Bengaluru growing as hub for animation, gaming

Bengaluru is a growing hub for gaming, animation and visual effects, said Priyank Kharge, Karnataka IT & BT, Tourism Minister.

Speaking after inaugurating the 3-day Bengaluru GAFX Conference 2017 (GAFX is animation, games and visual effects), Kharge said “We aim to leverage this and aid in the development of the industry, which has a huge potential and is currently valued at 1 billion dollars.”

The idea is to position the state as the centre for animation, visual effects and gaming. We need to go beyond IT and attract more investments that will help our local talent get more exposure.

Kharge said “We have now labs of companies like Deamworks, Technicolor, Zynga, MPC, Mr. X etc in Bengaluru. We should look at creating IP rather than just doing back end work. We have the whole ecosystem of gaming including the semiconductor companies like Nvidia and AMD apart from the AR and VR companies that all provide a 360 degree ecosystem.”

Centres of excellence

"The Government is doing its part by establishing centres of excellence by skilling our workforce whether be it in IT, gaming and animation, aerospace or cyber security. We only create an ecosystem with policies,” he said.

The curriculum is set by the industry and the certifications are also given by the companies in the sector. We also plan to start a digital media city in Bengaluru where all post production work of films, videos, advertisements, television programmes can be done.

“We are also bringing the Kannada film industry to show affordable visual effects. Animation and gaming as an industry is growing 18 per cent year on year. The online mobile gaming itself in India is expected to be $1 billion by 2021. The game industry last year was worth $360 million. This conference provides a stepping stone for aspiring youth to make a career in the animation industry, along with provide learning opportunities for professionals." He added.

Pixar Animation Studios

Speaking at the conference, Sharon Calahan, Director of Photography, The Good Dinosaur- Pixar Animation Studios said, "To understand how to make images better, it is best to take them from different scenes in different movies and compare them. Lighting plays a vital role in the making of a movie, as seen in the legendary films like The godfather, Munich, X-men- The Last Stand, etc. These movies are perfect examples of the different effects of light that can effect the mood of the shot, be it highlighting the main character, portraying a certain quality, foreshadowing future problems, the lighting does it all!.”

DreamWorks Animation

Shelley Page, Head of International Outreach, DreamWorks Animation said, "Character design is all about creating compelling animated characters. Early designs are the most important in the process of making a character. Experts aim to create a drawing which expresses a sense of personality. They try to make the designs more believable and then evolve the style. Basically, we start with prop, with a complete attire and design, as it helps us to create a backstory."