M3D Studios are one of the first companies to bring 3D modelling and animation to Mauritania.
“There are no signs of 3D animation content and studios in Mauritania. So, I think that I’m the first one who introduced this idea in Mauritania,” explains Mouhamed Mourid, the owner and chief animator behind Mauritania’s M3D Studios, with modesty. Mourid has been running the studio alongside his work as a petroleum engineer for six years and he is now one of the pioneers of making the cutting-edge technology available to Mauritanian industries.
“In my work in the petroleum industry I specialize in what’s called 3D geological modeling and 3D modeling of petroleum reservoirs, which involves creating a 3D dimensional representation of rocks that hold hydrocarbons. And this allowed me to acquire solid knowledge and skills in 3D modeling and simulation.” Once Mourid had acquired the technical skills through his work with SMH, the Mauritanian national petroleum company, it took a chance conversation with another budding entrepreneur to really set him on a path to putting his 3D animation career center stage in his working life.
“At an event, someone saw my project and mentioned another upcoming event organized by Kosmos Energy, which is the Mauritanian Innovation Challenge, and advised me to participate in it. So, I started through Kosmos Innovation Center to learn new skills in entrepreneurship, especially when I was thinking that entrepreneurship is just an innovative idea and a mastery of the technical aspect, but I was wrong!”
The Mauritanian Innovation Challenge saw Mourid placed alongside other startups who were all wanting to learn more about how to turn their ideas into a fully-fledged business. The course lasted for six months and Mourid says that one of the key things he took out of that experience was how an idea alone was not enough – it needs to be paired with commercial realism, which the Kosmos Innovation Center equipped him with. The Kosmos Innovation Center program also allowed him to find routes to funding which have been vital. It also put him into a network of other entrepreneurs, which remains useful to this day. Not that the Kosmos Innovation Center course has solved every problem that every entrepreneur, large or small, faces.
“Elon Musk said that you can work up to 20 hours a day. But I believe that working for 14 hours is normal. Some days I get home and I’m on zero percent battery and all I can do is go up to my bed! This is a challenge when you have a lot of work in your daily job and at the same time this coincides with an important contract with the studio that needs a lot of time. So, it’s very challenging, but I have the solution for this. I leave everything else and focus on my work.”
One of the projects that Mourid is focusing on is using his skills in animation to help his country. “I believe that audiovisual content is in general one of the most effective and best ways for many nations to highlight and introduce their cultures and civilizations. So, I thought that I can do something with 3D animation to highlight Mauritanian culture, to produce short and long films and movies with Mauritanian local languages and local stories.” Alongside this innovative idea, Mourid also says that other companies that came out of the Kosmos Innovation Center have been collaborating. “One of the companies was operating in the telemedical industry and so they were interested in modeling 3D medical equipment and animations to explain their operational uses. So, we were able to do some partnership which I learned from.”
Mourid now hopes that in one year’s time M3D Studios will be providing enough work that he can make it his full-time occupation and as he pours his energy and time into developing the business, he doesn’t have time for things like acknowledging his place as a pioneer of the country’s industry. He is content to do the work and focus on his love for his craft.
“In 3D animation you are limited only by your imagination, so you can imagine anything and start to give it life. This is all according to your imagination and you have no limits. It’s very interesting and inspiring really.”