Career as a Clay Animator

What is Clay Animation?
Clay animation is a technique of stop motion animation, wherein one has to click photographs of the object in a sequential manner and then play them. Clay animation is different from computer animation as a handcrafted product is from a machine-made one. A clay animator has to create models out of malleable substances like plasticine or any other oil based clay. Later a picture of a model is clicked, position is changed, then another picture is clicked, it continues in this manner. When these images are plated back-to-back, illusion of movement is created. Clay animation runs about 10 to 12 frames per second, than the usual 24 frames per second used in films.

Skills required being a Clay Animator:
· One needs to be creative and artistic.
· One needs to have mathematical and logical skills
· One needs to be very patient, and ready to work under pressure and in the prescribed budget.

Future prospects and Scope:
In India Clay Animation is still not popular. There are only a few studios specialising in this art. As compared to Indian animation sector clay animation contributes only 5% of the Rs.1200crore. Then to, clay animation is becoming a lucrative career option. Clay animation can be used in various feature films, web applications, TV serials commercials, e-learning projects.

Remuneration:
It all depends upon one’s experience and quality of work given. Approx it may range from Rs.30000/ to Rs.50000/

Institutes/Colleges in India:
National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad and the Industrial Design Centre of IIT Mumbai has the facilities needed for stop motion, but there is no specific course in clay animation in India. One may learn through Internet or workshops of clay animation.

Institutes/Colleges Abroad:
1. Royal college of Art, UK
2. Sheridan college of Art and Design, Canada
3. California institutes of arts
4. Vancouver Film School

Animation Institutes not churning out industry ready professionals

EduCircle recently came across an eye-opening article on state of the animation training industry. We caution all prospective candidates to verify the quality of course and placements before joining any institute.

The article runs as follows:
“Four years ago, there were 640 animation studios across the country. This number is now down to around 300, with UTV Toons being the latest to do so. Sources claim that Reliance ADAG-owned Big Animation recently laid-off a sizeable number of its pre-production artists.

In sharp contrast, animation-training institutes are thriving while their students are not always able to get jobs. In Pune alone, the number of training institutes is now 26 from a mere 10 two years ago. These institutes train almost 4,000 students in courses ranging from three to 20 months. The fees range from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh, depending on the duration of the course.

This translates into an annual turnover of Rs 100 crore for the training business. Most of the institutes have tie-ups with some overseas partners whose credentials cannot always be checked out. And most of these training institutes dangle the lollipop of guaranteed huge initial salaries, seemingly worthwhile for students to pay the fees.

The animation training industry is now sunrise sector as investors from sectors as diverse as real estate and jewellery have jumped into the industry. India’s education sector is seen as a $500-million opportunity. While the industry needs people with artistic skills, industry insiders say that training institutes focus solely on supplying people who know just tools.

As Rahul Bakshi, founder of the Pune-based studio, Phoebus, which produced the recently released animated movie Dashavatar, said, “The training courses at these institutes add little value to the students, which is very disappointing. Many students from these institutes have applied to us but they failed even our basic test.”

Sesha Prasad, digital production manager, Rhythm & Hues — a studio which has worked on films like Narnia, Superman Returns, Garfield 2, etc — said, “Some institutes are doing good work, but the predominant issue for us is that students get taught just the tools. Institutes merely focus on teaching software, which is a short-term solution for many people. Internationally, people train at art schools and joins such institutes to pick up additional skills in software. What is needed is an artistic foundation, which is the fundamental, before they get into learning these tools. Many studios use their own proprietary tools. So the institutes should focus on fundamentals and not the tools.”

The long-term courses of these institutes at least teach some basics, while short-term courses add no value to the student, remarked Sudish Rambhotla, chairman, Colorchips New Media, a Hyderabad-based animation production-company.

“Some institutions give good education while some are trying to make a quick buck. The long-term courses at least teach some basics, while short-term courses add no value.” Mr Rambhotla added that at the time of recruitment, his company looks only for people who have inborn artistic skills.

“We prefer fine arts students since they are productive with just six months of training. A student from an animation institute would need two to two-and-a-half-year of training. However, most of the studios, including ours, have employed excellent artists who have not even completed school education,” he commented.”

- Source Economic Times

Animation Course College Comparison

Educircle team has, after its comprehensive research, announced a comparison of various colleges offering Multimedia and Animation course in India. This should serve as a guide to candidates who wish to pursue their career in Animation or Multimedia.
Following institutes are included in our latest comparison:
1. MAAC – Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics
2. ZICA – Zee Institute of Creative Arts
3. Frameboxx
4. Arena (Aptech)
5. Maximus
6. Picasso
7. Saint Angelos
8. DQ Entertainment

Click on the image below to read the comparison table:

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