Dariush "Koosh" Derakhshani
Dariush Derakhshani is a VFX and CG supervisor in Los Angeles, Ca. and an award-winning CG generalist-lighter. He is the author of several Maya books, including the best-selling series Introducing Maya--now going into its 10th edition and translated into more than a dozen languages--and has been an educational resource around the world for eight years. Dariush has been an animator and supervisor on commercials and feature films for close to 15 years at such places as Pixomondo, Digital Domain, Zoic Studios, Radium|ReelFX, Café FX, Rhythm and Hues, Sight Effects, and the hit show South Park.
Dariush earned a BA degree from Lehigh University in Architecture and Theatre and also holds an MFA degree in Film, TV and Computer Animation from USC Film School. An ardent believer in the power of education, he has been teaching in a professional capacity since 1993--and specifically Maya and visual effects classes for twelve years for schools such as UCLA Extension, Art Institute of Ca., and Gnomon, as well as authoring video training for Video2brain.com.
He is currently Adjunct Faculty with University of Southern California’s prestigious film school where he teaches regularly as well as an intructor at Santa Monica College where he teaches lighting and rendering. In addition, Dariush has been publishing tutorials, articles, and computer hardware reviews on Maya for over ten years in such print and online publications as Post, CGW, 3D World, HDRI3d Magazine, DigitalMediaNet.com, and AWN.com.
He is an active member of the Visual Effects Society and has won a London Advertising Award for commercial effects, is a multiple recipient of the Telly and Addy Awards, has won the Bronze Plaque from the Columbus Film Festival, and is a proud VES Awards nominee.
Dariush is bald and has flat feet. He also has a thing for ankle high socks. Don't ask.
