Bucks graduate Jaffar Ali lands paid internship with Vizrt

One of our recent animation alumni, Jaffar Ali, has just been selected for a paid internship at one of our newest industry partners, Vizrt.  Vizrt is a large broadcast company who manufacture virtual reality solutions for broadcasters, both nationally and internationally (they have 40 or so offices around the globe). Their newsroom virtual reality work fills our screens every night: ITV News, BBC, Sky, CNN,  and Sky Sports. We asked Jaffar to talk about his new internship and how he landed the position.


Bucks: Congratulations on your paid internship with Vizrt - Tell us about it!

Jaffar:  I am really excited to be starting my internship with Vizrt. They are an ingenious company that create real - time graphics for television broadcasting. Their main Office is in Norway, but I shall be working in their UK offices in Ealing Studios, Ealing, London.

Architectural visualisation by Jaffar Ali

Bucks: How did you make it happen?

Jaffar:  I received an email from Dave Creighton about a paid apprentice opportunity at Vizrt. At that time I was not aware of them and what they did. But after some research into the company, I saw this as being an interesting and creative field to go into.

Dave Creighton by Monika Dzikowicz

My details were sent to Maja, the operations manager at Vizrt. I was given a task to complete prior to the interview, and if successful I would be called for an interview. I was lucky enough to attend the interview and also to be a successful candidate.  

Hitman guns by Jaffar Ali

Bucks: What sort of project will you be working on?

Jaffar: Vizrt have a variety of products which they provide to their clients, such as the BBC, SkyNews and Al-Jazeera. Some of them are used to create augmented reality virtual studios, sports analysis, weather, maps and also general animated graphics.

My role as an apprentice would be to learn and be able to use the products. Also, I will be assisting the system specialist with onsite installations of their systems. During my first week at Vizrt, I will be on a 5 day course learning Viz Artist. This is the software used to create all graphics and models. However, external softwares such as; 3DS Max and Maya can be used to create models and then be exported into the Viz Artist.

Beach House Interior - some of Jaffar's work at Bucks

Bucks: How did Bucks prepare you for the role?

Jaffar: The Animation, Games & Interactive Media course at Bucks taught me a range of creative skills.  Personally, I feel that focusing on doing mainly modeling projects at Bucks has helped me because I will be able to create the 3D models and scenes which can be used for virtual studios and 3D assets at Vizrt.


Bucks: What advice would you give to a student at Bucks to make the most of the course?

Jaffar: Keep working hard at trying to achieve the best outcomes in your projects. This can be done by looking closely at what is happening in the industries you wish to get into and trying to achieve the same results.


(Editor's Note: For more impressive work done by our students and recent graduates here at Bucks, check out Ben Gray's Moonbeam, and the architectural visualisations of Sabah Masood. Also take a look at the work of Andy Thomas here, see our latest commercial project for Rocketseed, our short film done for a global aid agency, and take a look at the excellent work of designer Monika Dzikowicz, architectural visualisation specialist Krsytof Michalski, Alex Whitfield and the 3D artwork of Mike Swan.)