Wanted: The ‘special effects’ people

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Wanted: The ‘special effects’ people

The invasion of digital technologies in the entertainment world has created immense possibilities for Indian multimedia professionals. As the global multimedia industry is facing a dearth of skilled manpower, India can be a hunting ground for 3D and other entertainment content developers, says Nikita Singh

Multimedia, it appears, has found its calling in the entertainment business. Multimedia technologies seem best suited for a segment that thrives on the visual and aural medium, where images and sound mesh aesthetically to create the relevant “special effects.” As the entertainment industry goes digital, it is creating a wider berth for the use of multimedia, in fact, relying extensively on this technology for its techno look and feel.

Whether it is the area of filmmaking, pre- and postproduction, creation of special effects or animation, multimedia technologies dominate the entertainment sector. The winds of change, which ushered in the digital era in studios in the West, are now blowing across Indian shores as well. It is commonplace to hear about hi-tech film and music studios, where the state-of-the-art sits on the directorial chair.

The global film industry, one of the largest users of multimedia technologies, is slated to grow at 6.6 percent to US $93 billion in 2005. The Indian film industry, which forms the backbone of the entertainment industry and contributes significantly to the global film industry, is also gradually taking the digital route. Indian filmmaking is going through a gradual transformation. Realising the fact that digital technology brings in cost-efficiencies, allowing filmmakers to produce and deliver entertainment in the most efficient, productive way possible, more and more Indian film production houses are joining the multimedia bandwagon.

Need of skilled manpower

The global digital animation industry is anticipated to expand from the current $25 billion to a mammoth $70 billion by 2005. One of the greatest advantages that India offers the world today in the entertainment arena is readily available, high quality, skilled manpower. Though India is still off the mark in terms of the number of trained multimedia personnel (the demand far outstrips the supply), the country has managed to position itself as a provider for such specialised manpower. With the advantage of its English speaking population, cost-effective production and trained manpower, India in fact is turning out to be a great hunting ground for the western world for 3D and other entertainment content development.

However, over time, the requirement and quest for multimedia talent is going to become extremely crucial. With the industry moving towards global benchmarking, the requirement for additional trained multimedia personnel is becoming a key issue.

Even as India is gaining a reputation as a serious contender in the multimedia solutions market, the country is facing a problem vis-à-vis skilled manpower. There is a dearth of skilled multimedia professionals such as creative animators in the market. These personnel have to cater to the requirements of companies active in areas such as animation, multimedia, SFX (special effects), games, CBT (computer-based tutorials) and WBT (Web-based tutorials). To fit into the picture and explore opportunities in this sector, it is important that students are trained on the latest multimedia technologies, which will enable them to leverage on their creative talent. Creative and technical skills make a perfect combination in the world of animation.

Says Atul Vohra, the national head of Arena Multimedia, “Technologically, the Indian entertainment industry is receiving a shot in the arm from the on-going digital revolution, which has changed the way the design, development, distribution and delivery of content is done. Entertainment software is headed for a robust growth in India. Growing at a gargantuan pace, the multimedia and animation industry in India needs skilled and trained manpower.”

Emergence of Indian multimedia specialists

A lot of India’s existing multimedia and animation work is currently being done in emerging centres such as Chennai and Hyderabad. Chennai, in fact, has emerged as a major outsourcing hub of the global entertainment industry. The IT-savvy Hyderabad is also set to make it big on the animation industry front. Hyderabad has a significant presence in the Indian animation industry and in recent years it has emerged as a major market for visual effects and 3-D animation. Discreet, a division of IT firm AutoDesk, is doing significant work in India for customers such as CNBC, Pentamedia Graphics, Balaji Telefilms, NDTV, Ramoji

Film City and Crest Communica-tions.

The invasion of digital technologies in the entertainment world has created immense possibilities for Indian companies, both at home and abroad. The overall entertainment industry-spend on animation and visual effects meanwhile is growing, with the sector likely to become one of the largest users of multimedia technologies. The entertainment industry today is worth Rs 16,000 crore and employs five million people. Consulting major Price Waterhouse Coopers, in its global entertainment and media outlook 2001-2005 has forecast that the Indian

entertainment industry would be worth $1.2 trillion by 2005, growing at 7.2 percent compounded annually. In 2001 alone, India had bagged orders worth $300 million from major Hollywood and European studios. Film, television, cable, radio, music and live entertainment raised a combined revenue of Rs 13,000 crore in 2001. In 2002, the revenue is expected to touch Rs 16,500 crore and overall entertainment exports are estimated to touch Rs 20,000 crore by 2005. The music market too is expected to rev up, creating additional business for multimedia entertainment companies. Animation segment Take the instance of the animation segment within multimedia. Not only are Indian companies doing work for local entertainment and film making majors, they are also emerging as hubs for overseas companies who are readily outsourcing “animation” projects to the country. Recent studies, in fact, reveal that India is to receive more than $2 billion worth of animation business in the next three years and thus the need of more trained professionals. The bulk of the content Indian studios work on is 2D and 3D. While the domestic market is negligible, the focus of these studios has been the international market-production and sourcing companies based in the US and Europe. Today, most post-production studios/units use computer-oriented technology. Graphics, animation and special effects have become almost the sole reign of computer systems and it is the multimedia experts who are in command.

Nikita Singh works with the Design Team at Arena Multimedia

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