The Inspiring Story Behind Every Great Animation!

The journey to a successful career in the animation can be thrilling and overwhelming. Renowned animation film maker, Vaibhav Kumaresh, tells us about the story behind his success and the establishment of Vaibhav Studios.
Lamput TV Series
Lamput TV Series

Vaibhav Kumaresh has a unique unmatched style to his work. But Vaibhav traveled a long way before he met his success.

Vaibhav completed his 10th grade, and then went on to pursue a 5-year graduation course in Fine Arts. In 1990 it was common to skip the 12th grade, and his parents were very supportive. Here he was introduced to drawing, sculpting, painting, printmaking, and photography; and specialised in Applied Arts. Later, Vaibhav joined NID where he explored and learned about the beautiful medium of animation.

Lamput TV Series
Lamput TV Series
Simpu for channel V
Simpu for channel V

After NID, he joined Famous House of Animation in 1998. Animation legend, E. Suresh, was Vaibhav's senior here and was assigned the task of setting up an animation studio at Famous. Together they produced several animation films. It was an exciting phase for Vaibhav.

In 2003 a lovely children's film came Vaibhav's way. He chose to take it, which meant he had to leave his job. Vaibhav confesses that it was the scariest yet happiest decision of his life. He joined forces with his wife, Suranjana, a product designer from NID, and Vaibhav Studios was formed. As projects kept flowing in, there was no looking back.

Nick Ident, Idli Song
Nick Ident, Idli Song

Vaibhav Studios broadly takes up two types of projects. First is commissioned work, primarily TV commercials where an advertising agency approaches them with a ready script. The Studio then interprets it in their own way, followed by direction and production. Second is when they build their own original IP and pitch those ideas and concepts to different clients. In the past 4 years, they have primarily worked on creating many original IP.

Vaibhav uses a variety of techniques and mediums to create films. He uses stop motion which is all physical materials – clay, wire, cloth, paper. For the traditional hand-drawn animation techniques, he uses paper, pencil, markers, erasers, correction pens, paints, and charcoal. Sometimes digital tools like Adobe Photoshop, Flash (now called Animate) to draw and animate are also used. For the digital 3D animation films Vaibhav uses Autodesk Maya and After Effects. At times his studio also shoots live action and mixes them with animated footage. Vaibhav believes the open source software, Blender, is soon emerging as an immensely powerful and artist-friendly tool for animation.

But Vaibhav adds that software is merely a tool. Using it does not guarantee one a good end product. The magic lies in the hands of the user of the tool.

Nick Ident. Mom And Brat
Nick Ident. Mom And Brat

Vaibhav recommends 'Kampung Boy' by Lat, as a great book with a beautifully illustrated story to read. He also recommends a few inspiring animation short film recommendations, namely, Madagascar – Carnet de Voyage by Bastien Dubois, Chick by Michal Socha, Father & Daughter by Michael Dudok de Wit

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