Visual effects have emerged as a major component of box office successes of films, even in Malayalam. Moviegoers lapped up films such as Pulimurugan , for instance, mainly because of the computer-generated graphics which enhanced their appeal.
However, high-tec companies specialising in graphics are facing shortage of qualified professionals in the State, according to P.P. Nirshid, chief executive officer of Montura VFX, which was part of Hollywood films such as Kung Fu Yoga and Legend of Hercules.
“There are many institutes in the State that offer courses in animation and special effects. But they often lag behind the rapid changes taking place in the field and hence students are not very employable,” he said.
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Mr. Nirshid added that the software used for special effects in movies gets updated every six months. But most institutes in the State use outdated software, affecting students’ employability.
Aboobacker T., academic director, Montura Institute of Visual Effects, a training institute set up by Montura VFX in Kozhikode, said the visual effects industry did business worth $3.5 billion in 2014-15. The compound annual growth rate of the industry, according to an estimate, was 31.6% between 2009 and 2013, he added. “But the shortage of qualified personnel is affecting the operations of the firms. Double Negative and Digital Domain, two major companies in the field, recently started operations in the country. However, as they did not get enough qualified staff, they poached employees of other companies,” he said.
“When we shifted operations from Pune to Cyber Park in Kozhikode in 2015, most of our staff were from outside the State. They did not wish to continue here. When we called for applications to fill vacancies, we too did not get enough good hands,” Mr. Aboobacker added.
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