Animation – Careers for a new generation

The focus should not be just teach software commands but teach the students to think as animation professionals and become creators of animation. Relevant assignments and class work should also be identified and linked to learning objectives.
 
June 23, 2011 - PRLog -- The word “Avatar” for a teenager today has a completely different meaning. The elders of the family will refer to “avatar” as one of the incarnations to god, like “Ram” was an avatar of “Vishnu”. For a teenager, who has grown up, not on the intrigue of Gods and Demons like our Mythology, but on a strong overdose of “Tom & Jerry” or “Scooby doo”, storytelling is a completely different experience. “Avatar” for today’s teenager is a high octane, State of the Art, path breaking 3D stereoscopic film directed by James Cameron with a lot of Animation and visual effects. The younger audience of today’s world wants more from a storytelling experience. And to top it all, it is not restricted to films only. To jump in the bandwagon, is a host of television channels dedicated to animated content and children program. This has led to a growth of a whole new industry and careers.

Animation: what is it?

Enter the realm of Animation - where dogs can talk and sing, lions and zebras can be friends and aliens from a far away planet can fall in love with humans. The art of moving inanimate objects to tell a story is called animation. Creating inanimate objects can happen through drawing, using live objects like clay or using animation software and hardware to create 3D worlds. Animation has been around for more than 100 years, but with the recent technological advancements and sophisticated hardware and software, animation has gone through a metamorphosis, creating realistic and believable experience.

The Animation Industry in India

The requirement of the fast growing Indian television segment for animation and special effects- related work is also giving a fillip to this segment. Recognizing this potential, a number of Indian software players have turned their attention to animation. Indian cities such as Mumbai (which houses India's movie industry), Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram house some of the country's leading animation houses. Companies such as Crest Communications, Prana, Graphiti, Rhythm & Hues, Dreamworks, Paprikaas 2NZ Studios, Prasad Studios, Toonz Animation and Vfx studios like Prime Focus, Prasad Efx, Pixion, Red Chillies, are just a few of the ventures that have dedicated themselves to the world of animation and special effects.

Such growth in the animation industry has called for a need for skilled artists. With new job opportunities mushrooming all over India, the need to train people for animation has also gone up. Over the last decade, India has seen a flood of Animation training institutes coming up in every possible city, offering 1 month courses to 3 year courses. But are these really meeting the demands of a skilled professional for the Industry?



Just because you have a good pencil, does not mean you are a good artist!

Animation is probably the most talked about industry in the current times, as we see a spate of international and Indian animation films making big bucks in the Entertainment sector.  This has opened up many career options for wannabe Animators, Artists & technicians. But unlike the strong notion that animation is nothing but learning sophisticated hardware and software, it has always been a medium of storytelling and making films. Many well known animators and bigwigs in the industry have always emphasized on the Craft and Skill of Animation, than the software and hardware needed to create one.

Animation is a perfect blend of Art & Technology. It is all about visual expression, which involves story telling through films that brings characters to life. So it is all talent, a fine combination of skill and knowledge.

The training models followed in the last decade in India, focused a lot on learning animation and multimedia software, thus making the students very strong on tools but weak on the Art and craft of animation. This has created a huge gap between what is learnt and what the industry needs.

Can I learn Animation and what are the skill require to learn Animation?

Anyone can do animation as long as they have a good sense for visuals. Animation is a team effort which requires large number of varied skills. Some of these skills need you to be a good artist i.e. you should be good at drawing. Some skills need you to be good in performing arts and some at photography. For example a typical 3D animation film has the following stages, Pre-production, Modeling, texturing, rigging, animation, lighting, post production. A Pre production Artist and Modeler needs to be good at drawing, whereas a texturing artist needs to be good at colors. An animator has to be good at acting and a lighting artist need to have good photography skills. With such varied skills required anyone can get into Animation industry. All that the student needs to know is what is the skill he is good at? Schools like Graphiti School of Animation offer specialization programs which focus on individual strengths of students and train them to be specialists. Other schools like NID focus on the storytelling and preproduction aspects of Animation thus making it compulsory for students to be good at art.

What kind of Jobs will I get?

India has a large number of Animation studios, which are doing a range of work for different Industries including Film, Television, Advertising, Education, Medicine, Engineering, Architecture and Gaming. Large studios range from 2000 employees to 200 employees. Smaller and medium studios range from 10 to 200 employees. Students graduating from one of the good schools of animation would typically get placed in these studios and work in departments depending on their specialization skills. Salaries typically start from a range of Rs 8000/- to Rs 10000/- and grows according to performance and experience.

Where do I learn Animation?

India has a large number of Institutes and schools which teach animation. It is important to do a proper research before getting into any one of them. Some of the thing you can do before choosing a school

1.   Find out about the school from the Industry professionals. Talk to your friends, relatives and neighbors who are working in the industry about the school / Institute. They will be in a good position to guide you better.
2.   Walk in into the institute. Talk to the student Advisor. Talk to the faculties. Get a first hand feel
3.   Talk to the alumni of the Institute. They will give you the best feedback.
4.   Check out their curriculum. Are they offering specialization programs?
5.   Do not go after a lot of tools/ software oriented training. Look at programs which focus on Art and craft of animation
6.   Check out their website and look for work done by students
7.   Do the institute / School have an entrance test or eligibility criteria?

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Graphiti School of Animtion is premium animation education school in
India. We started out with the promise that we will not just teach software commands but will teach the students to think as animation professionals & become creators of animation.
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