Sidharth Bhargava says that in order to make it big in the animation industry, an international certification is must
The animation industry in India is in its early growth stage and is poised for growth in the future. Although most of the animation in the country is 2D and 3D, the animation space is expected to become popular in the future.
The present size of the industry is estimated at $ 247 million and estimated to be growing at 15-20 per cent per annum. The industry employs over 80,000 people. The cost of outsourcing one of 2D animation work to India is about $ 71,000. There are over 650 animation studios located in cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore.
India offers the benefits of lower production costs, strong creative and technical skills, and a large population of people who speak fluent English. Contract work for foreign companies has helped production studios in India build the domestic animation market, resulting in a spate of commercials, TV shows, educational videos and feature films studios incorporating 2D and 3D animation, computer-generated special effects, and live action in their productions.
larger studios throughout the world are increasingly relying on India’s talent and resources. However in terms of the quality of the work done, Indian animation studios have still not graduated into the big league. The Indian animation companies are focusing on strategic alliances with overseas studios to establish a presence in the global animation market.
Indian studios are developing rapidly and a trend is being seen where experts from multiple animation companies, come together to execute specific functions in the production value chain. Some work on the design, storyboarding, layouts while others focus more on other elements of the process ie animation, texturing, lighting. These were models which had been perfected previously in mature animation countries like Korea.
This model is being increasingly adopted by Indian animation studios based on the ability of the studios to be process driven enough to distribute the work in modular units without loss of time or quality.
But, there is huge shortage of skilled professionals which is impeding the growth of animation industry, which otherwise possesses a tremendous potential for growth. Most of the animation institutes offer courses like 3D animation, VFX, multimedia, graphic and web designing. What they lack is in getting students acquainted in working in an international set-up with different cultural ethos and environment.
But the question is — how can they do itIJ Is it possibleIJ The answer lies in bringing international certification. There is an urgent need of an international certification if we want to produce quality work andstudents. This gives students an added advantage.
(The writer is managing director, Picasso Animation College)