I am Azat, born and raised in Almaty, Kazakhstan. I was lucky enough to find my way into film and entertainment at a young age when I helped out friends in middle school by editing their home-made video footage. Naturally it didn't take much longer for me to learn about, and fully step into the world of CGI. This newfound passion led me to become a student at Gnomon, a renown Computer Graphics school in Hollywood, LA. After a short moment of consideration, I specialized in dynamic effects using Houdini. My interests, however, extend not only to simulations, but also to procedural modeling and shading, lighting, rendering as well as tool building. My aim has been from the start to grow into a well-rounded Houdini generalist. In my free time, I love exploring and learning about various further aspects of the software, that I haven't yet dived into. Experimenting with different styles and techniques has also become increasingly more important to me, in order to broaden my understanding and discover various new approaches and executions within the software. Should I not do that, you will probably find myself composing music on piano or playing football (soccer) with my friends. I find myself getting a lot of creative inspiration from, amongst others, my favorite movie How to Train Your Dragon, anime and orchestral music.