Sriram Viswanathan

Experience

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  Paprikaas Animation Studios

  Jan 2006 - Oct 2006

  Character Rigging Artist

  Setting up character rigs for characters and some props for every show. Understanding requirements from animators and updating existing rigs in a backward compatible way. Updating details to character modeling team to ask for needed changes to support rigs which the shot/seq/show requires. Writing MEL tools to automate rigging workflows.

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  Prana Studios Private Limited

  Nov 2006 - Aug 2008

  Application Developer

  Tool development (Python & MEL) per department, Creating workflows, Pipeline Development, Providing solutions to various repetitive tasks, Testing/Evaluating new software/plugin, etc.The goal was to provide tools (which are show agnostic as much as possible) to allow departments from modeling, surfacing, layout, animation, lighting, and compositing to automate small pieces of their workflow. Most of the tools were written in MEL (as most departments were using Maya). Some of the tools were command line tools written in python, to suit a specific purpose of batch conversion, batch render, archival, report generation etc. Show less

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  Technicolor Creative Studios (DreamWorks Animation India Unit)

  Nov 2008 - Dec 2016

  Since I have been a TD for close to 8 years with Dreamworks Dedicated Unit, I have worked for different departments playing different roles, while having the Technical Director Title:- 2016: Technology Project Lead (6 months): Scrum Master, Project Lead for a Team of 7. Delivered Studio Tools to Artist. Stakeholders were GM, HOT & HR- 2016: Promoted to Senior Technical Director- 2015: Animation TD: Supporting 40+ Animators on Fixing Issues- 2015: Developer at Production Technology- 2013-2015: Modeling & Matte Painting TD- 2012-2013: Matte Painting TD- 2012: Pipeline TD for Dragon TV Series- 2010-2011: Matte Painting TD & Matte Painting Compositor- 2008-2011: Lighting TDHighlights:- Developing Tools in Python for to automate artist workflows & to provide solutions for some of the artist problems. Example: I was responsible to integrate Shotgun into the Pipeline. Got promoted to Senior Technical Director for this effort.- Optimizing resource usage (disk space, farm, licenses etc.) by configuring workflows, render dependency graphs, etc.- Providing support on workflows and departmental issues on day to day basis, by troubleshooting & debugging issues. Also provides long term solution(s) by watching patterns.- Mentoring artist/production to enable themselves (process training)- Working closely with CG-Sup's, HODs, Prod Managers and Leads to continuously brainstorm ideas to help undestand the top issues for an artist per department, handoff workflows, technology blockers etc. - Evaluating new software versions (or new s/w related to animation & rendering) and getting stats to help management decide its usefulness in terms of productivity- Also during Merry Madagascar DVD Feature, I played dual role. I was the Matte Painting Compositor & Department TD. A Matte Painting Compositor is responsible for projection and mapping setups for all matte painting elements (using domes, cards, actual geometry etc.) and some BG subtle animation. Show less

  • Technology Project Lead

    Aug 2016 - Dec 2016

  • Technical Director

    Nov 2008 - Jul 2016
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  Technicolor Group

  Feb 2017 - now

  Feb 2019 to Jun 2023: Product Manager with Technicolor Group (Bangalore - Hybrid)July 2023 (onwards) : Product Manager with Technicolor Group (London - Hybrid)Core responsibilities include Interviewing various personas, understanding the user workflow, detailing the core problem, consulting with SMEs, providing a plan along with a roadmap and working periodically with Developers, QA and Support to deliver the solution. Incrementally rolling out changes every week after testing functionality with help from users. Constantly listening to feedback from users and stakeholders to course correct the roadmap. Periodically communicating the progress along with roadmap, blockers, demo container and video clips to stakeholders. Show less Department Manager for R&D (Crew Size: 130+): - Rolling out Quarterly & Annual Reviews along with the respective HOD's- Attendance/Leave/Comp-Off Management- Responsible to ensure that recruitment continue's to happen for R&D for all vacancies by interacting with HOD's, Leads and Operations Head- Rolling out the expectations for each role, with the help of the respective HOD- Rolling out the raises, promotions and movement, based on the collective annual review, ranking and the overall scenario of the individual contributor or lead- Providing fair opportunities for individuals to attend conferences by consulting with HODs and Leads- Handling resignations, CAP and other difficult scenario's along with the individual's HOD- Making sure that the department has all the required facilities to run smoothly (ex: software licenses, meeting rooms, etc.). The information is delegated to Facilities team, but the follow up is done by DM with business case & justification- Based on the business needs, nature of the role, exposure factor etc. the DM will come up with the overall seating scheme for RnD- Having one off conversations with individuals about conflicts, interests, career changes, role changes, complaints etc.- Ensuring that the whole crew follows the Agile Workflow (as prescribed by the Global Team) with help from Project Managers- Involved in suggesting changes to Job descriptions for all roles in R&D Operations (Coordinators, Project Managers, Support Engineers etc.)- Broad Communications to crew- Department Outings, Team Building, etc. Show less

  • Product Manager

    Feb 2019 - now

  • Software Department Manager

    Feb 2017 - Jan 2019