Career in Animation, Multimedia and Web designing

Of the most sought after career option generated in the Information Technology sector during 21^st century Animation, Multimedia and Web designing has been the front runner in terms of manpower inputs till date and still it is only 5% to 10% of the sector’s requirements means there is still a lot of scope for the aspirants and this phenomenon is neither time bound nor demographically categorized in fact it is a worldwide process. Popularity of the characters like Mickey mouse, Donald Duck and Stuart little to name a few creations of the animations that are delighting the young and mature equally has made animation  one of the fastest growing and most in-demand industries in the world. Multi media and Animation are among the major employment providers of the 21st century. It is a form of art that merges text, images, graphics, animation, audio and video to create magic.  At best animation can be considered only as a component of multimedia. A blend of entertainment industry and technology animation is concerned with design, drawing, layout and production of graphically rich and attractive multimedia clips and using them to make movies, games or cartoons by moving the drawings or models of animals or people with the help of computers or other electronic means taking great care of time and space that play a critical role in animation.

Animation as a career can be pursued by those aspirants who posses excellent creativity and drawing skills. Animators are the talented artists who create characters for a variety of projects like movies, television, advertisements etc. Job opportunities are on the rise for an animator and they are in great demand, as it a growing industry and have become a popular feature in almost all the new generation movies and advertisements. Although to become a successful animator, one doesn't require any specific academic qualification. Those with a basic sketching skill and a passion for animation can enter this field and make their space easily. However having a formal qualification like a degree or diploma in animation or multimedia can be advantages while seeking jobs in international arena and with multinational companies.

Any body with a minimum qualification of 10+2 or equivalent is eligible for Degree and Diploma courses in animation whereas any graduate could apply for Post Graduation in animation.  However some institutions of high repute like Industrial Design Center (IDC), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institute of Design (NID) follows eligibility criterion that only graduate of architecture, technology and engineering, fine arts can apply for the PG course in these institutes.

Besides these graduate and post graduate courses, there are several professional courses that focus on various styles and techniques. These courses, i.e Courses in Traditional animation, Stop-motion animation, Rotoscoping , Computer generated  2D and 3D animation, Clay-mation, Photoshop, Human anatomy, Drawing etc. helps one to specialize in a particular area. One should also have a basic knowledge in computer handling.

Apart from professional training and basic knowledge of computer several personal skills good sense of colour, proportion and size, design etc also play a role in making a good animator.

A good animator should have an artistic bent of mind with a lot of passion and imaginative skills, creativity   and of course a number of personals skills like patience, discipline and dedication to work for long hours. He/ She should also have a sound understanding of anatomy of humans, animals or birds and body movements and lighting effects. Good communication skill is also needed as most of the time he has to work in a team consisting of several specialists.

Like an animated feature film is a combined effort of a wide variety of professional from the multimedia industry. It requires around 500 animators.

Some of the jobs offered in the industry are :-

Content developer
Professional who develop contents for the animation.

Modeler
Modeler is the one who makes the models for animation. They should have a solid understanding of anatomy, form and volume.
 
Story Broad Artist
Those with strong drawing skills could be hired as storyboard artists who can visualize a sequence of events from frame to frame.
 
Character animator
They brings characters to life and generally has knowledge of traditional animation, stop-motion animation as well as claymation
 
Background artist
The background artist is the person who specialises to paint the background of the characters and sets the background for the project.

Layout artist
layout artist is just like a cinematographer of that animation project as they are decides the lighting and camera angles and he is sketching the background design for the animation.
 
2D animator
They involves the creation of a high volume of separate drawings that define a sequence.
 
Compositing artist
Compositing consists of layering individual frames of animation on top of one another to create final images. These images are then strung together to create complete shots or mini animated movies.
 
Special effects artist
They integrate live-action footage with Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) or other elements (such as model work)
 •  Audio & video specialist
 •  Visualiser
 
Texture artist
They applies a surface to the 3D modeled character, object or environment.
 
Rigging artist
A rigging artist takes the modeled, textured 3D character or object and sets it up with a skeletal system or joints (if required).

Clean-up artist
The clean up artist checks the accuracy and consistency of the designs and drawings. To be a good clean up artist, he should have good draft-man skill with the knowledge of density, width, volume and mass.
 
Lighting artist
They create variations of shade, colour intensity and shadows

Digital ink and paint artist
It is the duty of a digital ink and paint artist to give colours to each frame.
 
Compositor
It is the compositor brings together all the different characters and backgrounds in to single frame.
 
Key frame animator
Key frame animator draws the pictures of a movement’s beginning and end.
 
Rendering artist
They take all the data in a scene such as models, textures, animation, lighting, etc and output the correct combination in the form of individual frames of animation.
 
3D animator
They takes the sculpted, textured and rigged 3D model and breathes life into it. This is done by putting in order the key frames such that they appear to be in motion.
 
Image Editor
They assembles various visual and audio components of the film into a coherent and effective whole.

Website designing, CD-Rom production, graphics designing and three-dimensional product modeling are some other fields where animators can gain employment. Animation is also needed in other areas like business, sales, engineering, education and advertising. It has chances in fashion designing and interior designing and even in medical, legal and insurance sector for their presentations and models. The gaming industry that includes video and mobile games are looking forward for good animators.

High pay packages are the most attractive part of this profession. Within years these professionals can earn six-digit salary. As a junior animator or trainee one could get between Rs.20000- 25000 per month. A three to five year experienced animator will get 35000 to 40000. A well-experienced animator who has a good portfolio of excellent animation work could easily get 50000- 60000 per month

Web designing is an integral and important part of Information Technology industry. Today web services are being applied in almost every walk of life be it industries, business, education or public sector. With booming IT industry, web designing has a wide scope in India. A web designer can be absorbed in different fields such as advertising agencies, publishing, audio-visual media, design studios, printers and typesetters, manufacturers and department stores, marketing firms, exhibits and displays and educational institutes and libraries. Careers in web designing can be the right option for those having a flair for creativity.Various private Technical institutes in India provide a certificate program in Web Designing. Web designer has to concentrate on designing graphics and layout. He should be visually artistic with a flair for creating a design flow. If one chooses a career in Web designing, a degree in computer science would be an added advantage. Besides  this many short term specific web-designing courses are offered by many popular institutes.