Sign of times to come

According to reports, Bollywood’s first animated movie "Roadside Romeo" is running to packed houses. The movie with no mythological strings attached and produced by Yash Raj Films has received some rare reviews. Animated movies on cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Tamil superstar Rajnikant are also in the production houses. Is it the signs of time to come? Or does it indicate the maturing of Indian animation industry? Either way it augurs well for the Indian animation industry.

According to a study, the Indian animation industry stands at Rs. 12 billion and is expected to grow to Rs. 42 billion by 2009. Many industry insiders say that the Indian animation industry is on track to achieve this figure because it is riding on two factors – a large base of highly skilled labour and a low cost of production. Many studios in Hollywood are already outsourcing assignments to Indian companies and Indian animators sure have earned a name for themselves by churning out quality work. However, there are some issues dogging the Indian animation industry. There are not many studios in India, which can match the studios in the US. Investment is the big question.

Though the picture looks rosy, hardly it has excited many venture capitalists. Indian animators are not limited by ideas but funds. Many projects are not taking shape because production houses are not able to attract the attention of investors.

Adoption of animation in Indian cinemas is still in its nascent stage. It is mainly confined to segments such as TV programmes, TV commercials, games, and online education and also CAD/CAE applications. Many are yet to realise and recognise the magic animation could bring to their projects.

Ample opportunities

Regardless of the technique used to create animation, most productions have to follow a pattern.

Hence, there are ample job opportunities for aspirants. The first stage includes idea, brief, treatment, script, production planning. Concept design is second, while storyboarding forms the third. This is followed by production design and visual development, recording the dialogue, building the models and rigging, layouts and animatics, animation, final backgrounds and colouring, lighting and compositing and finally post-production.

Depending on the project and technique, there will be a single animator working alone or a large team in which there may be a range of talents and skills from lead animator down to junior assistant.

In most cases, effects animation will be done after the main animation is complete.

Sudhindra. A.B

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