Career in Animation

 

A creative bent of mind and an artistic inclination measure the unrestricted boundaries of the world of animation. “Creativity is the visualisation of illustrations and imagery, story-telling techniques and the ability to transfer ideas into form.” says Nilesh Jawarani. Centre Director. Arena Animation. To this, adds Amit Sharma, Framebox Animation’s Centre Director. “Anima­tion multimedia, is best defined as consolidation of text, sound effects, graphics and visual skills.”

Emerging dimensions

There is not a single field sans animation effects these days. From cartoons to movies, advertisements, product designing, websites and research, animation has a hold everywhere. Gaming and graphics are the latest additions to its credit.

What you need

As the scope of animation is rising as never before, there are many things that you need to keep in mind while opting for this career. Besides being innovative, you need to be full of ideas and be willing to implement them. Besides this, a degree or a diploma in animation and advanced courses is also requisite for forging ahead and making a place for you in the industry “For a beginner, a preliminary course in 2D and 3D animation is a must. The aspirant may move ahead to any advanced course later,” guides Sharma. Besides teaching graphics, these courses also aim at pre-production skills such as sketching, storyboarding and creative visualisation.

Career Options/ Scope

“There is no dearth of career options in this field. One can be a modeller, layout artist, clean-up artist, key frame animator, background artist and in-between animator in this industry” shares Jawarani.

“Gaming industry is fast catching pace these days. There is the excellent prospect for early movers in the industry. It has tremendous potential because of a ready market across the country”, says Jawarani. Game modellers, rigging artists, game animators, level designers, environment modellers and mobile game designers are some of the latest career options.

According to Sharma. “We have a much bigger market than Hollywood as the cost of animation related projects is 10 times cheaper than in the United States.” Adds Varun Raja Nemani. a freelance character animation artist. “Globally too it has widened the perspective and scope as a lot of out­sourcing for international companies like Dreamworks, Pixar, Blue Sky and Sony pictures is going on these days.” Some institutes like Academy of Anima­tion and Gaming (AAG) are offering a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in gaming accredited by Karnataka State Open University

Salary

Freshers can expect a start of Rs 5000-10000 depending on their skill and creativity. With time and experience, and depending on skill sets, sky is the limit.

Institutes:

Various universities and institutes offer degree and diploma courses in animation. Some of the major ones include:

• Frame Box. New Delhi
• Academy of Animation and Gaming (AAG), New Delhi
• Arena Animation, all over India
• Animaster, all over India
• Industrial Design Centre (IDC), Mumbai
• National Institute of Design (NlD).Paldi.Ahmedabad
• Maya Academy Of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC), New Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai
• Zee Institute Of Creative Arts (2ICA). Secunderabad
• The Toonz-Webel Academy, Kolkata
• Whistling Woods International, Mumbai
• The Heart Animation Academy, Hyderabad
• The JJ School Of Arts, Mumbai

Workshop

Students had only heard and read about the Indus Valley civilisation. But soon, during history lectures they will be able to take a virtual trip for a sneak peek into their lives in those times — as if it were all real. Further, during science lectures students will be able to see each and every part of an airplane.
With the human resource development ministry launching the National Mission on Education through ICT, such innovations in education are just around the corner. The ministry is preparing a team of teachers and technicians well-versed with 3D animation. The ministry recently organised a five-day workshop at the Institute of Lifelong Learning (ILLL), Delhi University to offer hands-on experience in the field of animation.
Teachers, students and IT representatives from IITs, Ignou and various schools attended the workshop. AK Bakhshi, director, ILLL, said, “To produce content in written form on the internet will not make learning interactive. The content has to be delivered with the help of animation. We have already used 2D animation to explain chemistry experiments. But 3D creates a virtual environment and can explain the concepts more easily.”
The training introduced participants to various stages of animation like modelling, materials, lights, rigging etc. Manish Gaur, Autodesk, trainer at the workshop, said, “Many educational concepts can be explained with the help of 3D animation. It is teachers who are authors of the content that is delivered through ICT. If the author has the knowledge of animation he/she can make a storyboard and communicate it to the animator effectively. This workshop will try to bridge that gap between the author and the animator.”
Also, those working on the National Mission on Education project found the workshop useful. Rahul Rajput, coordinator of the ICT project at IIT-Kanpur, pointed out, “We had been working on Maya software to create animation. This workshop introduced us to 3D Max and how it provides a comprehensive, integrated 3D modelling, animation, rendering, and compositing solution that enables you to quickly ramp up for production.”
Richa Verma, a teacher from the New State Academy school had always been eager to learn about animation. “This workshop introduced me to the basics of animation, how to rotate things, how we can create simulations, etc. I feel we can use animations in every subject to explain concepts to our students. In fact, in science, you can explain the structure of molecule which is not visible to the naked eye. Animation can help us relive the historic civilisations, architecture etc. In mathematics, theorems can actually be explained with the help of 3D animation,” she said.