Of the most sought-after career option generated in the Information Technology sector during 21st-century Animation, Multimedia and Web designing has been the front-runner in terms of manpower inputs to date and still it is only 5% to 10% of the sector’s requirements means there is still a lot of scopes for the aspirants and this phenomenon is neither time-bound nor demographically categorized in fact it is a worldwide process. The popularity of the characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Stuart Little to name a few creations of 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. Multimedia 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 the entertainment industry and technology animation is concerned with the 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 possess excellent creativity and drawing skills. Animators are 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 is a growing industry and has 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 basic sketching skills 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 advantageous while seeking jobs in the international arena and with multinational companies.
Anybody 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 the Industrial Design Center (IDC), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), and Indian Institute of Design (NID) follow eligibility criteria that only graduates of architecture, technology, and engineering, and fine arts can apply for the PG course in these institutes.
Besides these graduate and postgraduate 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, Claymation, Photoshop, Human anatomy, Drawing, etc., help one to specialize in a particular area. One should also have basic knowledge of computer handling.
Apart from professional training and basic knowledge of computers several personal skills a good sense of color, proportion, 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 personal skills like patience, discipline, and dedication to work for long hours. He/ She should also have a sound understanding of the 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.
As an animated feature film is a combined effort of a wide variety of professionals from the multimedia industry. It requires around 500 animators.
Some of the Jobs Offered in the Industry are:
Content Developer: A professional who develops content for animation.
Modeller: Modeller 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 bring 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 specializes 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 decide the lighting and camera angles and he is sketching the background design for the animation.
2D Animator: They involve 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 apply 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 cleanup artist checks the accuracy and consistency of the designs and drawings. To be a good clean-up artist, he should have good draft-man skills with the knowledge of density, width, volume, and mass.
Lighting Artist: They create variations of shade, color intensity, and shadows
Digital Ink and Paint Artist: It is the duty of a digital ink and paint artist to give colors to each frame.
Compositor: It is the compositor that brings together all the different characters and backgrounds into a single frame.
Keyframe Animator: Keyframe animator draws 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 take the sculpted, textured, and rigged 3D model and breathe life into it. This is done by putting them in order the keyframes such that they appear to be in motion.
Image Editor: They assemble 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 the medical, legal, and insurance sectors for its presentations and models. The gaming industry which includes video and mobile games is looking forward to good animators.
High pay packages are the most attractive part of this profession. Within years these professionals can earn a 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 the Information Technology industry. Today web services are being applied in almost every walk of life be it industries, business, education, or the public sector. With the 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. The web designer has to concentrate on designing graphics and layouts. 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 these many short-term specific web-designing courses are offered by many popular institutes.
