Bio

Ravihara Weerathunge, born 1990, is a 3D artist who started his journey in 3D animation at the young age of 12. He was a traditional artist until he found he had an intense interest on the back end of the Visual effects on movies and interactive 3D worlds in Games; he then began working at transferring his traditional art skills to the digital screen.   For the most part Ravihara’s skills in 3D are self-taught but he was also a student of Dharmaraja College, Kandy, where he completed over 14 animations for different school functions. He was best known amongst his fellow students and colleagues for a short film done in 3Ds Max which he completed with a friend of his for the school's science day. Following this Ravihara had the honor of being established as the school’s official 3D animator.  Ravihara then went on to finish his A/Ls and began attending the University of Colombo, School of computing as an external student.  While there, he completed five subjects in parallel for the first time in the institute. He is currently studying Interactive media as a HND student of last year, at the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine.

Q&A

1. How did you get involved with 3D computer graphics?
   
   

   Well, I can honestly say it is no coincidence. While I was playing some 3D Games of the time on my friend's computer, I found my mind was not worrying about what is going to happened in next level of the game but who created these games and how? I knew that drawing something using 'MS paint' was difficult and animating those 2D images was even harder, so creating interactive 3D elements on the screen was beyond my scope so, my younger years were spent with a big question boiling inside my head. After getting my own computer at the age of 12, I was still searching for that "magic software" until one day a classmate of mine told me "There is a software called 3dsMax which is used to create both movies and games." and this is when I met 3Ds Max, version 4.3. I was amazed at the fact that it worked so well with my Pentium 2 ,266 MHz processor and 2MB onboard VGA, with only 64 MB of System RAM. Strangely, the software looked so familiar to me that day that even today I can't explain that feeling. There I was, struggling with the software, alone in a world with only 3dsMax help file to help me but eventually, the bond between me and 3dsMax grew so strongly that some days I got up from my seat only to have my meals.

   My parents, the best on this earth, knew that their son is up to something, that he was going after his dream, not a miracle. They are so different from the typical parents who want to see their child grow up to be a doctor or an engineer; that they just wanted to see me being me. I love them a lot.

   When I was just a kid, I used to draw on every wall in our home. I was a traditional artist who used paper and pastel when I was at school - I just took one step forward and changed my medium to a computer screen. Besides my parents and their support I would also like to credit another great personality behind this transformation, he is Mr. Lalith Ekanayake, my teacher who saw my talents before me, and guided me to this medium of unlimited freedom to expressing myself.

   I was a proud student of Dharmaraja College, Kandy where I was offered many opportunities to sharpen my talents. I did 14 animations for different school functions. All my teachers and especially Mrs. Srimathi Karunarathne- our IT Teacher, and Mr. Sumith Kumara, head master of college computer lab, helped me to create a pinnacle in animation history at my college.

   Following my college days, my skills were further sharpened by another three great lecturers K.D. Sandaruwan, Y. P. Samarasinghe and Uditha M de Soysa at University of Colombo, School of Computing. After successfully completing five subjects in parallel, I started following an HND in Interactive media at the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine. There also I was lucky to have an awesome lecture panel, with Mr. Mohammad Azmeer, Mrs. Dhakshika Jayakodyarachchi and Prof. Sirimevan Widyasekera. These all are the great mentors, who built my talents up to this level.

2. What is your dream project; if you could work on anything at all anywhere, what would it be?
   
   

   My idea is now to finish my studies here at our capital city, Colombo and then return to my hometown Kandy, and have a good rest and begin my own work there with a fresh mind. Here in Colombo, its rough - both the weather and the living. So honestly now, my dream project is a project of my own, in my home sweet home. But in the depth of my heart, there is a dream of me working for the latest project at a place like ILM. But I know that it is a big target, so to achieve that goal, I believe I must settle down for a bit and do lot of more exercises and sharp my skills.

3. What makes this industry so exciting to you?
   
   

   I see this medium as me playing God on my computer screen; creating my own world. I create the sun, I create the flesh, I create the bones and I create everything else and I animate them. So every empty scene is an empty world to me. Some may think, what is this guy's life, sitting in front of the computer screen, pulling blue dots for half of his day? But for the ones who really love this industry, there is no other pleasure like seeing the character they created come alive on the screen. Most of all, this is not an industry that everyone can survive or can enjoy. It is only populated with people who have a collection of talents such as creative thinking, marvelous understanding and patience. I don't see this industry as an art subject or a science subject, it is right on top of the line that divides art and science; where both these massive subjects blend together and create the taste like no other.

4. Where do you see yourself in 5 years, where do you hope to be with your career in 3D?
   
   

   Currently, I'm more in to 3D modeling than any other topic but I also am very interested in studying dynamics. As a result of exposure to an unguided self-learning method, I am interested in a bit of everything. Before thinking about the future, I'd like to step back for a moment, 5 years ago, I never thought I would end up here as the first Autodesk Junior Master, so time has offered me much more than I expected. I hope I will go beyond what I expect it to be in the next 5 years; looking inside the crystal ball, I see me sitting in front of a workstation, doing what I always wanted to do, but with a sharper talent.

5. Do you have any advice to give to young students who are thinking about studying 3D?
   
   

   First of all, before you step in, ask yourself "do I love this subject or not?" If you think that "programming and math are so hard, and this is a piece of cake, and I must study this a little and start making big money", forget this field now. This is a subject balanced on both dedication and patience.

   About studying subject related software, when you find an interesting tool, first do some self study. I found, that for me, the techniques that I created by just self-study get imprinted in my brain, something than techniques that I learned from following a tutorial or text don't always do. But it is a must to follow those tutorials and text too, for some things are way more complex to understand just by playing with them.

   Always respect and get inspired by the work of others. Don't get trapped inside a world that you think you are number one.

   And finally start from the basics, then move on to advanced stuff, for example, if you are working with Max, learn almost everything about Scanline rendering before trying to understand mental ray or v-ray. Most of all, Enjoy what you are doing. Because then it will become not just another subject, but a part of your life.