Hamid Ibrahim – Maldivian CG Guru
// September 10th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Views
When I first heard of the Maakanaa Show which was being aired on the local VTV Channel it was described to me as being on par with animations coming out of Pixar. I was pleasantly surprised that finally Maldivian artists were developing such quality 3D art and animations. I have known for some time that there actually are talented and capable people in Maldives who could achieve this but that they simply lacked the (financial) motivation to put in the effort. I was very interested in checking out this groundbreaking show. But alas, when I finally got to see one of the show’s episodes I was disappointed. I guess it was partly because I was having such high expectations. I mean, surely any animation that can be compared with Pixar’s has to be better than this. But on the other hand, the show really is groundbreaking in terms of being a fully animated show being produced in the Maldives.
If you want a sample of work by one Maldivian artist you can check out Hamid Ibrahim’s portfolio. My two favorite of his works on this site are the tropical wood tent and his depiction of the folk-lore based sea monster Ranamaari. In fact the latter was recently featured on a couple of the leading western computer art magazines. And if you check out this animation that he made just for fun, you can imagine the quality of work he can do if he was actually paid for it.
Maybe someday a Maldivian company will produce an animated feature film that can actually compare with Pixar. I know there are people with the talent and knowledge. There just needs to be the proper market for it.
