Career In Animation

Career In Animation

The word animation is derived from a Latin word anima, meaning soul i.e. when life breathes into characters. The art of animation started with the cavemen who used to draw pictures on the rocks surfaces. Then who can forget Walt Disney for the creation of his cartoons especially the Mickey Mouse! In the present sense it means linking the series of drawings and simulating their movements together. It is a rapid display of 2D or 3D images to create an illusion of motion. It is an art form in which inanimate objects are brought into life by sequencing the drawn images.

Animation is emerging a special form of media now days. Animation is growing into a multi-billion dollar industry generating a great scope of employment for those who ready to try their skills into it. From a simple flick book to the computer 3D animation of stories, animation involves a lot of hard work and long hours of meticulous planning. This field being new to the Indian sector has a lot of hidden potential and talent, which needs to be properly groomed and exploited according to the international standards. There are many companies like Walt Disney, I Max and Sony who are ready to outsource their cartoon characters and are ready to invest heavily in this sector in India.

Nature of Work

3D animation is a complete teamwork and works on the creative ideas.3D animation itself is a combination of wide variety of career combinations. The various steps included in the making of a 3D animation movie consists of:

Story → Story Boarding → Character Sketch → Concept creation → Modeling → Environments → Rigging → Character and Mechanical Animation → Storyboard Animation→ Lighting → Texturing → Dynamics → Voice Recording → Digital Editing → Vfx → Final Film

So one can work as a

·         Modeler

·         Layout artist

·         Clean-up artist

·         Scanner operator

·         Digital ink and paint artist

·         Compositor

·         Key frame animator

·         Background artist

·         In-between animator

Every role is crucial for the successful creation of the Animated project.

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. 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.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. Game modellers, rigging artists, game animators, level designers, environment modellers and mobile game designers are some of the latest career options.

India has a much bigger market than Hollywood as the cost of animation related projects is 10 times cheaper than in the United States.” 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.