#animation

To school-pass outs of 12th, animation, both 2D and 3D may have more characters they know than in real-life! For close to twenty years now, Animation has become established when it comes to communication. Initially it was for entertainment but now it has spread to every field making it a great career after 12th. You could be an engineer, a banker, a broker, a car-dealer, doctor or even a politician, you would still generate jobs in animation in some form or the other in order to communicate. Also, one of the biggest users of animation today is the online gaming industry, and online education where VFX artists are increasingly finding jobs.

We bring in some figures to show you how big the industry is.

A study of 2015 shows that the industry was in the process of moving out of outsourcing mode to become creator of original content! At that time only about 300 animation studios existed that employed about 15000 professionals! Before the Covid-19 lockdown, the VFX industry is said to have over 20% growth!

The industry might be down due to the pandemic. But its temporary and things will normalize for VFX and Gaming in the near future. In 2015, 20000 were employed in animation which by 2023 is likely to be 4.5 lacs! Worldwide also the industry shall see growth of approximating 3% over a 2019 figure of USD 264 billion. With production costs per film between USD 20 million to 300 million, a good 25% shall come to animation- a big, big sum of money.

You would want to know which industries employ animators and VFX specialists. From experience, we know the following industries do.

• Online and Print News Media: Animations is best for communication.
• Cartoon production: In entertainment industry, cartoons shall always be needed
• Advertising: If you remember any advertisement, it’s either in full or near about made using cartoons and special effects
• Movies: First there were movies with cartoons. Now, it’s an entire movie in animation!
• Television: Close to movies is television where also the scope of work for animation is vastWhatever has been done till date is actually quite small compared to the scope.
• E-learning: Scope for teachers in physical form is very limited. Cartoon characters have become the best teachers! You can have any type of teacher human or animal, and teaching becomes fun. Why, even a car or a refrigerator can become a teacher! The scope for this industry is becoming big every day!
• Video Gaming: Smartphones brought animation to every user. And then came phone gaming and video gaming for which there cannot be anything better than animation characters.

Next, we tell you of all the jobs in the animation industry!

1. Compositors
   Animation bring together varied fields and specializations from story creation to modelling, rendering, rigging and lighting. When each specialization has done its work in the context of the whole story, it’s left to the compositor to put the whole thing in a single order so that a sequence is maintained and the project flows in one line. Without the assistance of a compositor, a sequence may not be place and the story might lose its shape.
2. Storyboard Artist
   It’s easy to get a story in place. Ramayana, Mahabharata to Chacha Chaudhary, India is full of stories. A career in animation that takes up the role of storyboarding brings a simple story and puts it across on paper with the entire environment with action and sequence. Animation consists of a series of scenes that include every character’s pose/ stance, facial expression and activities. Today, production is not on paper and has been replaced by software like Photoshop.
3. Modeler
   Among the many roles in employment in the Animation industry, the modeller is very unique, challenging and very much in demand. Modellers bring 3D models of everything that we sees otherwise in 2D. They give it a live dimension to characters, surfaces, and sometimes even environments (like the feeling of being in a cave both in 2D and 3D!) They provide the much-needed reality to a project, while also keeping the production within an intended idea.
4. Animators
   Among the career in animation after 12th, this one is the most known. They bring images, both 2D or 3D to life. During Walt Disney’s days each movement was broken down and drawn by hand on paper to achieve a minimum speed of 24 frames per second. Even the slightest of movement had a series of paper drawings. Today things are being done on software of various kinds. It has also moved ahead to add depth to 2D and made it 3D. 3D may sound technical, but those in animation including those holding a degree in animation will tell you that a 3D is far easier to replicate and change than 2D!
5. Rigging artist
   As important as the animator is the one who rigs things such that all the character in the animation look plausible and relatable in the scheme of things. Like a surgical process, it adds bones to an existing structure and binds everything under a layer of skin. Modellers and rigging artists have to work closely in order to make the movement of characters look smooth and realistic instead of weird and jerky.
6. Lighting Artist
   Like always, light finally signifies that the animation exercise is on the right track. Lighting is of primary importance. The right lighting effect makes every scene appear real. A morning scene, a night scene, a dark scene with faint lighting, everything requires a lighting artist who works closely with the animators to get the background light to make the scene look realistic.

In the end, there’s just one thing to be said. A career in animation after 12th, a degree in animation in India, or jobs in animation, they are all very realistic and in-demand. And that is because India is growing, and with that, the demand for animation be it in cartoons, films, TV serials, Games or even education. If you have a liking for the field, go for it.