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ANIMATIONBREATHING LIFE INTO A CHARACTER

YOUR QUICK GUIDE TO A COURSE IN

Animation AnimationCourse Review Course Review

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CONTENTS1. Introduction 03

2. What is Animation? 04

3. Course Content 06

4. Eligibility Norms 08

5. Job Prospects 09

6. Job Profiles 11

7. A Trainer’s Perspective 15

8. Industry Talk 17

9. Universities & Institutes Offering BA/BS 20

10. Institutes Offering Diplomas in Animation 20

INTRODUCTION

Everyone knows Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Tom and Jerry and Stuart Little. These are some of the animated charac-

ters that always entertain us. Do you know how these characters were born? And how the art of drawing makes such wonders possible? The answer is: ‘Animation’. Animation is related to multimedia. As the name suggests, multimedia is a field that uses more than one medium of communication. It merges text, images, graph-ics, animation, audio and video to create vir-tual magic. Animation is just one component of multimedia. It is also one of the fastest growing industries today. Animation and visual effects are among the jobs that are most in demand in the 21st century.

FAST FACTSProgramme: BA in Advertising & Brand Management/BCom (Marketing & Advertising)Programme: BSc Animation Eligibility: 10+2 Duration: 3 years Popular Institutes: BIT-Mesra (Jaipur extension centre), Arena Multimedia & Animation, Zee Institute of Creative Art, Whistling Woods International Fee Rs. 3.6 lakhs (Graphic Era Hill University and IGNOU), Rs. 13.5 lakhs (Whistling Woods International) Job Roles Character animators, Modellers, 2D animators, Layout artists, Compositing artists, Texture artists, Rigging artists, Editors, Compositors Earning Potential: Rs. 8,000-12,000 (fresher). Upwards of Rs.1.5 lakh with experience Top Recruiters: Film, advertising, video and gaming industries

ANIMATION, ALONG WITH VISUAL EFFECTS IS ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING INDUSTRIES IN THE WORLD TODAY.

Cover Design: Rajesh Chawla

Copyright © Pathfinder Publishing Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi

All Rights ReservedNo part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Pathfinder Publishing Pvt. Ltd.

Editor: B Mahesh Sarma

Project Editors Dr. Nimesh Chandra, S. Rajaram

Research Shiphony Pavitran Suri, Prerna Singh

Art Director Anshul Sharma

Asst. Art Director Rajesh Chawla

Animation Course Review


WHAT IS ANIMATION?

Let us take a look at the evolution of anima-tion. The art of animation dates back to pictures drawn on rock surfaces. A

Frenchman, Paul Roget, formally demonstrated it in 1828. The first animated cartoon was ‘Humorous Phases of Funny Faces’, made by J. Stuart Blackton in 1906. Blackton made it by drawing comical faces on a blackboard and pho-tographing them. After that they were erased to draw another stage of the facial expression. In 1914, the first cartoon film named ‘Gertie, the Dinosaur’ by Winsor McCay, comprising 10,000 drawings, hit the theatres. In the early twenties, traditional animation techniques were devel-oped, resulting in more sophisticated cartoons. Computer animation started during the seven-ties and made a huge impact on this field. With the passage of time, more and more advanced techniques were developed.

ANIMATION IS THE ART OF BREATHING LIFE INTO A CHARACTER OR OBJECT, A BLEND OF ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY.

Animation is the art of breathing life into a character or object. It is a blend of entertainment industry and technology. It is also related to design, draw-ing, layout and production of graphically rich and attractive multimedia clips. In other words, animation is all about making of movies, games or cartoons by moving the drawings or models of animals or people with the help of comput-ers or other electronic means.

Need for CreativityAn animator should have an artistic bent with a lot of imaginative skills. Creativity is the most wanted quality as animation starts with developing an idea to a story. The art of sketching or drawing is another basic skill one should possess. You must have a good sense of colour, proportion, size, design, knowledge of background art and layout. Patience, discipline and dedication to work are vital as this field involves a lot of hard work and long hours of planning.



COURSE CONTENT

Typically an institute familiarises students with traditional and digital tools to pro-duce stills and moving images. They also

get hands-on training to use laws of motion in 2-D and 3-D characters. The classes are taken via lectures, seminars, practical workshops and group work. Most common papers of animation include fundamentals of art, design and visuali-sation. Computer graphics, creating illustrations, basic 2D animation, advanced scripting, audio & video editing are part of the curriculum. You will also learn illustration portfolio (project), web weaver, digital FX and games development. By the time you complete the course, you will also learn basics of 3D animation, advanced 3D Ani-mation, digital filmmaking. You mostly specialise in any one of these: modelling & texturing, light-ing & rendering, rigging & animation. Other areas of specialisation are: compositing & VFX, and digital portfolio development.

MOST COMMON PAPERS OF ANIMATION INCLUDE FUNDAMENTALS OF ART, DESIGN AND VISUALISATION.

2 dimensional animations deal more with drawing and framing and form the base of 3D animation. 2D animators work mostly on paper, creating frames to define a sequence. These sequences are then moved at varying speeds to cre-ate an illusion of motion. The process first involves creating a large number of drawings, and scanning them onto the computer. These images are then imported into software. It is the software that helps in setting the timing and layers for the scanned sequence of images. Toonz Harlequin, Adobe Flash, CelAction, Anime Studio, Toon Boom Animation and Animaker are some of the softwares used for creating 2D animation characters. 2D images look shallow, while 3D images have depth, making them look more real.

3D animations are a series of images or objects created using computers or any other digital media. 3D animators deal with modelling, rendering, textur-ing and lighting. The texture, lighting and colour of the 3D objects are modi-fied using software programmes. Virtual cameras are used to focus, resize, zoom and illuminate the figures. Digital animation has the power to create effects not possible with classical animation. Film, advertising, video and gaming are the fast growing fields for 3D animation. This technique makes extensive use of animation software programmes like 3ds Max (Autodesk), Softimage|XSI, Houdini and MAYA (Autodesk) etc. It also finds use in the other areas like web graphics to create websites.



ELIGIBILITY NORMS

Minimum qualification for a BSc Ani-mation is 10+2 or equivalent. Any graduate, preferably with arts back-

ground could apply for postgraduate courses in animation. There are also several professional courses that focus on various styles and tech-niques. These courses in Traditional animation, Stop-motion animation, Rotscoping, Computer generated 3D and 2D animation, Claymation, Photoshop, human anatomy, drawing etc. help you to specialise in a particular area. You should also know how to handle a computer.

Knowledge of programming languages (C++, Java) will be an add-on. If you are planning to work in computer animation, it will help you a lot if you understand photography, lighting and movement. You must be able to visualise how an object will look in three dimensions and also have the know-how to make it look real.

A PASS IN 10+2 MAKES YOU ELIGIBLE TO GO FOR BACHELOR’S IN ANIMATION, BUT KNOWING HOW TO HANDLE A COMPUTER IS A MUST.

JOB PROSPECTS

Ram Warrier, Business Head of MAAC, a leading name in animation, shares that employment options go beyond film

animation studios. You can also explore areas like web animation, application-based anima-tions for sectors like medicine, defence, architec-ture and interior design. These sectors require 3D simulations for everything from human anat-omy to building designs and defence set-ups.

Besides the most commonly used animations, i.e. 2D and 3D, there is also puppet animation, clay animation, sand animation, etc. Both 2D and 3D animation can be created digitally.

Animators can also gain employment in web-site designing, CD-Rom production, graphics designing and 3-D product modelling. Anima-tion is also needed in other areas like business, sales, engineering, education and advertising. It

YOU SHOULD EYE OPPORTUNITIES BEYOND ANIMATION STUDIOS. THERE IS A BIG DEMAND FOR APPLICATION-BASED ANIMATIONS.

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has scope in fashion and interior designing and even in legal and insurance companies for presentations and models. The gaming industry that includes video and mobile games looks forward to good animators.

JOB PROFILES

There are a number of job profiles in the animation industry, Your specific job role will depend on you area of specialisation.

Modellers: They make the models for anima-tion. Must have a solid understanding of anato-my, form and volume. Storyboard artists - Those with strong drawing skills, who can visualize a sequence of events from frame to frame. Character animators - They bring characters to life and generally have knowledge of traditional animation, stop-motion animation as well as ClaymationBackground artists - They specialise in paint-ing the background of the characters and setting the background for the project. Layout artists - They decide the lighting and camera angles and sketch the background design for the animation.

THE NUMBER OF JOB PROFILES RUN INTO DOZENS. YOUR JOB PROFILE DEPEND ON OUR AREA OF SPECIALISATION.



2D animators - They are involved in the creation of a high volume of sepa-rate drawings that define a sequence. In-between animators - They have to learn all the basics of animation and are at the beginning position in the career.Scanner operators - They scan the clean up artists’ drawings. Compositing artists - Layering individual frames of animation on top of one another to create final images.

These images are then strung together to create complete shots or mini animated movies. Visual effects artists - They integrate live-action footage with computer-generated imagery or other elements.Audio and video specialists - Designing the sound for animation and also editing the visuals with softwares such as Avid and Final Cut Pro.Visualisers – Visualize the script and create basic designs for the project. Texture artists - Apply surface to the 3D character, object or environment.Rigging artists - They take the modelled, textured 3D character or object and set it up with a skeletal system or joints (if required). Without this step, the 3D model would not be able to animate, talk or move fluidly and correctly. Clean-up artists - They check the accuracy and consistency of the designs and drawings. A good clean up artist should have excellent draftsman skill with the knowledge of density, width, volume and mass. Lighting artists - They create variations of shade, colour intensity and shadows.

Digital ink and paint artists - They give colours to each frame. Compositors - They bring together all the different characters and back-grounds into a single frame. Editors - They edit the visuals with softwares like Avid and Final Cut Pro.Key frame animators - Draw pictures of a movement’s beginning and end.

Rendering artists - They take all the data in a scene such as models, textures, animation, lighting, etc. and output the correct combination in the form of individual frames of animation.3D animators - They take the sculpted, textured and rigged 3D model and breathe life into it. By putting key frames in order it gives an appearance of motion. Image Editors - They assemble visual and audio components of a film into a coherent and effective whole.Compositors - They combine visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create an illusion. It involves the replacement of selected parts of an image with other materials.Visual effects (commonly shortened to VFX) are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot.

Pay Packet According to Jesh Krishna Murthy, Founder of studio Anibrain, a fresher’s pay scale begins at Rs. 8,000 to 12,000 per month, depending on his or her skills. It can go above Rs 1.5 lakhs after 8 + years of experience. “Unlike the common perception, the VFX industry requires creative skills as well as analytical and technical skills. You need dedication, hard work and passion to excel in this field,” rounds up Jesh.



A TRAINER’S PERSPECTIVE

Ninad Karpe, CEO &MD, APTECH

In an email interview, Ninad Karpe, CEO &MD, APTECH discusses the current and future scenarios with respect to training and employment in

animation sector.

Q: Does the education and training imparted in our animation colleges match up to the global requirement?A: The last few years have seen the industry evolve and mature to deliver high international standard projects. These high quality projects are executed by Indian animators, most of them trained in India. Global experience of a dec-ade in imparting quality education has helped us also in imparting industry-relevant quality training.

Q: A lot of animation institutes have opened up in the recent past. How should a student identify which ones provide quality education?A: Reputation and experience are the two most critical factors. Students should pick up an institute that has high quality trainers with in depth knowl-edge, industry-relevant course curriculum and good infrastructure. Students should also verify on the placement and internship opportunities provided by the institute.

Q: What is the scope of growth for ambitious professionals? How far is the sector export-dependent?A: Animation is a career, which finds favour despite the slowdown. The animation industry has seen tremendous growth and is now becoming mainstream in film entertainment and television. India is increasingly pre-senting itself as a favourable destination for the foreign animation industry,

particularly in post-production and 3-D content development. Many enter-tainment giants, such as Walt Disney, Sony Pictures and Turner Entertain-ment, which make and develop television commercials and computer games, are off-shoring animation content to India. This has resulted in substantial increase in the number of professionals enrolling for animation courses (compound annual growth rate at 18.2 per cent). In sum, the sector presents a huge job opportunity for the young and talented students of this country.



INDUSTRY TALK

Ms. Aruna Kumar, Head of MIST & Marketing,

Maya Digital Studio

Q. What are the top qualities you expect from an animation aspirant? A. Groom fresh talent – there are a lot of these students who do courses from various Institutes and feel that they are ready to take on any challenges thrown at them. They are flowing with enthusiasm and confidence and have a fresh perspective. But they lack the artistic skills, knowledge about the art and the aesthetics required to deliver the quality as desired by the client. We expect them firstly to “Unlearn and Learn” then, interest to learn, passion for this job-work (production), patience to grow and right attitude.

Q. What is the criterion to join MIST (Maya in Studio Training)? A. We are not teaching any courses here. Passing a basic animation test is a prerequisite for any candidate who wants to join the MIST programme. Once the candidate is selected he starts working on the characters of the on going series. He is familiarised with the character traits, character personali-ties and character rigs and characteristics. At the same time he will have to submit various assignments on a weekly basis. He is groomed to work on the in-production series. After three months of training and getting acclimatised the candidate is assigned production shots. He also gets to see his name in the credit list of the programme. MIST is the only programme in India, which grooms and creates studio-ready animators.

Q. Do you think diploma or graduate degree makes a difference in animation industry? A. No, it doesn’t make a difference. But in India graduation is a must or a minimum qualification.

Q. With major international animation houses (Rhythm & Hues) facing crises, does it make animation industry vulnerable? Especially when it laid-off some 250 employees? A. Despite a late start as compared to the developed Western markets, ani-mation industry in India has registered an explosive growth since 2008: in the four-year period till 2012 the industry has doubled from Rs. 17.5-billion to Rs. 35.3-billion. By 2017, the industry is projected to cross Rs. 70-billion mark. The tremendous success of Life of Pi and Prometheus has made the West sit up and recognize the Indian animation industry, which now receives a major chunk of animation outsourcing from the West. Animation caters to a niche market. Animation is a part of the entertainment industry. Today every movie (Hollywood and Bollywood) has to pass through the visual effects /post-production desk. After the arrival of stereoscopy or 3D, producers want to convert blockbusters into 3D and release them in theatres where the view-ing experiencing is very enjoyable. Now no one can even imagine what the future holds for us.

Good storytellers and artists could also showcase India on the global map and earn a good exposure. Around 40 percent of sequencing work in the Oscar award-winner Life of Pi was carried out at Rhythm Hues’ studios in Hyderabad and technical work was done in Bangalore. India’s animation industry is attractive to global animation producers for a variety of reasons—prime among them being the high-quality, skilled manpower available here. Low costs are another attraction. India still remains a favourable destination for outsourcing projects owing to low infrastructure cost, cheap manpower and an English-speaking workforce. However, countries like China, Malay-sia and Philippines are trying to outshine India. Around 70 percent of all American television animation is produced in Asia to an extent. Outsourced projects do offer a continuous work order and good pay to Indian companies. The low-cost but talented English-speaking workforce is a definite advan-tage. There is abundant manpower in India to cater to increasing outsourced



projects. There is no doubt that India is at par with leading markets as far as animation, VFX, 3D conversion and technical efficiency is concerned. More focus and uniform animation policies throughout the country will enable us to offer excellent home productions, strong technically and content-wise.

Q. Has animation really picked up in India? Which sector has a good demand of professionals? A. As per the FICCI-KPMG Report 2013, Indian animation and VEX industry has grown from Rs. 31-billion in 2011 to Rs. 35.3-billion in 2012 at a CAGR of 13.9 percent. It is projected to grow to Rs. 40.5-billion by end-2013. In 2010, the animation industry grew by 10 percent to touch Rs 10-bil-lion. According to a NASSCOM report, the industry originated only about 40-years ago whereas in the developed market of the US its origin goes back scores of decades ago, even before the digital era arrived, which probably explains the difference in quality and technology. Indian animation industry came into existence just a couple of decades ago.

India has amazing storytellers and talented animators and over the years Indian audiences have become more receptive to animation films. We need to nurture the right talent with skill-sets and advanced technology to compete with the West. India has shown a steady growth in terms of both quality and quantity in the last decade. There has been a steep increase in the number of animation movies. With the coproduction model being followed by anima-tion studios, India is certainly moving up the value-chain.

Q. Salary Expected?A. This industry depends a lot on skill-sets, experience and the job / project value. Fresher’s can begin at Rs1.20 lakhs per annum; middle level at 4 lakhs per annum and experienced more than 4 years depending on the project can take home 12 -14 lakhs per annum.

Universities & Institutes offering Animation degree courses University Programme Website

IGNOU-Indira Gandhi National Open University

BA in 3D Animation and Visual Effects www.ignou.ac.in

BIT-Birla Institute of Technology Mesra (Jaipur extension centre) BSc Animation www.bitmesra.ac.in

Graphic Era Hill University (Dehra Dun campus) BSc Animation www.geu.ac.in

Institutes*

AMA-Arena Multimedia and Animation BA in VFX and Animation www.arena-multimedia.com

Animaster Academy, Bangalore BSc in Digital Art & Animation www.animaster.com

Zee Institute of Creative Art (Lucknow, Pune, Ahmedabad

BSc in Animation & Visual Effects www.zica.org

Image Creative Education (TN, Chennai, Kerala, Assam, UP, Pondi-cherry, Karnataka)

BSc Multimedia www.image.edu.in

NAM Institute of Professional Studies, Delhi BSc Multimedia www.namedu.net

RELIANCE AIMS (Jaipur, Nagpur) BSc in Digital Animation Filmmaking www.relianceaims.com

St. Angelo's Professional Education, Mumbai

BSc in Visual Media (Animation) www.saintangelos.com

*Programmes in tie-up with universities

Institutes offering diplomas in animationInstitute Programme Website

Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC)

Advance Diploma in 3D Animation EDGE www.maacindia.com

Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC)

Advance Diploma in 3D Animation NEXT www.maacindia.com

Toonz Academy Advanced Diploma in Digital Arts and Animation www.toonzacademy.com

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