Known for delivering high quality work for all formats, award winning artist driven facility launched by Navin Shetty, Ventana Studios has been on a mission to provide best VFX and CGI work to its clients with innovative solutions.
The studio has mastered one of the most challenging aspects of CG/VFX i.e modelling the behaviour of fluids and has become an unstoppable leader in fluid simulation and photoreal CGI. This can be observed in the work they have produced for brands like Too Yumm!, Lux, Garnier, Ponds, Clean & Clear, Gillette, Britannia and many more. Along with that, Ventana specialises in dynamics, FX, design, previz, CG animation, digital effects, compositing and matte painting, and has chartered all mediums; be it digital, film, TV, commercials or broadcast.
And of the key people who has been actively pushing creative boundaries is their CG-VFX creative head Prashant Sadaphule. With over 20 years of experience in CG and VFX, his experience includes Famous Studios, FXLabs, and Ramoji Films before heading to Ventana where his team has worked with clients through every phase of the creative process, from VFX, design and preview to CG animation, digital effects, compositing and matte painting. His core specialisations include photo real CG environment, character animation, and fluid simulation.
Sadaphule and the creative team at Ventana consider their job roles as artistic technicians. He clarifies, “We’re scene constructors, collaborators in the filmmaking process with a direct line to the director’s creative vision. From CG characters and food to vast digital matte paintings, delicate composites, invisible beauty work, and everything in between, we are home to exceptional artists and technologists. Our VFX team blends its technical and creative abilities to set the post-production pipeline during the pre-production stage.
One needs to be technically sound and have a vision. As I enjoy travelling, I will use a travel example to explain this point in a better manner. We use vision as a guiding light to determine what our destination will look like. Technical skills allow us to decide how we plan to reach that goal or destination as a mode of transport and the learnings picked up from years of experience act as a map that helps us to get back on track if we ever lose our ways and get lost.”
For any project/company to succeed, both the creative and business personnel need to work in tandem with one another. When asked about the client servicing and its connection with repeat business, business head Sandesh Shetty shares, “We believe a happy client, who is satisfied with our services, acts as our personal PR agent across markets. They recommend us for our work and help multiply our clientele base with positive word-of-mouth publicity.”
Internationally, the benchmark on character animation, CG food, automotive and beauty products CGI has been set very high. However, the Ventana Studios has left no stone unturned to create a photo realistic look for food, liquid, characters, and beauty products. A proud Shetty says, “We are constantly inventing, breaking, and pushing the boundaries of what could be achieved or created in CGI. With our talented bunch of artists, we have set a certain standard for the kind of work we are known for delivering. We are in the endeavour and are confident that someday we would be able to be on par or exceed the kind of work done globally. For now, we look forward to working towards becoming the best in our region.” And bagging two awards – Best Special Effects at the Ann Awards in 2019 and Effect Simulation category in VAM Awards 2022 – is a clear indicator that they are on the right path.
Along with delivering numerous notable commercials, the studio has also worked on long-form projects like Cargo and Disney+ Hotstar’s Dahan: Raakan Ka Rahasya. For the sensational horror, thriller web series Dahan, the Ventana team along with their sister concern long form wing Nube Cirrus had to create Raakan’s face in 3D, multiple software were used to build a natural looking cave, extensive CG and complex compositing works had to be carried out. Whereas Arati Kadav’s movie Cargo was a different experience. Sadaphule explains, “It was a lovely experience working with Aarti on Cargo. From the very beginning, she had a clear vision on what her expectations were from the team. We spent a considerable amount of time researching spaceships. Also, since we needed to create a futuristic spaceship, the challenge was to keep the existing structures and their relevance of use in place and infuse it with a futuristic design.”
While the Team Ventana Studios realises that the schedules and budgets are shrinking rapidly, they know that the dependence on CG/VFX is increasing day by day due to the uncertainties of real time shooting facilities. Sadaphule concludes, “It’s an exciting time to be operating in the CG/VFX space. With the surge in demand for the photorealistic CGI with challenging timelines and budget we are constantly on our toes to reinvent our methods to meet the optimum output.”
