Animation in Nigeria is not a scarce commodity but 3D animation is still scarce locally. There are not so many 3D animators within the Nigerian space doing good justice to the art. Among the few talents performing well at the art are two young boys Tomiwa and Toferan. This is their story;
Toluwaferan and Tomiwasire Ibironke are two brothers whose mother enrolled us for private 3D Animation tutoring in her film studio. They are best at modeling, texturing, rigging and animating 3D Images. They think of a character and then use their 3D animation tools to create the image, using Adobe Photoshop and MAYA Software. Whenever they create these images, they feel very happy, which most times encourage us to create more characters.
They are trained by a professional whose name is Mr. Bisi, an Autodesk licensed instructor. They always schedule classes to hold at weekends and during school vacations. Their parents always ensure that they give the necessary attention to schoolwork and assignments, as they get better at our animation creations.
They developed their passion for 3d animation from watching cartoons and animation films. Now that they are creating animation characters themselves, they hope to develop the skills and create their own animated works. Currently, they make use of Autodesk Maya and Adobe Photoshop for sketching, modeling and texturing, rigging and animation.
With this skill, they’ve learned that “our imagination can come to life; we can make it walk, talk and play.” They haven’t met many people in the 3D Animation world, but their tutor (Mr. Bisi) has promised to exhibit their works at ComicCon.
Their motivation mostly comes from their Mum who always tells them to always create their stories and bring their imaginations to life. They also look up to all the great works from Lego Ninjago, Disney Marvel, Disney Pixar, StarWars, Angry Birds, Mine Craft and lots of cartoons that works for motivation and encouragement to perform better.
Apart from 3d animations, these boys have complementary skills, Toferan is skilled at swimming while Tomiwa is skilled at Karate and currently on a purple belt. They are also encouraging other kids interested in their line to draw out their imagination and use lots of Lego Bricks to create characters. And for kids with potentials, they’re encouraging them to ‘write down and build your imagination.’ Whenever you are watching cartoon programmes, create your own story too.
