The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Animation firms told to brace up to cash in on outsourcing boom

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 04, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Animation firms told to brace up to cash in on outsourcing boom

Staff Reporter

`India could be challenging animation giants such as the U.S. within five years'

GUESTS OF HONOUR: T.V. Mohandas Pai (left) of Infosys, Subhash Ghai, Chairman of Mukta Arts Ltd. and Whistling Woods International, and Rajiv Vaishnav of NASSCOM at the inauguration of `ABAI Fest 2006' organised by the Association of Bangalore Animat ion Industry in Bangalore on Sunday. — Photo: K. Murali Kumar

BANGALORE: To cash in on the global outsourcing opportunities in animation, the Indian animation and gaming industry should brace up fast, according to Rajiv Vaishnav, NASSCOM regional director (West).

He was speaking at the ABAI fest organised here on Sunday by the Association of Bangalore Animation Industry.

Mr. Vaishnav said the Indian industry was poised for a significant growth and the country could capitalise on the outsourcing boom in animation. India could be challenging animation and gaming giants such as the United States within the next five years.

India, he said, would be able to offer animation solutions at just a quarter of the cost compared to the films made in the U.S. The country, with its established production of quality animation, should be able to create a boom if it could produce enough talent to make top quality animated films.

Right now, the industry was badly restricted owing to lack of experts, he said, and added that animation was more about the man and mind, and machine came next. "We need to identify talented persons and motivate them," he added.

Mr. Vaishnav said India would need five-lakh trained animators by 2010 to cash in on the opportunities that would be created owing to outsourcing.

The global industry was worth $ 55 million and it would grow to $ 9 billion by 2009 at the rate of eight per cent.

The animation industry was only seven years old in the country and accounted for just one per cent of the global share. Opportunities would be biggest in mobile gaming segment as the present growth rate of 15 per cent was likely to go up to 28 per cent by 2009, he said. T.V. Mohandas Pai, Director (HR) of Infosys, compared the passion in the animation and gaming industry to that in the field of information technology during 1994.

The focus of the industry should be on human relations. It had to train enough young people in schools and colleges. It should ensure inclusion of animation in the curriculum.

The animation sector would see more investment and the private sector could be roped in to provide collateral infrastructure. "We must bring traditional artists into the industry," he said.

Filmmaker Subash Ghai said animation was all about thinking and doing. What the industry required was more thinking minds to improve the standard of animation industry to the world level.

According to him, telling a story was more important than the use of technology.

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