narnia, complex element extraction and paint in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Roto and Paint in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps to name a few. Did you get a chance to be involved in any of these projects? What are the challenges that you face in day to day work?

Sreyans : As I said, I am invariably involved on a direct basis in most shows by the very nature of what I do. It is only when all shots start becoming identical in work scope that this will change. Until then, I am placed steadfast on the front lines with my team. Sometimes this means being on a conference call with the client throughout the work on a shot. At other times, it’s simply coordinating some email exchanges with the client or simply overseeing the progress.

CG Today : You are responsible for ensuring a smooth flow of the production operation which needs understanding the process well, managing people with good communication skills and also manage the balance among resources and operations. What is your mantra for your workspace, especially given that you have been successful in handling premier clients?

Sreyans : I think I can sum up our key success factors with any client, premier or not, in these few words: Reliability, Predictability, and Clarity in Communication.

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