Animation – Career in Animation and Multimedia

Introduction to Animation
Animation is all about giving soul to a character. It is about moving something which cannot move itself. The object of animation could be 2D painting, a clay statue, a picture of a cartoon, an animal or just about anything at all.

There are various animation techniques like 2Dcel animation, 3DCGI animation, 3D motion capture animation.

2Dcel animation involves the creation of a high volume of separate drawings that define a sequence. These drawings are then traced with ink onto transparent celluloid sheets called cell, which are scanned and painted using a special application software. These cells are layered on each other to create a sequence. The sequence is later edited to synchronize the audio and video content.

3D CGI animation technique makes extensive use of animation software programs. 3D objects are constructed using curves or 2D geometric figures

3D motion capture animation is a process of creating 3D characters is similar to the 3D CGI animation technique; however, the techniques differ with respect to the time when the animation effects are introduced. To produce animation effects, sensors from a computer are attached physically to a human being. These sensors help coordinate the real-time movements of the human actor with the movements of a computerized 3D character.

Eligibility:
To be a complete animator one needs to have some basic knowledge of computers, free hand in drawing, deep interest in creativity etc. Almost all institutes require the candidates to be HSC or 10+2 pass.

Career Options:
Some of the career options which can be pursued after completing a course in animation are as follows:
Designer, Audio & video, Visualiser, Graphic designer, ultimedia author, Web designer, Content developer, Modeler, Texture artist, Rigging artist, 2D animator, Lighting artist, Rendering artist, 3D animator, Compositing artist, Editor, Storyboard artist, Character animator, Effects artist, In-between artist, Image editor, Multimedia developer, Digital post-production artist, Special effects artist, Programmer

Remuneration:
Starting salaries in animation range between Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 per month for a fresher who has done a short course in animation. With experience, one could be earning Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 per month in 2-3 years time.

Cost of Course:
This could vary across institutes and type of course (short-term or long term), type of specialization and can range between Rs.20,000/- to as high as Rs.200,000/-.

Institutes/ Colleges/ Academy:
Some of the institutes offering course in Animation are:
Arena Multimedia
MAAC
ZICA
NIIT
Frameboxx