This is My Story

Connecting the dots, it started way back when I first got to use a computer. I still remember the first time I owned my own computer. I loved playing games and figuring out new software. This got me even more curious to know how these games/programs were created and eventually led me to stumble upon 3d studio max and the rest till date has been an amazing journey as I am a mostly self-taught artist.

Why an amazing  journey you may ask?

The best decision I made was to go against everyone’s wish and drop out of engineering/college and pursue my interest in computer graphics.  Yes I dropped out!! Wow those were the days I would spend all day, early morning, late nights teaching myself from internet how to model, texture, rig, animate…. it was long gruelling training for more than a year and I am still learning. But it all came to light when I received my first cheque for doing a 3d model of Nokia 6680 for a client! Couldn’t believe someone would actually pay me for making art!

So fast forward few months…

Professionally I started my career working as consultant/freelance artist for advertising studios in Mumbai, India and around the globe, doing everything from modeling, texturing to lighting and compositing and then moved into working as a full-time lighting and compositing artist, on full-length feature animation.

Even though I have been from generalist background, I have settled to do more lighting and compositing related work. I love making beautiful images (or sad if that was the case/look 😉 ), and I am happy working as a member of a team and as well as leading the team to excellence.

In 2008, I had the pleasure to relocate to Bangalore, India to work at DreamWorks Animation, India Unit. As a Lead Lighting Artist, I contributed to 11 titles, including Penguins of Madagascar, Madagascar 3 and Puss in Boots.
On Penguins of Madagascar, I was given the opportunity to lead/develop the lighting pipeline and workflow for Penguins of Madagascar including lead lighting and compositing the Look of Picture for this show. I worked right from initial design to final stages on this show.

After 6 and half years working at DWA, and turning down a position as CG Supervisor to risk everything I embarked on a journey to explore and travel away from my home country gaining new experiences and knowledge. Next pit stop was in Madrid, Spain and now I am in Vancouver, Canada, loving the Canadian adventure eh! Where I had the pleasure of working at one of most beautiful studios I have ever seen, EA Vancouver.

I did cinematic lighting on Fifa 18 and had so much fun with team at EA. I can say one of the best experiences I have had as a lighter was doing real time cinematic at EA.

Probably the 2nd best decision I have made was to work on a project called Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse at Sony Pictures Imageworks Canada after finishing my contract on fifa18 wow! Well this earned me the opportunity to be part of something unique and be part of the team to win an Academy Award for best animated feature. YaY!!

It was the best experience till date working on a feature at this scale doing something fresh and unique. And working with the team at SPI was a blast!

This city of Vancouver has been amazing, such a diverse community, amazing mountains, the changing seasons and not so much the rain but you tend to fall in love with it eventually. 

When I am not working I love assembling and overclocking my computer or generally reading about some tech and due to this, I have a great understanding of what goes into making a machine best suited for the software that I work on. And when I am not tinkering with my computer I love playing badminton, going hiking and playing football (soccer for my Canadian friends) . If you don’t find me doing any of that, I’m mostly spending time in a hot sauna relaxing.

I will always remember how I got into this industry and everything that has led me to this point, along with the people who have contributed to my successes as a person and as an artist throughout the years. With all the failures and successes it has been an amazing journey so far.

And to anyone who believes in their imagination through movies, television and games…follow your dreams! They do come true 🙂

-Sagar

P.S: “Never give up! Stay raw, stay curious!” and remember it’s always a team sport!

Area(s) Of expertise:

InOrganic Modeling, texturing, previs lighting, look development, lead lighting, pipeline development, simulation, compositing and creative problem solving. Strong understanding of programming.

Software:

I can learn any piece of software quickly for the task required. For those who prefer to know specific packages I can use and the once I have used in past, here is the list: Katana, Maya, 3Ds Max, Arnold, Nuke, Vray, Linux, Windows, DreamWorks proprietary software for lighting and rendering and EA’s Frostbite game engine for real-time lighting.
Some old tech that I used before: Renderman and Mental Ray

Work Experience:

(2018 – ????) – Sony Pictures Imageworks, Canada
(2017 – 2017) – Electronic Arts, Canada
(2015 – 2016) – Ilion Animation Studio, Spain
(2008 – 2015) – DreamWorks Animation, India
(2007 – 2008) – Prana Studios, India
(2006 – 2007) – Famous House Of Animation, Famous Studios
(2005 – 2006) – Freelance/Personal Projects