Ram Ravi

VFT Program-2007

What education did you have before you took the Visual Effects for Film and Television course?
Before I took visual effects, I had a masters in visual communication.  I was a self learner with 3D.  Going to Seneca was by far the best thing that ever happened to me and I'm very happy with my decision to go there.  I always wanted to work for films ever since I was fascinated watching films like Jurassic Park and Terminator when I was a kid.

Tell us a bit about your experience at the college.
Without Seneca VFX, I wouldn’t be where I am now. After graduating from Seneca, I've worked on many films and TV series as a 3D generalist/Lighter/Compositor. I am currently working as a 3D lighter at Mr.X Inc Toronto, but I've also worked at Starz animation/Arc Production and other companies over the past few years.
Before Seneca, I was a self learner.  I had a general idea of how things are done reading forums on the internet, but I really lacked any production experience.  I had no idea how things are professionally done in film and TV with high quality and achieving realism, what sells a shot and what makes it work. At Seneca, I was actually learning from the industry professionals who were actively working in production as their primary profession.

It wasn’t the same as watching a video tutorial and repeating it. I had so many endless questions that popped up and it was all answered and shown how its done. I liked how the instructors taught you what they did at work a day ago, facing complicated shots.

How do you use the education you got at Seneca in your job today?
After Seneca, I learned so many valuable things that I didn't know before when I was trying to figure things out on my own.

It was a very comfortable college environment with 24 hour lab access, comfortable enough to put all my focus in creating my demo reel. There wasn’t one day when I felt like I was to bored to work on my shots. Every class was a treat.

I couldn’t have been happier when I got a job as a 3D artist within a week of graduating from Seneca in a visual effects company based in Toronto. I've been constantly employed to this day.

What advice would you give potential students who are thinking of taking the course?
If you are artistic and really have the drive to learn actual production experiences, Seneca Visual Effects is your door to get into the visual effects industry. It takes hard work and dedication just like anything else but as long as you are curious and willing to learn, extract all the knowledge from your instructors and created a good demo reel, you will have no problem getting into the industry. Just do it.

(Written in 2012)​