India - The future abode of animations
By Binu Paul, SiliconIndia   |   Thursday, 28 October 2010, 10:45 IST   |    2 Comments
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India - The future abode of animations
Bangalore: Shaktimaan, the Indian superman, who battled baddies and became a superhero for the masses, will be produced in an animated format by Accel Transmatic in collaboration with Big Animation. Ketan Mehta's Ramayana, a full length 3 D animation feature film, has got a great opening in India. India's first 3D animation combination feature film Toonpur Ka Superrhero starting Ajay Devgn and Kajol is all set to release by the year end. Compact Disc, an Indian animation company, is making an animation movie on the greatest footballer - Pele, the total budget of which is estimated to be at $63 million. It is obvious that the Indian animation industry has crossed the stages of infancy. The industry in India is stepping into the new stage where it aims to entertain all, both kids and the adults. So far, the target audience for our animated films was only kids. There are currently over 10,000 trained artists and animators working in India supporting the animation and gaming industry. The Indian animation market, which is estimated at $494 million in 2008, will likely grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 22 percent till 2012. Globally, the animation industry is poised to touch $100 billion by 2012 and India's animation industry is expected to hit $1 billion by 2012. It is estimated that in the next 2-3 years video games industry will grow to $700 million in India. "Animation in India is on the right track. There is a lot of interest in it, and therefore a lot of uptake in the sector. Our biggest advantage is the technical expertise, robust telecom infrastructure and English-speaking graphic designers and animators who with relevant training can be quickly made ready for the industry, at costs lower than those prevailing in developed markets," said MAAC's Founder, Ketan Mehta as quoted by PTI. Many large global studios have offshored their animation and gaming work to India. The domestic market is growing at a fast rhythm. Mobile and online gaming give a wide range of opportunities for the Indian animators. Experts feel that a minimum of 25,000 artists and animators are required to support the current projects and companies in Indian. By 2012, there will be a demand for at least 300,000 artists and animators in the country. India will have to generate more number of animators to cover the increasing number of internal projects and outsourced projects. Films, games, advertising, application development, product support and web development are the major markets in animation where a large amount of work force will be required. Having said all these, there are a few factors which pose serious challenges to the Indian animation industry such as low content development, absence of regular funding and widespread piracy. Although Indian animators are at the technological fore-front, they lack the storyline skills and characters. We need more new and creative ideas other than the existing stories. The increasing number of young minds in the industry will hopefully overcome these barriers and will make India the home of animations in the near future.

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