:: Dileep K :: Multimedia Designer

Husband, Father, Artist, Multimedia Geek and Student (not necessarily in that order) is probably the easiest way to describe the person in me. I like to believe I am a good husband and a great Dad, but according to Ralph Waldo Emerson "Art is a jealous mistress, and if a man has a genius for painting, poetry, music, architecture or philosophy, he makes a bad husband and an ill provider" !!! I am working hard at disproving this :-).

A Kriya Yoga practitioner; follower of the teachings of of M. Govindan Sacthidananda. His books are based on the teachings of Satguru Babaji Nagraj (Mahavataar) and the Tamil Siddhas including Patanjali and Thirumoolar. (http://www.babajiskriyayoga.net).

A Brief History :Born in Zambia, in 1969. Brought up in Borivali, a suburb of Bombay (now Mumbai). Finished high school at St. Francis D'Assisi High School, Borivali (1985) and Junior College at Mithibai College, Vile Parle, Mumbai. Studied Computer Science at Pune University, (close to Bombay). Finished my Masters in Digital Design (Dec 2007) from Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. Currently training and freelancing in Digital Design.

The Birth of a Digital Artist: (click to open)

I attended a course in 3D Computer Graphics and Animation, at Xavier's Institute of Mass Communication, Bombay in 1991. I started my career as a lab tutor at the same place. Rahul Zaveri was the course co-ordinator and my mentor. The software we used was DGS (Digital graphics System), from a company called Digital Arts. The paint system was TIPS. The Hardware was a 486 33MHz, with a transputer board having 8 processors, each running at 25MHz, to increase rendering speed by using parallel processing technology. The PC had 2 displays, one EGA for the text and one an RGB display coming off a 32 bit TARGA graphics card. I mastered the 3D software. My strength was 3D modelling, using the patch modelling technique which was not available on any other PC based 3D software in 1991. I learnt the techniques of transferring the rendered sequence of still images onto a broadcast recorder, frame by frame using a DOS batch file, a video encoder (converted RGB signals into a composite or component video signal) and a frame controller. Soon, I was doing serious 3D animation production for Television.
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The Move to Interactive Media: (click to open)

As the era of Interactive Multimedia dawned, the early companies tried to incorporate videos using PCs which were not even powerful enough to create and playback quarter screen resolution videos. They used video-overlay played through Optical Disc Video Recorders. One of the early pioneers in this field was Robert Abel, whose 1985 Video on Digital Imaging (by his company then known as Abel Image Research), left a lasting impression on me. Robert Abel was film producer, who used a lot of computer graphics and special effects in his films. He won 33 clio awards. "Columbus: Encounter, Discovery & Beyond" which he developed with IBM is one of the largest interactive multimedia educational project ever produced. Bob Abel passed away in September 2001. A big time fan of Bob Abel, I was keen on understanding what Interactive Media was all about. This curiosity took me to the floors of Siemens Information Systems Ltd, Bombay in 1993. I found this job since the official 3d software being used there was DGS by Digital Arts. It took a while to learn how to control the optical disc recorder through the RS 232 port using batch files. We used the first version of Macromedia Authorware to create video-overlays. 6 months at Siemens had expanded my understanding of the Interactive Media, and I was quite satisfied with my progress not knowing that there was a whole new media called the Internet exploding in the western world and would soon catch up with all other parts. Siemens was also the place where I met my wife, who taught me Authorware.:: close ::

The Journey from Bombay to Brisbane: (click to open)

Back in 1993, the knowledge I possessed in India, was enough to set me on a flying start. I was off to Jakarta, Indonesia by 1995 setting up a studio to create 3D Graphics and Interactive Multimedia. 1996, saw me taking off to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to create educational CD ROM titles. In 1997, I settled back in Bombay, with my own start up called Virtual Media. Virtual Media created 3D models for Animation Studios like Anobie and 2NZ. It also did design and development for the Web and CD-ROMs. In June 1999, I received an offer from Cosmos Software, Dubai, UAE. Dubai is an amazing city. A must see for tourists! I joined the media division of Cosmos Software and spent the next two and a half years working as a senior multimedia and web developer amongst Iraqi designers, artists and programmers. This group was the most talented group I had ever worked with, especially the artists who helped me to lift the quality of my drawings and pencil rendering.
The desire to pursue a better quality of life saw me migrate to Brisbane, Australia with my family. Currently I am a teacher at a TAFE college, a casual tutor at University for the Masters of Digital Design program and I freelance as a multimedia solutions provider. In Australia I found the time and the need to learn driving. Here, I experienced a sense of fulfillment that helped me quit smoking without putting any efforts towards it. I learnt juggling with 3 balls. I took guitar and golf lessons !! Finally, like a true Indian, I found the time to watch some cricket and pursue self-realization through the plethora of meditation and yoga centers in Australia.
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