From December 2, 2000 to October 10, 2001
I started working at Kelk-e-Khial, a film production and advertising company, in 2000 and stayed there for about one year. Before that, I had some experience working at a local TV channel in Mahabad. Kelk-e-Khial was a private company that had many connections with national TV networks, film studios, and production companies. My main tasks were producing ad clips, making animations for TV shows, and creating visual effects for video programs. I worked on some of these projects alone and some with other team members. At that time, the company’s animation unit consisted of about seven people who specialized in different aspects of animation.
During this period, I also learned how to use Maya software and started learning Maya 2.5. However, Maya only ran on IRIX and Windows NT operating systems, so I had to learn how to set up Windows NT and the hardware that supported it. This sparked my interest in Network Rendering later on.
One of the company’s editors Hasan Azad Hosseini introduced me to Maya Fusion, a software I taught myself by reading the help section. I used it to composite digital images for many projects. Eventually, I switched from 3D Studio Max to Maya for my projects and incorporated Maya Fusion, which later became Digital Fusion, into my workflow.
Below are images and videos of some of the projects I did at that time:
One of my earliest projects for Kelk-e-Khial was an animated title sequence called Talash in late 2000. I worked on this project with Kian Shaerinia, another 3D artist in our team, and we collaborated on every aspect of the process, from brainstorming ideas to delivering the final render. We used 3D Studio Max software version 3.0 to create this animation.
This teaser advertising that I created to showcase a floor mop called Nab. The video combines 2D and 3D animation techniques. The 2D animation was created by Ms. Azadeh Jenoud and I was responsible for the 3D parts, which I made using Maya version 3.0 software. I used the NURBS modeling tools to create the 3D model of the mop and Polygon modeling tools to model kitchen objects.
I was tasked with the creation and design of an animated teaser for the new Chichak’s chocolate boxes. While at Kelk-e-Khial, I had contributed to a few Chichak projects, but this was the first one that was fully my responsibility. I utilized features of Maya software, including paint effects and environmental effects, to craft a setting that blends fantasy and reality and also Digital Fusion for the post-production process like adding some lighting effects, color grading, and composite rendered images.
My interest in sci-fi movies was one of the reasons I started learning 3D animation, so I tried to create a sci-fi environment whenever I got the chance. I made this work during my spare time at work to learn more about Maya tools, which consists of two plans.
Working in an advertising company like Kelk-e-Khial taught me that speed is crucial for some projects, which limits the creative process of character and animation design. A puffed snack called Ijad needed a promotional teaser, and I had to work under such constraints. I only had three days to complete it, so I had to model the character, the environment, and other elements quickly and move on to animation and rendering. I omitted many details from both the setting and the character’s actions to meet the deadline.
In addition to the above, during my time at Kelk-e-Khial, I had the opportunity to work on several other projects, including promotional teasers for Razaghi juice, Ivan shampoo, Kija bleach, and animation clips for the Baran TV show and Talash competition-based reality show. These experiences were invaluable in helping me develop my skills in the field of animation. I also had the chance to learn about the DpsVelocity non-linear editing system, the linear video editing system, PAR (Personal Animation Recorder), and how to produce a TV show like Talash. However, I believe that the most significant experience I gained during this time was meeting Mr. Mostafa Azizi, the CEO of Kelk-e-Khial. His guidance and advice not only helped me improve my skills but also opened my mind and helped me grow as a person.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me or leave them in the comments section below.