Rob van den Bragt was born in Arnhem, The Netherlands. As a child, his family moved around a lot and this exposed him to many different countries and cultures. The experience of coming to know, at an early age, that the world was bigger than his birthplace served Rob well when he chose a career as an animator.

After obtaining his Masters degree in traditional animation film from Genk, Belgium in 1996, he freelanced for a short while. In 1998, he moved to South Africa, where he worked at The Refinery. Later, he moved to London, where he worked as a freelance animator for companies such as Cinesite, Passion Pictures/Slave Studios and currently, The Mill.

The passion for animated film came to Rob easily. His father was a professional photographer and his sister was a big fan of film. This family interest, combined with a strong interest in computer graphics, rubbed off on him and he feels he subconsciously prepared for a career in 3D animation.

Some of the biggest sources of inspiration for Rob have come from Star Wars, Tron, Luxo Jr. and the original laser disc game, Dragon's Lair.

Since then, he has won several prizes, including a Bronze medal in 2003 at the Clio Awards for best commercial animation. Rob van den Bragt is happy knowing that, while a daily job, animation and story telling still remain a passion.

Q. How did you get involved in the 3D computer graphics industry?
A. As a child I loved to create animation films using my father's 8mm camera, I just didn't know one could make a career out of being an animator at that time. I made my first computer animation around 1986 using my 8bit home computer. In BASIC, I programmed a tiny ASCII character walking into a house with an animated chimney. Years later, while living in Belgium, I discovered a film school that offered a traditional animation course. I was the first student at my film school to use 3D computer animation for my graduation films. Since then I've worked on various animation projects.

Q. How do you use Maya?
A. I use Maya on a daily basis for anything ranging from pre-visualization to complex realistic animated characters. What I love about Maya is that it is very versatile. The more you master it, the more it opens up new possibilities of achieving the desired effect.

Q. What projects have you worked on?
A. I have worked on commercials for clients such as Levi's, Coca Cola, Adidas and British Telecom; pop-promos, the.latest of which is Radiohead ; animated
series such as UEFA Spheriks, and feature films, for example, Tombraider.

Q. What makes this industry so exciting to you?
A. The excitement for me comes from the fact that every job is unique. Although your box of tricks keeps growing with every project, you still don't stop learning. The great mix of technology and art forces you to approach each job from a slightly different angle.

Q. Where do you see the industry going in the next 5 years?
A. Directors, artists and clients will become even more involved as the accuracy and speed of the visual feedback from 3D computer graphics evolves; real time 3D animation for example, motion capture, is going to become more frequently used at all levels of production. Physical and crowd animation systems will become mainstream.

Q. What words of wisdom do you have for anyone interested in entering the world of 3D computer graphics?
A. When making your first short film, keep it short and simple; most importantly, pay attention to detail. The details are what give life to a story, not its length.