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Ganz Ramalingam
ganz.ramalingam@gmail.com
Global Head of Education & Senior VFX Instructor

Summary

Training and education leader with 15+ years designing and delivering production-aligned Visual Effects programmes focused on real studio performance, not academic completion. My work centers on closing the gap between formal training and day-one production readiness, using professional image quality and pipeline behavior as the primary evaluation standard.

I pioneered departmentalized VFX training in North America by creating the region’s first dedicated Compositing programme and co-creating an advanced Lighting (Katana) programme, replacing generalist instruction with role-specific preparation. Programme graduates have gone on to production roles at major studios including ILM, Weta, DNEG, and Sony Pictures Imageworks.

I design curricula around actual studio pipelines, hiring expectations, and common failure points, training learners aged 18–60 to operate effectively under production constraints. My experience spans full programme ownership, from needs analysis and stakeholder alignment through instruction, documentation, and continuous iteration based on placement outcomes and employer feedback.

Software Taught

Compositing
Nuke, After Effects, Photoshop

Matchmoving
Mocha Pro, SynthEyes, PFTrack, Boujou

Rotoscoping and Paint
Nuke, Silhouette

3D & Scene Assembly
Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, XSI (Softimage), Modo, Houdini

Lighting & Look Development
Katana, Maya, Clarisse iFX

Terrain & Environment Tools
Gaea, Terragen, Vue

Sculpting
Mudbox

UV & Texturing
Mari, Headus UV, Roadkill, Substance Designer, Substance Painter, 3D-Coat

Real-Time & Virtual Production
Unreal Engine

Generative AI & Image Systems
Midjourney, ComfyUI

Production & Pipeline
Shotgun / ShotGrid / Flow Production Tracking, FTrack

Editing & Finishing
Premiere Pro, KdenLiv, Da Vinci Resolve

OS
Ubuntu, CentOS, macOS, Windows

Work Experience

Founder
Alpha Chromatica Inc. (Canada)
Jul 2023 - Present

Founded and led an independent visual effects education platform created to address structural failure modes in traditional time-based and instructor-paced training that routinely produce graduates who are not production-ready.

Designed, recorded, and structured over 700 hours of instructional content per programme, organised chronologically and categorically to reflect real production learning curves rather than academic schedules.

Replaced cohort-locked, time-based instruction with a competency-driven progression model, allowing faster learners to advance without delay while preventing advancement without meeting objective quality thresholds.

Built a non-linear learning system that enabled learners to diagnose, revisit, and repair foundational gaps independently, reducing attrition caused by pacing mismatch and missed concepts common in adult retraining.

Established outcome-based certification standards where completion was earned through demonstrated competency and image quality, not attendance or elapsed time.

Continuously evolved curriculum design based on learner performance data, placement outcomes, and employer feedback, ensuring relevance to live production environments.

Owned the full operational lifecycle independently, including curriculum architecture, instructional design, platform execution, quality control, and learner experience, without reliance on institutional scaffolding.

Work Experience

Senior Compositing Instructor
Alpha Chromatica Education (Canada)
Jul 2023 - Present

Delivered advanced compositing instruction to adult learners and working professionals in remote and blended formats, preparing artists for production-level performance rather than tool familiarity.

Taught compositing from first principles to enable independent problem-solving across unfamiliar shots, pipelines, and tools, reducing reliance on step-by-step instruction.

Selected compositing deliberately as the primary discipline due to its non-negotiable standard of photorealism, where image quality is objectively judged and cannot be obscured by process, budget, or tooling.

Maintained rigorous instructional standards by enforcing production realism, objective image evaluation, and hands-on execution in one of the most technically and artistically demanding departments in visual effects.

Work Experience

Global Head of Education
Lost Boys - School of Visual Effects (Canada)
Sep 2021 - Jun 2023

Formally appointed Global Head of Education during the final 1.5 years of tenure, after having effectively performed the role since joining the institution in 2010 as programme scope, staff count, and academic responsibility expanded.

Held full accountability for educational standards, programme coherence, instructional quality, and graduate outcomes across campuses and cohorts during a period of peak institutional scale.

Maintained an overall 98.7% graduate placement rate, including 100% placement in the final five years, with graduates employed across major visual effects studios worldwide.

Ensured curriculum alignment with live production pipelines and hiring expectations, resulting in graduates contributing to major film and episodic productions, including large-scale franchises and long-form series at the highest levels of the industry.

Oversaw instructional staff, mentored senior instructors, and intervened directly where depth, consistency, or outcome standards were at risk.

Held institutional accountability for employability, professional readiness, and long-term career sustainability rather than short-term graduation metrics.

Programme graduates were hired into production roles at major studios, including Sony Pictures Imageworks, primarily in Compositing, Matte Painting, Lighting and FX.

Work Experience

Advanced Compositing Programme Lead
Senior VFX Instructor
Lost Boys - School of Visual Effects (Canada)
Sep 2011 - Jun 2023

Designed, led, and personally taught the school’s flagship Advanced Visual Effects Compositing diploma programme, with full ownership of curriculum architecture, instructional delivery, and academic standards.

Created the complete Visual Effects Compositing curriculum, spanning foundational, intermediate, and advanced levels, structured to reflect real studio pipelines rather than academic abstractions.es and cohorts during a period of peak institutional scale.

Designed and delivered seven major production-based projects and over 20 structured courses covering core compositing disciplines, including Roto, Paint, Keying, Integration, and 2D, 2.5D, 3D, and Deep Compositing.

Personally delivered thousands of hours of live and recorded instruction, ensuring depth, continuity, and consistency across cohorts in one of the most technically and artistically demanding departments in visual effects.

Graduated 227 diploma-level artists, maintaining direct accountability for competency validation, image quality standards, and production readiness at the point of graduation.

Trained adult learners ranging from 18 to 60 years old from 44 different countries, demonstrating that age and background were not limiting factors when instruction was correctly structured and cognitively aligned.

Analysed recurring learner failure points and industry skill gaps using placement outcomes and studio feedback, continuously evolving curriculum sequencing and difficulty thresholds.

Graduates from the programme went on to contribute to virtually every major blockbuster and premium television and animation franchise of the past decade, including large-scale feature films and episodic productions at top-tier studios.

Self-directed and co-developed the Lighting TD structure for the advanced Lighting (Katana) programme, including asset standards, pipeline tools, and Python-based utilities to support lighting workflows.

Negotiated Arnold (Solid Angle) render licenses and established a standardized shader library to support consistent look development and lighting instruction across the programme.

Work Experience

Instructor (Visual Effects / 3D)
Singapore Polytechnic
2008 - 2009

Delivered diploma-level instruction in Autodesk Maya, covering modelling, UV unwrapping, texturing, lighting, and rendering, aligned with formal curriculum outcomes.

Emphasised production fundamentals and practical application to prepare students for downstream specialisation rather than surface-level tool usage.

Work Experience

Adjunct Instructor / Workshop Trainer
Temasek Polytechnic and Secondary Schools
2007 - 2008

Conducted Visual Effects and 3D instruction for secondary and pre-tertiary learners across formal classes and short-format workshops.

Delivered public education and outreach programmes, including workshops hosted at Singapore Science Centre, introducing foundational VFX concepts to non-specialist audiences.

Adapted instructional depth and pedagogy across age groups and readiness levels while maintaining conceptual clarity and technical discipline.

Work Experience

Auxiliary Trunk Communications Instructor
Singapore Armed Forces (National Service)
2004 - 2006

Delivered trunk communications training to new recruits, retraining signal personnel, and junior commanders within a compliance-driven operational environment.

Conducted operator and technical instruction for recruits, 3rd Sergeants, and junior officers, requiring clarity, procedural accuracy, and reliable knowledge transfer under time and operational constraints.

Identified limitations in existing text-heavy training manuals that hindered comprehension and retention, particularly for new recruits and junior commanders.

Independently redesigned and produced visual signal diagrams and system schematics for trunk communications vehicles, improving conceptual clarity of equipment layout, signal flow, and operational logic.

Introduced visual-first instructional materials to replace or supplement text-based documentation, enabling faster understanding, fewer training errors, and more consistent instruction across cohorts.

Supported planning and execution of field exercises involving communications systems and vehicles, coordinating training delivery with operational readiness requirements.

Operated within strict regulatory, safety, and chain-of-command frameworks, maintaining instructional discipline and accountability in environments where instructional errors had real operational consequences.

Work Experience

Founder & Freelance Visual Effects Artist
StudioDeGanz
2001 - 2010

Founded and operated an independent visual effects and creative services practice, delivering end-to-end solutions for commercial and institutional clients.

Provided visual effects, compositing, and creative consultancy services, translating client objectives into technically executable and visually coherent outcomes.

Clients included Espon, BMW, Sony, Singtel, Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and Alcatel-Lucent

Managed projects independently from scoping through delivery, maintaining accountability for technical execution, timelines, and stakeholder expectations without external production support.

Developed early production discipline through direct client exposure, learning to balance artistic quality, technical constraints, and delivery risk in real-world environments.

Education

Diploma in Advanced VFX Production
Lost Boys Learning (Vancouver Island, Canada)
2010 - 2011

Diploma in Multimedia Technology
Singapore Polytechnic
2001 - 2004

Past Awards

The Rookies – Global School Rankings
2011 - 2023

Issued annually by The Rookies
(international creative education body)

During these years, Lost Boys was the only institution on the list operating a fully departmentalised Visual Effects training model, rather than a generalist or mixed-discipline programme.

Best Visual Effects School in Canada
1st Place - 2018
2nd Place - 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

Best Visual Effects School in the World
2nd Place - 2018
3rd Place - 2020
4th Place - 2019, 2021
5th Place - 2017
6th Place - 2022
7th Place - 2023

Top 50 Creative Media & Entertainment Schools (Global)
9th Place - 2021
16th Place - 2022

Studios Where Former Students Have Worked

Atomic Cartoons - Toronto
Atomic Cartoons - Vancouver
Barnstorm VFX - Vancouver
Blue Sky Studios*
Cinesite - Vancouver
COSA VFX - Vancouver
Crafty Apes - Los Angeles
Crafty Apes - New York
Crafty Apes - Vancouver
CVD VFX - Vancouver *
Digital Domain - Vancouver
Distillery VFX - Vancouver
DNEG - London
DNEG - Montreal
DNEG - Vancouver
Encore - Vancouver *
Framestore - Vancouver
Gener8 - Vancouver *
Ghost VFX - Vancouver
Goldtooth - Vancouver
Goodbye Kansas - London
Goodbye Kansas - Stockholm
GVFX - Vancouver *
GWF - Vancouver
Hydraulx VFX - Vancouver *
Image Engine - Vancouver
Important Looking - Stockholm
Industrial Light & Magic - London
Industrial Light & Magic - Vancouver
Ingenuity Studios - Los Angeles
Ingenuity Studios - Vancouver
Lions Bay VFX - Vancouver *
MARZ - Toronto
Method Studios - Vancouver *
Milk - London
MPC - London
MPC - Montreal
MPC - Vancouver *
Mr. Wolf - Vancouver
Mr. X -Toronto *
One of Us - London
Outpost - London
Pixomondo - Vancouver
Prime Focus - Vancouver *
Scanline VFX - Vancouver
Sony Pictures Imageworks - Vancouver
Spin VFX - Toronto
Stargate Studios - Vancouver *
The Embassy - Vancouver
Walt Disney Animation Studios - Vancouver
WETA Digital - Vancouver
ZOIC - Vancouver

Documented Student Production Credits

Over a 15-year period, I’ve taught and supervised more than 240 students.

Their work spans feature films, episodic television and animation across major studios worldwide.

At that scale, it’s neither realistic nor useful to track every individual credit in real time. Instead, we maintain an annually updated record of representative productions where former students have earned professional credits.

View the ongoing record here:
https://alphachromatica.com/the-wall-of-impressiveness/

3D Authored 3D studies over the years focused on space, lighting, and visual structure.

3D
Authored 3D studies over the years focused on space, lighting, and visual structure.