Issue Date: February 2006, Posted On: 2/21/2006

ANIMATION OPPORTUNITIES: A DOCTOR FINDS HIS CALLING

LONDON - Dr. Rajeev Doshi already held a PhD in the field of cancer therapy, and on the research track, when he decided to take a detour and try to find a way to combine medical science with another passion of his - computer graphics. Enrolling in 3D Training Institute?s (www.3dtraining.com) 12-week project-based course, Dr. Doshi moved to New York City to attend class in person.

"The 3DTi class is structured to simulate the real-world production environment with students actually working on projects with tight deadlines. The class provided me with an overall picture of the ever-expanding animation industry and opportunities that exist within it aside from the well-known entertainment and gaming uses," says Doshi, who, at the end of the course, had a demo reel that led to his first job offer at Dorling Kindersley.

Within six months after completing the course, he was hired to create the science A-level animations for a set of study CD-ROMs for Dorling Kindersley, a large medical publisher in London. Subsequently, this led to another position in the creative division of a medical communications agency, AS&K Skylight, where Dr. Doshi was hired to set up their in-house animation studio.

At Skylight, Dr. Doshi is part of a team developing advanced 3D animations illustrating what goes on in and around the human body when we become ill, and how drugs alleviate the symptoms. Recently, one of Dr. Doshi's animations, "Fragmin Mode of Action," was a finalist at Eurocom's European Computer Graphics Awards 2005. His show reel can be viewed on rendering software Splutterfish's Web site (www.splutterfish.com).

"An aesthetic eye is paramount to becoming a good animator," says Dr. Doshi. "Everything else can be learned, but knowing what looks good is something you are born with. To work at Skylight, you've got to be a good generalist, able to model, texture, animate, know particle flow and how to light scenes as well as composite, since animators at Skylight are in charge of complete shots from storyboards to final composite."