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Front
Page - January,
2005
Young
entrepreneurs specialize in 3-D
By Dana
Guzzetti
 Young entrepreneurs, Raj Raheja
and Neil Wadhawan head a cutting edge Danville based animation
business.
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Who
would guess that Heartwood Studios is in the heart of Danville? The
dynamic young company, spawned from Heartwood of Danville
Construction, is creating a stir in the world of 3-D animation.
Monte Vista graduate Neil Wadhawan came home from college with a
passion for business, and the company was born.
Wadhawan
started with three-dimensional representations of architecture
related to his father's construction business, and his interest grew
from there. He and his partner, Raj Raheja, began to develop their
mutual interest in digital visual arts, not knowing in which
direction it would lead them.
Raheja had studied to be an
architect, but their fascination with providing computer generated
animation in different kinds of styles - and at competitive prices
-has made him turn his talents to cutting edge animated art. Web
design and development, product modeling for sales and marketing,
litigation support, and broadcasting came next.
"We
compliment each other," Raheja says. "Our skill sets are different."
Although they both did everything in the business at the beginning,
Raheja has become Creative Director, and Wadhawan spends more time
on marketing and business.
The company's projects are both
creative, and useful. The visual recreation of an auto accident can
help jurors in a lawsuit understand what happened. Also, being able
to see in three dimensions can help the medical field. Actually
seeing how the body reacts internally to injuries, for example, or
in medical procedures, helps patients and doctors make better life
and death decisions.
The company's design team is now up to
20.
"Without a doubt, the Dilbert Project has been our
biggest project to date," Wadhawam said, referring to a virtual tour
of Dilbert's Ultimate House on the Dilbert website. They're also
working on a science fiction film, and animation for a French
production. The two young men have their eye on the competition,
too.
They expect to be making the next "I Robot," they say
with big smiles.
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