Gaming and animation industry

Animation

Animation or 3D is a big innovation.We can understand animation from the Greek word “animare” which means to give life to something without. Animation is a series of still pictures that are shown in rapid succession creates the illusion of movement because of persistence of vision, this means the image stays on the retina a fraction of a second longer. If we see many images (24 a sec) they will all link up. There are different types of animation computer games use animation for games such as tomb raider and frogger, the characters and settings are all animated. Cell animation is the process of taking a sequence of images and stringing them together to create movement. It is an old process that is still used today to create animation for cinema, television, and computers. An example of cell animation is in programmes such as superman. Cut out animation is a technique that is quicker than cel. Parts of the body of an animal or person are cut out and coloured, then assembled and reassembled into different positions instead of being drawn over and over again.

Animation has developed a lot since the 1900s, the first animated feature film was made by Cohl and George Melies that was made in 1918.

India’s, gaming, industry, $860, million, and, animation, industry, $1bn, 2012.

India’s gaming and animation industry’s are the 2 industries which are going at a fast rate. The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) predicted for animation industry is 22%. For gaming industry it is 53%

NASSCOM, animation industry is a $494 million industry in 2008 and at the CAGR of 22% it will be $1bn industry. These are revised estimates where the growth estimates are cut. The global CAGR is estimated to be 10% much lesser than India’s own CAGR. Animation globally will be a $100 bn industry (it is $68 bn in 2008)

Key segments in Animation:

o Entertainment animation,

o Animation education,

o Custom content development and

o multimedia/web design and VFX

o Gaming on the other hand

The segments are split as shown below :

animation-nasscom

Gaming is the fastest growing among the two and probably the fastest growing industry in India. It is $167 million industry in 2008. With an estimated CAGR of 53% it will be $830 million in 2012. Globally it is $21 billion in 2008 and will grow to $53.6 billion in 2012.

Key segments in gaming:

o Online games,

o Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG),

o Casual,

o Mobile games,

o PC games

o Console games,

o Regular and Handheld

The segments are split as shown below :

gaming-nasscom

NASSCOM revised its 2012 forecast for animation industry from USD 1060 million to 830 million and gaming industry from USD 1163 million to 1000 million. Some of the factors which accounted for the revision were the global economic downturn, domestic box office for animation movies not picking up as estimated, End to end skill sets not being developed in the animation services industry.

Animation industry in India

India is emerging as an outsourcing hub for animation and visual effects with large number of international media companies entering into joint ventures with animation studios in India.

The Animation Industry in India though a late starter, is considered as one of the fastest growing segments of the entertainment and media industry. The Animation Industry in India gained significance as an outsourced destination for animation work due to low cost, skilled labour as its many advantages. In the recent past Indian animation companies and animation studios have been moving up the value chain to create their own intellectual property rights with Hanuman, Roadside Romeo, etc. and partnering with international studios to produce animated properties for the global audience.Though a majority of the work done by the animation industry in India is outsourced work, this is expected to change in the future with increased demand from the domestic entertainment industry. The Indian animation industry in 2007 was estimated at USD 0.31 billion and is expected to grow at CAGR 24% to reach USD 0.94 billion by 2012.

The Indian animation industry in 2007 was estimated at USD 0.31 billion and is expected to grow at CAGR 24% to reach USD 0.94 billion by 2012.

Indian animation industry including market size, growth and key segments. Analysis of drivers reveals that growing demand for animated content in the domestic market, cost arbitrage opportunity in India, improving animation education and increasing character licensing business have helped growth of this sector in India. The key challenges identified include high set-up and production cost, talent shortage and lack of protection of intellectual property. The future trends identified include increasing animation application in other sectors, domestic animation movies earning revenues through international releases and increase in investments and realizations for animated movies in India.

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Market size and growth rate of animation industry

With global players like Walt Disney, Imax, Warner Bros signing contracts with Indian animation companies for outsourcing and co-production, it is expected that the animation industry in India can touch $950 million by 2009 and is expected to grow at a fast pace over the next five years.

However, outside the Industry there is scepticism about the pace of growth because of the challenges like piracy, lack of intellectual property (IP) protection rights, acute lack of resources and investments the Industry is facing.

In an interaction with Business Standard, KPMG Advisory Services (P) Ltd Director Jaiddep Ghosh said, “Although India is the largest media consuming market in the world, only 1 per cent of the US market size which is estimated at $10 billion, so far the animation is concerned, it is currently pegged at $600 million.”

Commenting upon the industry market size, he said, “The Indian market size is extremely fragmented with the top players accounting for 10-15 per cent of the industry turnover. Further, most of the players are direct or indirect off-shoots of the Indian BPO boom. This legacy and low indigenous demand forced most of the players to adopt the outsourcing business model.”

Prominent players include Toonz Animation, Crest Communication, Maya Entertainment, UTV Toons, Zee, etc. Also, Pritish Nandy Communication has plans for five full-length 3-D animated bollywood films and has signed a $25-million deal with Florida-based animation company Motion Pixel Corporation. Crest Animations has entered into a three-movie co-production agreement with Lions Gate, a major movie studio. Also, animation studio DQ Entertainment has made a pact with US-based Electronic Arts to work on PC games.

With these developments, it seems that things will change dramatically in the near future. Further, Walt Disney, Imax, Warner Bros are signing contracts with Indian Animation companies for outsourcing and co-production.

“Animation needs a much larger investment and longer production circles. However, it has very long shelf lives and content leverage scope. A typical animation movie may take 2 years for completion unlike general movies. Further it is labour intensive, although with the advent of computers, the work has been simplified and is a relief from the days when each frame had to be drawn by hand. It is estimated that the labour may account for 70-80 per cent of the total costs for a 2-D animation production. It is lower for 3-D animation. Further, animation products are expensive to produce, on an average animation costs 5-15 times more than a live product.”

The key challenges before the industry are piracy and lack of IP protection rights and an acute lack of resources, investment and government support. The slack IP laws and weak enforcement mean that studios can expect leakage of revenue at every stage.

Indian animation industry poised for growth

Right now, about 300,000 students are undergoing training in animation technology across India. “Most of the professionals are still at the entry level,” The way the industry is growing, even these 300,000 professionals will not be enough to handle the work load in the coming years.

Good times ahead for Animation Industry apirants as “Hanuman”, “Hanuman Returns” and now “Bal Ganesh”… the string of successful animation movies is an indication of the fast growth that the Indian animation industry is poised for after the development of some very advanced software.

“As far as the Indian animation movie production is concerned, a new phase has now started after advanced software has been developed. Technology is key to the growth of the animation sector.

India has about 200 animation, 40 VFX and 35 game development studios, but the country needs more workstations to make optimal use of the potential that the industry has.

we get trainers from the US and Canada to train our staff and help them understand the current trends in animation in the world market. This ensures that the output is on a par with the acceptable levels for international standards, especially Hollywood.Animation movie making will soon emerge as a self-sufficient industry and attain a full-ledged stature.

The Indian animation movie production, however, had a rather shaky start. In 1984, when the renowned artiste Ram Mohan wanted to make an animation movie on the Indian epic Ramayana in collaboration with the Japanese filmmaker Yogo Sako.

The movie, “Ramayan,” executed under Mohan’s leadership, created a revolution in the international market in that it made the Western world aware for the first time of talent available in India to make animation movies.

India saw an outsourcing boom subsequently. But, due to the high cost involved, together with shortage of manpower and technology, animation movie making stagnated after “Ramayan” was released.

Some of them did create story-based animated work, but those were meant only for the advertising commercials. It was only since 2000 that corporate houses set their sights on producing animation movies.

UTV was the first corporate entity to plan animated versions of India Book House’s popular “Amar Chitra Katha” series in the 1990s. But the project did not get off the ground. A decade later Percept Picture Company (PPC) brought to India its Hanuman series of animation features – “Hanuman” and “Hanuman Returns.”

At a one-day conference on animation and gaming in Chandgarh recently, Punit Vatsayan, managing director of Mobera Systems Pvt. Ltd., said the Indian animation and gaming industry is projected to reach the $1 billion mark by 2010 from the current combined revenues of $402 million.

Navin Gupta, chief operating officer of the Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC), a Mumbai-based animation training institute, said the Indian animation industry is still hard-pressed for skilled manpower.

Made on a budget of about Rs.15 million, PPC’s first animation movie “Hanuman” went on to earn Rs.70 million for the corporate entity. PPC followed it up with “Hanuman Returns”.

Shemaroo in another Indian company that feels animation is good business. It has set up its own animation studio to create animation movies in-house. Though Shemaroo’s maiden animation attempt, “Bal Ganesh”, did not see the success of PPC’s “Hanuman” and “Hanuman Returns”, it scored in terms of quality.

Animation movie can be made here 15 times cheaper than the cost of a Hollywood production.

Supply chain governance and outsourcing in animation

As a result of all the potential of the animation market, the governance of animation production (i.e., where decisions on the supply chain) is dictated by the institutions which control whether content is produced and how it is distributed. Increasingly, these two aspects are connected. In the US, the distribution of animation is essentially controlled by the large TV channels such as the Fox Network, the specialized channels such as Nickleodeon and Cartoon Network, the larger distributor/studios or other content providers such as Disney. It is only when a production studio gets large and well-known enough that it can effectively dictate its own future.

Since most animation series are carried by TV studios, and since these studios may be in the broadcasting rather than production business, they rely heavily on contracting with creative talent of outside production studios. Specialized animation channels, and previously Fox, usually keep some internal pre-production and postproduction operations, and sometimes even hold onto the production internally. That is, they have their own creative talent, either for developing animation in-house, or for spotting or identifying concepts in the conceptualization and preproduction phase, which are then “outsourced” to animation studios.Post-production is often done in-house as well since it is really a follow-up stage that ensures that production meets the preproduction specifications. In contrast, the recent 3D movies have largely not been outsourced. The reasons for this will follow as we examine the creative production process for Pixar in more detail.

Unlike animation, the film industry has outsourced their computer graphics (CG) effects for the most part. This is partly because of the flexibly specialized nature of film production, which allows outsourcing, and partly because of the fact that the film industry has traditionally been dependent only on physical assets such as actors and locations. Increasingly, however, computer graphics effects are becoming more and more useful in film, blurring the line between film and CG or CGI animation. No where was this more evident than in the Lord of the Rings trilogy: All three movies used CG effects extensively for the main battle scenes, redefining the notion of what assets are needed for epic scenes or to define a movie.

Supply chain governance and outsourcing in animation

As a result of all the potential of the animation market, the governance of animation production (i.e., where decisions on the supply chain) is dictated by the institutions which control whether content is produced and how it is distributed. Increasingly, these two aspects are connected. In the US, the distribution of animation is essentially controlled by the large TV channels such as the Fox Network, the specialized channels such as Nickleodeon and Cartoon Network, the larger distributor/studios or other content providers such as Disney. It is only when a production studio gets large and well-known enough that it can effectively dictate its own future.

Since most animation series are carried by TV studios, and since these studios may be in the broadcasting rather than production business, they rely heavily on contracting with creative talent of outside production studios. Specialized animation channels, and previously Fox, usually keep some internal pre-production and postproduction operations, and sometimes even hold onto the production internally. That is, they have their own creative talent, either for developing animation in-house, or for spotting or identifying concepts in the conceptualization and preproduction phase, which are then “outsourced” to animation studios.Post-production is often done in-house as well since it is really a follow-up stage that ensures that production meets the preproduction specifications. In contrast, the recent 3D movies have largely not been outsourced. The reasons for this will follow as we examine the creative production process for Pixar in more detail.

Unlike animation, the film industry has outsourced their computer graphics (CG) effects for the most part. This is partly because of the flexibly specialized nature of film production, which allows outsourcing, and partly because of the fact that the film industry has traditionally been dependent only on physical assets such as actors and locations. Increasingly, however, computer graphics effects are becoming more and more useful in film, blurring the line between film and CG or CGI animation. No where was this more evident than in the Lord of the Rings trilogy: All three movies used CG effects extensively for the main battle scenes, redefining the notion of what assets are needed for epic scenes or to define a movie.

India’s Advantages in the Animation Industry

India’s attractiveness as an animation hub lies in the presence of an English-speaking workforce, high-quality software engineers, a large pool of creative talent, good studios and low costs. The cost of producing a 30-minute 3D animation programme in India is US$60,000 compared to US$250,000-400,000 in the United States and Canada. India has a cost advantage compared to the Philippines, which is another low cost producer of animations. The average monthly salary of an animation professional in India is US$600 compared to US$1,000-US$1,200 in the Philippines. The cost of outsourcing one hour of animation work to India is estimated to be 30% to 40% of the corresponding costs in leading animation centres in Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines.

India’s advantages in low costs have been exploited by many multinational firms and production studios. The advent of digital animation coincided with the liberalization of the Indian economy and India offered the benefits of lower production costs, strong creative and technical skills and a large English speaking population. This has led to the development of state of the art animation studios in several Indian cities, and these studios are collaborating with global entertainment companies.

Main characteristics of animation

Animations for Education

Educators are enthusiastically taking up the opportunities that computer animation offers for depicting dynamic content. For example, PowerPoint now has an easy-to-use animation facility that, in the right hands, can produce very effective educational animations. Because animations can explicitly depict changes over time, they seem ideally suited to the teaching of processes and procedures. When used to present dynamic content, animations can mirror both the changes in position (translation), and the changes in form (transformation) that are fundamental to learning this type of subject matter.

In contrast with static pictures, animations can show temporal change directly (rather than having to indicate it indirectly using auxiliary markings such as arrows and motion lines). Using animations instead of static graphics removes the need for these added markings so that displays can be not only simpler and less cluttered, but also more vivid, engaging, and more intuitively comprehended. In addition, the learner does not have to interpret the auxiliary markings and try to infer the changes that they summarise. Such interpretation and inference may demand a level of graphicacy skills that the learner does not possess. With animated depictions, information about the changes involved is available to be read straight from the display without the learner needing to perform mental animation.

Animations Facilitate Learning

It seems that animations should be ideal for presenting dynamic content. However, research evidence about the educational effectiveness of animations is mixed. Various investigations have compared the educational effectiveness of static and animated displays across a number of content domains. While there have been some findings that show positive effects of animations on learning, other studies have found no effects or even negative effects. In general, it can be concluded that animations are not intrinsically more effective than static graphics. Rather, the particular characteristics of individual animations and how they are used play a key role in the effects that they have on learning.

Animations Make Learning Faster

Well-designed animations may help students learn faster and easier. They are also excellent aid to teachers when it comes to explaining difficult subjects. The difficulty of subjects may arise due to the involvement of mathematics or imagination. For instance, the flow$ of electric current is invisible. The operation of electric circuits is difficult for students to understand at the beginning. With the aid of computer animations, learning and teaching might become easier, faster and amusing.

Educational Effectiveness

It seems that when the subject matter is complex, learners may be overwhelmed by animated presentations. This is related to the role of visual perception and cognition in human information processing. Our human perceptual and cognitive systems have limited capacities for processing information. If these limits are exceeded when using an animation, learning may be compromised. For example, the pace at which the animation presents its information may exceed the speed at which the learner can process it effectively. You’ll probably find it quite demanding to work out exactly what’s happening in the accompanying animation (part of a pumping system) for this reason. But the solution is obvious: slow the animation down and accompany it with a written explanation. It is unlikely that superior learning is achieved by thoughtlessly substituting animation for a static graphic but by having it accompany textual explication. Another suggestion for addressing such problems is to provide user control for the learner over how the animation plays. User controllable animations allow learners to vary aspects such as the playing speed and direction, labels and audio commentary to suit themselves.

Perceptual Salience versus Thematic Relevance

Complexity of the subject matter may not be the only reason for difficulties that learners sometimes have with animations. It seems that problems can also arise from the perceptual effects of such presentations. In a poorly designed animation, the information that learners notice most readily in the animation may not be the information that is of greatest importance. Conversely, information that is relatively inconspicuous may be very important. You can see an example of this in the top right hand corner of the accompanying animation. Tucked away here is a small grey-coloured valve whose subtle movement lets air into this pumping system (which is where the bubbles come from). However, it’s nowhere near as noticeable as the big, more central, orange-coloured valve that is going up and down so obviously. The point is that animations should not appear in a vacuum and most will require accompanying explanation.

Obviously, perceptibility of information does not necessarily correspond with its actual relevance to the learning task to be performed. Features of the animated display that are most conspicuous because of their contrast with the rest of the display are not always the best place for learners to direct their attention. In other words, there can be a poor correspondence between the perceptual salience (‘noticeability’) of a feature and its thematic relevance, and an accompanying text is needed to correct this.

The Top Ten Animation Companies in India

1. Toonz Animation India, is based in Thiruvananthapuram and has to its credit the successful series “The Adventures of Tenali Raman”. The team here is also working on a full-fledged feature film called Tommy and Oscar which is a 2D /3D combo project. This is apart from completing work for the Italian producer Rainbow Productions; a 2D television series called Will o’ the Wisp (26 X 6 min) for Animoon Plc, United Kingdom and a big-budget 3D television series for major a US broadcaster. This company has tied up with First Serve International to form First Serve Toonz.

2. Pentamedia Graphics, Chennai is a subsidiary of computer software company Pentafour. It is best known for its animated 3D film using the “motion capture” technique, Sindbad: Beyond the Veils of the Mists.

3. Maya Entertainment, Mumbai has been doing outsourced work for a while now and has done the special effects for The Mummy and Stuart Little. It is also working on animating short films starring a character called Wabo, to be used by the United Nations to educate worldwide audiences on the importance of fresh drinking water.

4. UTV Toonz, Mumbai is the animation division of UTV Software Communications and is one of the top ranking studios dealing in flash as well as traditional animation. It has bagged a US$10 billion deal with an American company for outsourced work. Other assignments for international clients include like two Dutch deals to produce a musical cartoon series called “ClubNow!” and a fantasy series “The Donz”; a project with Cinegroup of Canada for the images for a sci-fi series. They are also working with companies in Scotland and Luxembourg for the development of series like “Clootie & Dumpling” and “Snow Queen”. It will also be working on “Kong: The Next Generation” for New York-based BKN New Media.

5. Heart Entertainment, a 2D animation studio is yet another big name in the animation sphere, which is doing a lot of outsourced work. Among the animation featured in its portfolio are Warner Brothers’ Histeria, Tommy Nelson’s Crippled Lamb and Little Dogs on the Prairie. It also has to its credit some work done for Walt Disney.

6. Padmalaya Telefilms, Mumbai is a unit of India’s largest listed media firm, Zee Telefilms. It is expected to make 104 cartoon episodes for US$ 14 million and distribute Mondo’s library for US$ 15 million. It has also inked some deals with British animation companies like Mallard Media and Ealing Animation.

7. Nipuna Services Ltd, a division of Satyam Computer Services, has recently bagged a project worth US$ 8 billion from 4K Animation GmbH, a German animation company. This assignment is among the biggest deals struck by an Indian BPO in the animation space. It is also doing significant work for a New Zealand – based company called Applied Gravity. The work includes animatronics models for New Zealand Theme parks as well as an animatronics dog for Animal Planet’s series K9 to 11.

8. 8. Jadoo Works, Bangalore is working on an animated film series Lord Krishna and the crime caper Bombay Dogs. It has done work for US animation studios like Wild Brain and Guardian Angel Animation (GaGa).

9. Crest Communications, Mumbai, is a leading 3-d animation company and does a lot of work for American Studios. It came into limelight in 2002, when it won an Emmy for animation production work done for the animated series “Jakers: The Adventures of Piggley-Winks”. It is also to work on three features for Lions Gate Family Entertainment. Crest is also expected to produce and release “Sylvester and the Magic Pebble” based on the story by William Steig the creator of ”Shrek”.

10. 10. Silvertoon Studio, Mumbai, is engaged primarily in subcontract work for U.S., French, and British studios, using digital ink, paint and compositing system.

Challenges to Growth of India’s Animation Industry

While it is true that India’s animation industry is growing at a remarkable pace, the fact remains that this growth is largely a result of the mushrooming of “studios-for-hire.” In animation feature films, for example, while Indian companies carry out the animation work, most of the writing, character design, and storyboarding are done abroad. India is yet to become a successful player in concept creation, the high value-adding segment of the industry which remains a preserve of western firms. India’s advantages of low costs in this industry will be too short-lived, and sooner rather than later, the country will have to start developing its own intellectual property. There are several challenges faced by the Indian animation industry.

Lack of Finance

Indian animation firms cannot match their western counterparts in financial strength. It is pointed out that state support in the form of tax holidays is crucial for success in the animation business. Canada, for example, offers major incentives to its studios for developing animation products. However, financial institutions in India have not been much forthcoming in funding projects in animation and interactive media. The long gestation period before fruition of projects discourages potential investors. This can be a major hurdle, and it has, in fact, led to the stoppage of a few production ventures. For example, Jadooworks had to stop production of animated epic of Krishna due to technical problems and lack of funding. The firm was supposedly on the verge of bankruptcy and this has led to the retrenchment of about Interestingly, Jadooworks is the same firm which drew appreciation from 250 workers.Thomas Friedman in an article in February 2004 for employing traditional artistes and transforming their skills to computerised digital painting – he was arguing that globalisation can have beneficial impact on traditional artists.

The experience of Jadooworks underlines the fact that it is still too ambitious for Indian companies to single-handedly enter into animation projects. Even a small project in the animation industry entails a budget of US$30 million, which is not affordable for Indian firms.

International Attention

Tata Elxsi Visual Computing Labs (VCL) in India tied up with Prologue Films in the United States to design the computer generated graphics for display at the academy awards in March 2004. This fact is not very well known. What this highlights is another challenge faced by the Indian animation industry – attention at the national and international level. While Indian animation companies do contract work for western firms, the entire credit, including ownership of copyrights, for the work goes to the western firm.

Paucity of Physical and Legal Infrastructure

As per the recommendations by a NASSCOM study, improvement of animation studios and better training for Indian animators are important for India’s long term success in the animation industry.

India should develop an organized animation sector and also frame suitable laws and copyright rules. The infrastructural facilities have to be improved to attract more foreign investment and to enhance the efficiency of the industry. Also more emphasis has to be placed on the domestic industry as the domestic demand for animation in the entertainment; gaming and computer sectors are expected to grow multifold.

Need For Training

“There are no academic institutes like Indian Institutes of Technology, Regional Engineering Colleges, Polytechnics, etc., churning out animators by the thousands. What we have are only fine arts schools which teach the fundamentals but not the technical skills required for production,” points out K. Chandrasekhar, General Manager, Media Works, Tata Elxsi. According to him, this is a major drawback for the industry in India.

Education in new media has to be embedded into the mainstream curriculum. Students have to realise that they can have a lucrative career as animators, and the government as well as educational institutions have to start programmes for their career development. The animation sector will benefit greatly by giving encouragement to the community of traditional artists as much as to technically trained professionals. In other words, integration of the rural and urban talent will prove highly beneficial. Also, NASSCOM’s President Kiran Karnik believes that there is a need for an animation academy to build a steady inflow of animation professionals in the industry. NASSCOM extended its help to the government for framing the curriculum and also w