The December '07 issue of Soldier, the official magazine of the British Army, featured C2i's handiwork on the cover.

Yuris Mangolds, who graduated from both Foundation Visual Art & Design and 3D Animation & Visual Effects at VFS, carved out his own kind of professional niche by founding C2i Studios. C2i’s primary market is the military, animating state-of-the-art robotic machines, and it also provides services to the architectural and medical sectors, among others.

Yuris entered the Foundation program with a purpose – he knew he’d be pursuing the 3D program afterward – but it also formed the very beginnings of an impressive professional and personal network. Through C2i, he’s worked with six other VFS grads at various times, hailing from Foundation and 3D alike.

We asked Yuris about C2i’s origins, some of the highs and low of the work he’s doing, and how a two-year VFS experience has bolstered his business.

What was your background before going into 3D? What first drew you to the industry?

My background prior to VFS was in architecture, mechanical engineering, and CAD in general. I also worked on level design for video games as well as traditional art, video editing, and graphic design. I was fortunate to learn that 3D would be my career path at a very early age, and have dedicated most of my life to pursuing it.

Like many students, you began your VFS in the Foundation program. A few years on now, what do you think that experience offered you?

The experience in the Foundation program gave me time away from the computer to focus on traditional art. I also learned valuable concepts about composition and visual storytelling for photography and film.

Let’s skip ahead past VFS here. How did C2i Studios come about?

C2i really found me. I was offered a job making a short concept of operations animation which turned out very well. Soon after, I became in high demand and needed to bring in more people to work on the projects as they increased in scale.

I understand you have clients in the architectural and military sectors. Could you elaborate on the kind of work you’ve been doing under the C2i banner?

C2i mainly creates concept of operations animations dealing with new and emerging unmanned vehicle technology for the US Army. We’ve also done concept art and product visualization for military robotics firms as well as a variety of classified projects. While the projects and content we do can be extremely “cool,” the biggest disadvantage is that I’m unable to show people our best work.

Apart from its hush-hush nature, what are some of the challenges specific to that kind of work?

The biggest challenge specific to C2i is working within a virtual workplace. Directing employees in different timezones and countries makes things tricky, since everyone works on different schedules. Also, due to the nature of our clients, we tend to have extremely tight – often insane – and strict deadlines. To compensate for these challenges, we’ve had to spend a massive amount of effort developing and ironing out our production pipeline to make sure things run as smoothly and quickly as possible.

What have you found to be the advantages of striking out under C2i, versus working in a larger existing studio?

The advantage of having C2i is that we can choose our path and projects. If we get tired of military work, we can take on other types of work – though we haven’t been picky so far. We’re also not stuck doing the same thing in each project but can experience a new aspect of 3D with each client or project.

The biggest disadvantage is that being a startup company, combined with 3D equipment and software being very expensive, I would be making more money and working less hours – I typically work 80 to 120 hours a week – if I was working for a larger company. There is also a phenomenal amount of stress, especially when facing very tight and strict deadlines.

So, the VFS network: there are a lot of familiar names listed on the C2i site, from both the Foundation and 3D programs. How involved have those people been in C2i so far? I take it VFS was a pretty fertile ground for you in finding like minds?

The VFS network has proven to be very valuable in finding talent. All of C2i’s workers have proven to be extraordinarily talented and I couldn’t have made it this far without them.

Teh Yeh was my first subcontractor. When I was attending VFS, I noticed that his demo reel was focused around a Stryker – an 8-wheeled tank – which was a required asset for the first C2i project, so I sought him out to discuss the vehicle. And when the second C2i project required a large amount of compositing and visual effects, I subcontracted him to help me with it.

Later on, Teh had to take a leave to do a gig for LucasArts Singapore, so he introduced me to Vinay Mehta, whom he had previously worked with, to replace him. I didn’t find out Vinay had attended VFS until after she began working with us.

Nathan Todd-Stone and Jesus Orozco are both good friends of mine who were in my 3D class and have become key players in C2i Studios. Jesus was also in my Foundation class. Anna-Celestrya Carr and I became a couple while I was in Foundation, and we have plans to get married sometime later this year. She’s a very talented person and helps C2i out when she’s not busy with her own production company, “The Little Film Maker”, where she specializes in making affordable mini-documentaries for people wishing to share their life story.

A valuable lesson about relationships – professional and personal. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us, Yuris. We wish you and the rest of the C2i crew all the best going forward!