Meet the Animator.
He has lived the dream that remains in the realm of wishful thinking for many of his generation, training as an animator and working with some of the best in the industry.
Oladeji Victor Bamidele studied Civil Engineering before signing up at the Media Village, Kalk Bay, Cape Town to train in 3D communications as an animator. After working on several projects with South African animation houses like Character Matters Animation Studio, Ambient Animation Studios, Telegenic Production amongst others, Deji- who has been privileged to work with the likes of Tom Roth (from Disney) and Eric Lessard (Dream works) among other South African animators- came back to Nigeria for the first time in three years in January to run some workshops in 3D communication and to create awareness for his training programme in Cape Town –Animation for Africa - whose six months training and internship programme at Image Animation Studios has kicked off this week with four Nigerians in attendance.
With intelligence reports indicating that he’s keen on cooking up a storm on these shores, the design sleuth tracked down the mild mannered animator for questioning while he was on a cross country awareness / training tour of duty before heading back to Cape Town.
Ayo: What are the early influences that led you down the path of animation?
Deji: As a Kid I used to be fascinated by cartoons like Voltron, Ninja Turtles; Tom and Jerry; they were so captivating that I would remain glued to the TV for hours watching them...growing up; then life became more interesting with the introduction of video games and 3D cartoons like The Incredibles, and Toy Story. I was always wondering how those things were created...and why there wasn’t anyone in Africa producing the movies…so, I decided to take a dive into the world of 3D.
Ayo: Despite your training as an engineer, you still went ahead to learn to be an animator, has the career change been worth it?
Deji: I feel fulfilled and excited; frankly speaking I think its related; because the work of an engineer is related to creating things and making them work; the difference would just be that as animator we do everything on our computers. Animation gives you more flexibility to express your creative ideas which could be easily viewed around the world, thanks to the power of media. However, my background as a Civil Engineer has really been helpful in working in 3D space, drawings and modelling.
Ayo: The animation industry in South Africa is fairly young isn’t it? So Why Cape Town?
Deji: When I was leaving the country (Nigeria) in search of an animation school, I couldn’t find any in the country; my search led me to some schools in the UK, United States (of America) but they were quite expensive. I then started looking for options in Africa. When I discovered that Cape Town was offering some affordable animation courses, and that most of our good visual effects or animated commercials where done in Cape Town, South Africa, it became my natural choice.
Ayo: Talking about Cape Town, does the city really live up to its billing of being one of the finest in the world? What do you think gives Cape Town its edge…the natural scenery or the design scene out there?
Deji: Hmmm…believe it or not, its one of the most beautiful places in the world; I mean the combination of white sand beaches and lovely mountains just make it a place to visit. And for a fact, it’s one of the floral kingdoms in the world; nice scenery; certainly a great place for animators.
Ayo: In what ways would you consider 3D modelling and animation to have contributed significantly to the growth of critical design in fields outside of the film industry like engineering, architecture, product design and even graphics design globally?
Deji: Tremendously. It has now become a language; its the best way to communicate to clients, I mean you can walk through your structure before it’s built; it has also given artists confidence in their creative licence...today if you can imagine it, you can create it, then see it. That’s why we can talk about and design futuristic structures and models. It has taken the world of design to a new level.
Ayo: The 3D fever has really caught on in Nigeria over the past few years, but 3D Max has been the benchmark platform to work with for most modellers and animators. You on the other hand work with Maya. What are the features that make Maya so unique?
Deji: I have also worked with Lightwave for my modelling and Messiah for animation. They are all good software, don’t forget it’s not the software; it’s the artist; the man behind the software that makes the difference. It’s like your preference for different cars, someone might prefer a Benz to BMW; its all about the artist choice and what he/she is comfortable with but my preference in based on the fact that Maya is the industry standard; it’s quite robust; from animation to visual effects it’s just excellent; it’s an oscar award winning software; which is evident on works like Spiderman; Happy Feet, and Final Fantasy....another reason any one might want to work with Maya is the fact that you can hardly be stranded using it because of tons of tutorials and materials available online.
Ayo: With your experience in South Africa and having worked with animators from frontline American animation studios like Dream Works and Disney, what future do you see for animation in Africa, especially when you consider the infrastructural and technological challenges - like poor power supply and ICT facilities - faced in these climes?
Deji: We will take the world by storm; because Africans are hardworking; we are about to join our colleagues in the rest of the world but our greatest challenge now is more of the infrastructural than the technological side of things because we have the resources to acquire any technology we want; but we cant go any where without constant and stable power supply. God- the first thing He created was light...it’s the beginning of everything. We need electricity; once we get it right in this sector; the opportunity will naturally roll in; it will change the face of Africa.
Ayo: Bringing it home to Nigeria now, knowing that animation is a particularly laborious, time consuming and expensive art form, whether 2D or 3D and keeping in mind the path the film industry in Nigeria has taken in finding the fastest and cheapest techniques to tell our stories, what chances do you see for the evolution of a cheaper and faster style of animation in Nigeria that makes it easier for the African story to be told to the global audience by Africans themselves?
Deji: Usually when you opt for fast and cheap techniques; you end up compromising your quality; if we must make impact on a global scale then we can not afford to rush our productions; believe me it always reflects in the work of the artist or producer- those times of research, bringing in a talented crew, right setup and fine tuning. We must put in those quality hours to get the desired quality out; which translates to good wealth. We are at an advantage because we have the stories that the world is waiting to hear; and the only way we can attract a global audience is to push up our quality. I look forward to a time when our movies will première in about 3,000 cinemas in the US and Africa while yet produced locally, mind you, it’s already happening in South Africa. The last movie I worked on - Lion of Judah, you can check it out on www.lionofjudahthemovie.com - will be showing in about 2,000 cinemas in the US because of the quality of work we put into it. It’s taken us about 2 years to produce, so we must look at the big picture and go all out for it.
Ayo: Where do you see the animation industry heading to globally in the next twenty years?
Deji: Wao! It’s going to be crazy and scary; photorealism and hyper realism will be the order of the day; we would have found cheaper and efficient ways of doing things; the motion capture technology would have been perfected; and I think traditional animation would also return; we would see combination of 2D, Stop Frame, 3D animation in a single shot; and a lot of African countries would have joined in the global trend of events.
Ayo: Where do you see Oladeji Victor Bamidele in the next twenty years and what would he most likely be doing?
Deji: By God's grace; I would be concentrating more on family and purpose; developing other areas of my life to full potential.
-Ayodele Arigbabu.
dreamarts.designagency@gmail.com
Oladeji Victor Bamidele studied Civil Engineering before signing up at the Media Village, Kalk Bay, Cape Town to train in 3D communications as an animator. After working on several projects with South African animation houses like Character Matters Animation Studio, Ambient Animation Studios, Telegenic Production amongst others, Deji- who has been privileged to work with the likes of Tom Roth (from Disney) and Eric Lessard (Dream works) among other South African animators- came back to Nigeria for the first time in three years in January to run some workshops in 3D communication and to create awareness for his training programme in Cape Town –Animation for Africa - whose six months training and internship programme at Image Animation Studios has kicked off this week with four Nigerians in attendance.
With intelligence reports indicating that he’s keen on cooking up a storm on these shores, the design sleuth tracked down the mild mannered animator for questioning while he was on a cross country awareness / training tour of duty before heading back to Cape Town.
Ayo: What are the early influences that led you down the path of animation?
Deji: As a Kid I used to be fascinated by cartoons like Voltron, Ninja Turtles; Tom and Jerry; they were so captivating that I would remain glued to the TV for hours watching them...growing up; then life became more interesting with the introduction of video games and 3D cartoons like The Incredibles, and Toy Story. I was always wondering how those things were created...and why there wasn’t anyone in Africa producing the movies…so, I decided to take a dive into the world of 3D.
Ayo: Despite your training as an engineer, you still went ahead to learn to be an animator, has the career change been worth it?
Deji: I feel fulfilled and excited; frankly speaking I think its related; because the work of an engineer is related to creating things and making them work; the difference would just be that as animator we do everything on our computers. Animation gives you more flexibility to express your creative ideas which could be easily viewed around the world, thanks to the power of media. However, my background as a Civil Engineer has really been helpful in working in 3D space, drawings and modelling.
Ayo: The animation industry in South Africa is fairly young isn’t it? So Why Cape Town?
Deji: When I was leaving the country (Nigeria) in search of an animation school, I couldn’t find any in the country; my search led me to some schools in the UK, United States (of America) but they were quite expensive. I then started looking for options in Africa. When I discovered that Cape Town was offering some affordable animation courses, and that most of our good visual effects or animated commercials where done in Cape Town, South Africa, it became my natural choice.
Ayo: Talking about Cape Town, does the city really live up to its billing of being one of the finest in the world? What do you think gives Cape Town its edge…the natural scenery or the design scene out there?
Deji: Hmmm…believe it or not, its one of the most beautiful places in the world; I mean the combination of white sand beaches and lovely mountains just make it a place to visit. And for a fact, it’s one of the floral kingdoms in the world; nice scenery; certainly a great place for animators.
Ayo: In what ways would you consider 3D modelling and animation to have contributed significantly to the growth of critical design in fields outside of the film industry like engineering, architecture, product design and even graphics design globally?
Deji: Tremendously. It has now become a language; its the best way to communicate to clients, I mean you can walk through your structure before it’s built; it has also given artists confidence in their creative licence...today if you can imagine it, you can create it, then see it. That’s why we can talk about and design futuristic structures and models. It has taken the world of design to a new level.
Ayo: The 3D fever has really caught on in Nigeria over the past few years, but 3D Max has been the benchmark platform to work with for most modellers and animators. You on the other hand work with Maya. What are the features that make Maya so unique?
Deji: I have also worked with Lightwave for my modelling and Messiah for animation. They are all good software, don’t forget it’s not the software; it’s the artist; the man behind the software that makes the difference. It’s like your preference for different cars, someone might prefer a Benz to BMW; its all about the artist choice and what he/she is comfortable with but my preference in based on the fact that Maya is the industry standard; it’s quite robust; from animation to visual effects it’s just excellent; it’s an oscar award winning software; which is evident on works like Spiderman; Happy Feet, and Final Fantasy....another reason any one might want to work with Maya is the fact that you can hardly be stranded using it because of tons of tutorials and materials available online.
Ayo: With your experience in South Africa and having worked with animators from frontline American animation studios like Dream Works and Disney, what future do you see for animation in Africa, especially when you consider the infrastructural and technological challenges - like poor power supply and ICT facilities - faced in these climes?
Deji: We will take the world by storm; because Africans are hardworking; we are about to join our colleagues in the rest of the world but our greatest challenge now is more of the infrastructural than the technological side of things because we have the resources to acquire any technology we want; but we cant go any where without constant and stable power supply. God- the first thing He created was light...it’s the beginning of everything. We need electricity; once we get it right in this sector; the opportunity will naturally roll in; it will change the face of Africa.
Ayo: Bringing it home to Nigeria now, knowing that animation is a particularly laborious, time consuming and expensive art form, whether 2D or 3D and keeping in mind the path the film industry in Nigeria has taken in finding the fastest and cheapest techniques to tell our stories, what chances do you see for the evolution of a cheaper and faster style of animation in Nigeria that makes it easier for the African story to be told to the global audience by Africans themselves?
Deji: Usually when you opt for fast and cheap techniques; you end up compromising your quality; if we must make impact on a global scale then we can not afford to rush our productions; believe me it always reflects in the work of the artist or producer- those times of research, bringing in a talented crew, right setup and fine tuning. We must put in those quality hours to get the desired quality out; which translates to good wealth. We are at an advantage because we have the stories that the world is waiting to hear; and the only way we can attract a global audience is to push up our quality. I look forward to a time when our movies will première in about 3,000 cinemas in the US and Africa while yet produced locally, mind you, it’s already happening in South Africa. The last movie I worked on - Lion of Judah, you can check it out on www.lionofjudahthemovie.com - will be showing in about 2,000 cinemas in the US because of the quality of work we put into it. It’s taken us about 2 years to produce, so we must look at the big picture and go all out for it.
Ayo: Where do you see the animation industry heading to globally in the next twenty years?
Deji: Wao! It’s going to be crazy and scary; photorealism and hyper realism will be the order of the day; we would have found cheaper and efficient ways of doing things; the motion capture technology would have been perfected; and I think traditional animation would also return; we would see combination of 2D, Stop Frame, 3D animation in a single shot; and a lot of African countries would have joined in the global trend of events.
Ayo: Where do you see Oladeji Victor Bamidele in the next twenty years and what would he most likely be doing?
Deji: By God's grace; I would be concentrating more on family and purpose; developing other areas of my life to full potential.
-Ayodele Arigbabu.
dreamarts.designagency@gmail.com
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