Animated path to success

Usha Albuquerque

“Go where no man has gone before" That’s animation today. As the new block buster film Inside Out has demonstrated, animation has gone beyond imagination, featuring not just cartoon characters, but even human emotions! With robots and monsters, talking animals, dancing toys, aliens taking human form and humans performing super-human acts,  animation has opened up a completely new world of imagery and fantasy. 

In India we too have our own Roadside Romeo, not to speak of Chhota Bheem, Ramayan,  Hanuman and many others, which continue to astonish us with what animation and 3D modeling can do.  Not surprising that major animation studios and producers from all over the world like Walt Disney, Imax and Sony are increasingly outsourcing cartoon characters and special effects to India, as also commercials and computer games. Avataar, The Lion King, Finding Nemo and The Adventures of Tenali Raman are some of the animation films with Indian expertise that have received rave international reviews. Last year’s Puss in Boots was the first production in which DreamWorks relied on Bangalore-based animation studio, Technicolor India, to produce a full length feature film. Likewise with the Rhythm & Hues team in Mumbai which worked on Oscar winning Golden Compass.

Disney’s mouse, in its new avatar is being used today to create a range of colourful  careers that didn’t even exist earlier. Once considered synonymous with children’s cartoon films, today animation and multi-media provides high growth careers in music, publishing, graphic arts, films, television, advertising, corporate communications and gaming.  And if that’s not enough, how about multimedia applications extending to education, business  and medicine too. 

What work will I do?

Creating animation is similar to movie making — instead of human actors, you have computer images — that can be as far out as your imagination will take you. Animation, which as the word itself implies, means breathing life into a character. It is concerned with design, drawing, layout and production of images which with the help of computers and other electronic devices one can move around and create a story. 

You will start with preparing a storyboard which provides a visual script for the animation sequence. Then modeling is used to convert real objects into animated ones by optically scanning them and converting them into digital format. After that you have to work in the movement by manipulating the static images frame by frame to give the illusion of movement. You then add on the light, colour, transparency, shadow and texture to the object or character. Once the visual aspect is done, the audio and music effects are added on. 

Animation  is a long and tedious process.  For a simple five-minute animation film almost 50-60 animators are required to work full-time for two weeks. Every minute in an animation film adds 5,400 frames going by the 24 frames per second norm for films. So, a 90-minute film will have 130,000 frames in all — or 130,000 unique images that need to be rendered. 

Often the storyboard with pre-recoded dialogue is prepared by the client — the film director, ad film maker or international studio. The animators then work on the line drawings and the detailing, fill in the colour, lights and texture and introduce the movement and then send it back to the client.

While 2D animation is being widely used, 3D extends it to virtual reality. 3D or three-dimensional animation, gives the image more depth with layers of images that make it look more realistic. In addition to the skills in drawing, composition and character design, 3D animators deal with modeling, rendering, texturing and lighting. The texture, lighting and colour of the 3D objects are modified using software programmes and virtual cameras are used to focus, resize, zoom and illuminate the figures. This digital animation has the power to create effects not possible with physical drawing, enabling professionals to add on emotion and interpret feeling and thought to create virtual magic. There are also films with special effects like Lord of the Rings and Matrix that have been composed on the computer where the set is designed in 3D. The actors are then given positions for movement keeping in mind this virtual ambience. 

Today there are a variety of multimedia  software  programmes used in animation such as Maya, 3D Max, Adobe After Effects, Giff Animator, Flash and newer ones emerging almost every day that enable animators work their magic on screen.

The potential of multimedia and animation extends to diverse fields, the major ones being- 

Radio, Television, Advertising and the Film Industry : Though late in starting animation films are being made in India supported by many of the big movie names, like Turner International and Disney channels. Cartoon films are becoming very popular in India, and practically every television channel presents Indian stories in cartoon format. Many ad films are also made entirely in animation to capture the viewers interest.

Interactive Multimedia: There are any number of interactive portals and websites today, conveying information, or used for training. Interactive CD's too are being produced for a variety of educational and promotional purposes.

Gaming Industry : Software for computer games is emerging as a hot field globally. High-end gaming technology is transforming video games not only for children, but for the entertainment industry too.

Getting in

It is not the training alone, but inborn artistic and creative abilities, which are essential for this field.  You need an observant eye, a sense of humour and an understanding of human behaviour.  In addition you need a strong imagination, attention to detail, exceptional visualising abilities, patience and perseverance, plus, of course, computer skills.

There are several undergraduate diploma and degree courses for training in animation design and multi-media.  Students from any subject field can apply for admission, and are normally required to undergo an entrance test. Art students with good computer skills generally fare better because of their visual sense and imaginative capabilities.

There are two government-run institutes that teach visual design: 

• The National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, and 
• The Industrial Design Centre at IIT Bombay, 

In addition there are several private institutes which include 

• Aptech's Arena Animation 
• MAAC, Maya Academy   

Graphiti Multimedia 

Hyderabad and Mumbai are the two main centres for animation film companies,  although Pune and Bangalore are being built up as global hubs for animation and gaming. 

A large number of companies such as Crest Communications, Technicolour India, Escotoonz, Green Gold Animation, Turner International, India, Toonz India, Tata Elxsi, Pentamedia Graphics,  and several others have made a name for themselves providing a range of multi-media and animation services. 

Growing scope

India has been a favoured destination for outsourcing animation work, given its large base of low cost, good English-speaking skilled animators.  But still the entire Indian animation industry, including work outsourced to India, is worth not more than Rs 1,130 crore ( $ 200 million), a minute fraction of the $122-billion global market for animation and gaming.  So there is tremendous potential for growth in this industry, more also for the indigenous market which is gradually waking up to the use of animation in general entertainment film.  

There is no dearth of jobs in this field. You could start with a salary of Rs 10,000 - Rs 15,000 per month and be easily earning Rs 35,000-Rs 40000 per month within 2-3 years. Freelancers too can make a lot of money. What are you waiting for? 

— The writer is Director, Careers Smart Pvt Ltd., New Delhi 

Job prospects 

There are about 300 animation and 40 VFX companies in India. The industry currently employs about 12,000 people when it needs more than 40,000 animators in India. 3-D mobile games are gaining popularity and the component of graphics designing outsourcing is consequently growing. 

Moreover, animation is being used today in so many fields ranging from business presentations, educational videos, medical surgeries, and even in the simulators used to train airline pilots. With the sector facing severe trained manpower shortage, more and more studios are increasingly venturing into animation training as well.

Jobs in animation include:

• 2D / 3D animators and visualisers, 
• 2D / 3D designers, 
• Graphic designers, 
• Programmers, 
• 3D modelers, 
• Web designers & content developers, 
• Compositors, 
• AV editors, 
• Pre & post-production executive
• Image retouch specialist

You can work with : 

• Advertising films
• Animation feature films
• TV commercials
• Online & print media
• E-learning
• Interactive classroom
• Entertainment industry
• Corporate presentations
• E- Commerce

Institute Watch

Prominent Institutions offering training (Diploma/ Certificate courses) in Multimedia and Animation include:

• The National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad 
• Heart Animation Academy, Hyderabad;
• ZICA-Zee Institute of Creative Arts, Mumbai.
• Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics, New Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Mumbai
• Arena Multimedia in several cities
• Picasso Animation College
• Whistling Woods International, Mumbai
• Apeejay Institute of Design, New Delhi
• Asian Academy of Film & Television, Noida