Trrehan Makhania -2018/2019

What education did you have before you took the Visual Effects for Film and Television course?

Before being a part of Seneca college I completed my diploma in Animation and Visual Effects from MAAC(Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematic) in India. Back then I knew that I had a certain liking for compositing and started pursuing it as my career.

I worked as a Compositor and have an experience of 4 years in India in which I got chance to work on various Indian Television series. After Effects was fairly used as a compositing package in the companies I worked for but after that with the help of my friend/colleague I acquired knowledge of Nuke and worked on it for a year. Subsequent to that I thought its time to do something much more than what I was doing there and thats when I thought of enrolling my self at Seneca College(VFT) program which hands down has been the best decision I ever made.

Tell us a bit about your experience at the college.

My Experience at Seneca College was astounding. At first it was quite intimidating as you are surrounded with enormous talent around you in the form of students. But thats how it is in the real world once you start working as a professional. Thats the kind of feeling I got as a student at Seneca.

Every faculty at Seneca (VFT) program are experts having tremendous amount of experience in the visual effects and animation Industry who would not just be talented in their respective specialization but would also help you out with the kind of specialization you would want to pursue. They have the ability to solve any query you would have and would help you out find new ways to approach your work you are doing.

Having so much experience they would also be up to date with the new tools and techniques used currently in the industry which is quite helpful whilst doing your project work.

Having 24/7 access to the classroom as well as having access to the camera and lighting equipments plus the greenscreen room was a blessing.

I can say that with all these advantages, Seneca made me industry ready within the 8 months duration of the course.

How do you use the education you got at Seneca in your job today?

After graduating from Seneca I got an opportunity to work at Pixomondo as a Compositor.

As a Compositor I believe that we are faced with a lot of challenges at work and if you do not have your basics and your foundation right it is difficult to survive in the industry. I am sure at work we get a lot of other more opportunities to learn new things and get familiar with the companies pipeline but firstly if you don’t have your basics in place it is tedious for you to understand what is going on and thats where Seneca helped me with building my foundation and getting my basics strong. All the new tools and techniques I learnt out there come very handy to me currently at work. As it was an 8 month course which was comparatively a short amount of time but I would say it is a good thing as it gave me the confidence to work in a fast paced environment with ease and also develop my troubleshooting skills at work.

What advice would you give potential students who are thinking of taking the course?

The advice I would like to give other potential students is that if possible, before getting enrolled in the course be sure of what would be your area of interest. Know what the course would offer you and if it fits your needs then apply for it.

You need not worry if you have no clue with regards to what your interest would be or you are confused between two or three things together as within the first two to three months you will know what you are supposed choose as your area of interest in Visual Effects.

It is also recommended to be a bit familiar with the softwares like Maya, Houdini, Nuke etc before you come to Seneca as it would be helpful for you to have an upper hand in the class and would also help you understand faster in terms of what is been taught in the class. I would say just getting familiar with the softwares would help a lot other than that the faculties will do an excellent job in making you a professional and you would be able to wonders with that.

Never hesitate to ask questions. Even if you feel it would be stupid to ask still ask as our faculties have this motto that no question is stupid. Every question has a reason behind it when it is asked.

Complete the homework given by yours faculties and be sure not to neglect them by any chance.

Always pay attention to what is been taught is the class. There will be live recordings of the class for sure but if you pay attention to what the faculties have taught it helps mould your mind to be attentive in work environments too as there will be no recordings from your supervisors once you are in the industry.

Lastly don’t be afraid of making mistakes because that will help you groom your self to better, boost your self confidence and also help you troubleshoot your problems later on. Make use of the 24/7 access to lab facilities wisely and don’t be afraid to push your self to limits. Hard work pays.

All the best and Good Luck!

(Written in 2019)