Nishant Narang on Navigating a Career in VFX

Our Alpha Chromatica compositing students were treated to visit from an incredibly generous Lead / Senior Compositor: NIshant Narang. His experience spans many studios including: 𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗚, 𝗥𝗲𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹, 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿, 𝗖𝗼𝗦𝗔, and 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗩𝗙𝗫. He has worked in Vancouver, Montreal, and even Italy.

Having worked with Nishant, I knew he would be a perfect guest speaker for our students. He’s someone truly invested in helping and educating others. He is not only a strong technical artist, but a keen and collaborative problem-solver. It’s one thing to learn how to use software or how to create VFX: it’s another thing entirely to learn how to manage your career in a way that allows you to flourish and live a full life beyond the computer. Our students benefited greatly from Nishant’s experience, wisdom, and willingness to talk openly about the up’s, down’s, obstacles, and successes in his journey.

Nishant made the leap from New Delhi, India to Canada, navigating his way into major VFX studios to work on more than 𝟱𝟬 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀! His candid discussion with our students shed light on how to handle the industry’s highs and lows, the crucial importance of taking breaks, and how fostering a positive work environment can drive success. Nishant’s story offers valuable lessons in resilience, self-care, and honest communication. Figuring out how to balance your work, passions, and life’s practical needs is an important but often neglected topic. Many thanks to Nishant for providing this opportunity to learn, ask, discuss, grow, and support each other.

“Sometimes you have to restart. Restarting is a big part of our field. When you have a checkpoint where you feel it (your work) is good, always save it. You may work three hours and think: “I’ve invested three hours this shot. I can’t change it now, I can’t go back and start from the previous checkpoint.” But sometimes you have to, (because) you made a mess. So use the assets and whatever you made that works, and start a new node graph. If you are struggling and looking at a computer for three hours straight, you may not recognize the problem.”

“People are working during lunchtime, but that one hour is your break too. You need to take a break. I also really like when someone from the production team actually checks up on the artists. Like: “Hey, how is it going?” That’s not just for checking on our progress. That’s also for giving us a break and checking if you need help.”