Game developing - an exciting career opportunity

Games, adventure, sports, entertainment, are the factors, which have slowly become the necessity of the youngsters these days. Whether it’s a student or working person, you or me, everybody wants the element of fun in their lives. Life fully loaded with work, all day, becomes monotonous and leads to the birth of boreness and stagnancy in our life. I am sure you must also be accessing one or the other social networking site in between your work time, to relax your mind for a while. These social networking sites or internet as a whole has taken the role of gaming parlour these days. Though the fun of going out and playing at a parlour cannot match the internet games, yet due to the scarcity of time, such internet games are becoming very popular among the youngsters as well as the working class.

Have you ever thought, how these games are built and who invesnts such interesting and mind boggling ideas. Some times it takes a number of days for a person to understand the gaming method and its intricacies to play the game think how difficult it would be to develop these games. The professionals involved in this career are called game developers. With the increasing popularity of these games, many students are seen opting for game developing as a career opportunity. Also, there are many schools, institutes and colleges in India and abroad which provide courses in gaming. Animation is also an important part of game development, a student should know, other than knowing the programming techniques of the software. Some of the schools, which I could find providing courses in gaming are:

 National Institute of Design

 Picasso Animation College

 Academy of Animation and Gaming

 CG Mantra

 Gecko Animation

 Animation Training School

Other than these institutes providing courses in gaming, there are many workshops taken by professionals to upgrade the working class in this field. Gaming in itself has become an industry, and unlike all other careers, its an exiting field to deal with. So, students interested in these fields can see a good career growth in the coming future with online games overpowering the other entertainment factors of life.

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Animation - Colleges , Courses , Institutes - Study Routes in India and abroad

Animation Courses - Study Routes:

You can follow two study routes:

• After completing Class XII in any stream, one can pursue a 4 year course in Fine Arts/ Visual Arts Course followed by post graduation in Multimedia Design with a specialization in Animation or an advanced entry postgraduate programme from NID or a similar institute.
• After completing Class XII with PCM (Science), follow it with a graduate programme at NID or similar institution.

Also most animation courses are 7-8 months long and anyone with a High Secondary (Class XII) degree is eligible to apply.

Leading animation institutes offering short-term courses include:

• Anitoons Productions, New Delhi
• Arena Animation Academy (many branches)
• CDAC's National Multimedia Resources Centre, Pune
• Chandigarh College Of Arts, Sector 10C, Chandigarh
• Escotoonz, 18/4, Mathura Road, Faridabad, Haryana
• IIT, Guwahati, Assam
• Industrial Desigjn Centre, IIT, Mumbai
• The National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad
• Kerala Cartoon Academy, Chittor Road, Kochi
• Toonz Animation India Private Limited, Nila Technopark Campus, Thiruvananthapuram
• Pentamedia Graphics Limited, Chennai (with branches all over India)
• SAE Technology College (many centres in Chennai, Bangalore, New Delhi)
• ZICA Studios, Mumbai

Other Animation colleges include:

• The Academy of Animation Arts and Technology, 43/3 Hazra Road 1st Floor, Kolkata
• CAD-CAM Consultants, Calcutta
• Quest Institute of Advanced computing, Calcutta
• American Institute of Technology Training Centre, New Delhi (many centres)
• Priyadarshini Multimedia Training Centre, Delhi (many centres)
• Infopark school of Information technology, B-147, Lajpat Nagar 1, New Delhi
• CP Altius, 5, Camac Street, Calcutta 700017
• KCC Computer Education, New Delhi (many centres)
• DAV Computer Centre, 14 Bhagat Singh Marg, Gole Market, New Delhi

International Institutes for Animation Courses:

Animation Schools/Colleges in USA:

• College of Architecture and Arts, University of Illinois, Chicago
• Art Institute of Houston, Houston, Texas
• International Academy of Design And Technology, Chicago
• San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco
• UCLA Extension, University of California, Los Angeles
• National Cartoonists Society, PO Box , Columbus Circle Station, New York, NY

Animation Schools/Colleges in UK:

• Art and Design Admissions Registry, Penn House, , Broad Street, Herefore HR APChartered Society of Designers, , Bedford Square, London WCB EG
• Design Council, ,Oxenden Street, London SW EE
• National Art Education Association, Association Drive, Reston, VA -
• National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD), The Gatehouse, Corsham Court, Corsham, Wilts, SN OES

Animation Schools/Colleges in Australia:

• Qantm College, Queensland
• University of Technology, Sydney
• Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne
• Griffith University, Queensland

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Animation - Job Scope, Personality Traits and Salary

Animation Job Prospects:
-->Designations and animation job profiles include in betweening Artist, Cleanup Artist, Junior Animator, Assistant Animator, Character Designer, Background Artist, Storyboard Artist, Visualiser, 2D / 3D Digital Animator, Editor.

• Discuss ideas for cartoons with editors and creative directors
• Develop and present original ideas
• Create sketch or model of characters and submit for approval
• Produce many drawings for film animation
• Use computers to draw and reproduce cartoons
• Assign colors to be used in shapes and patterns
• Make changes to cartoon drafts as necessary
• Draw editorial cartoons
• Create storyboards for advertising agencies

With giants like Warner Brothers, Fun Bag Animation, ILM and Disney planning to set up shop in India to produce animation films and movies, animation is set to become one of the fastest growing IT segments in the country. While animation was earlier the domain of Walt Disney Productions and some small others, with the explosion in computer technology, cartoon channels on television, music videos, computer games and ad films, the demand for animators in India and the world is way beyond their supply.

India is also a major hub of outsourcing for foreign production houses. Recruiters include Disney, Cartoon Network, Pogo, Hungama, Nicholodeon, ad agencies and ad-film makers (ad films that have used animation include 7up, Kelloggs, Godrej, Pepsi, Goodnight, Surf Excel, Cadbury's, Coke, Pepsodent, Maggi).

Other leading companies in the field of animation include Escotoonz of the Escort Group, AIM Studios Mumbai, Crest Communications, 2NZ Animation, DreamTeen Animation, Maya Entertainment, Toonz Animation Studio, Silvertoon Studio, UTV Toons, Zee Institute of Creative Arts, Prasad Studios, Acropetal, JadooWorks, Color Chips and Heart Animation and Pentamedia Graphics. International giants in animation like Warner Brothers, Imax, Fun Bag Animation, ILM, Sony and Disney also plan to set up shop in India soon and are presently negotiating large outsourcing contracts.

Animators are also employed by companies producing Education CD ROMs, Screen Savers, e-books and e-cards. The animation industry has come a long way since the days of Walt Disney. The entertainment industry uses nearly 70 per cent of the total animation created in a year. Indian Animation Industry is slated to clock a high growth rate in coming years.

Personality Traits:

• Artistic, with a love for drawing and creating characters
• Strong imagination and visualization skills
• Technically skilled and competent
• Exacting and detail-oriented
• Able to work alone on a project for long hours
• Enjoy coming up with new ideas
• Some risk-taking ability
• Patience

Salaries:

Starting salaries in animation range between Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 per month for someone 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. Peak salaries would match those of Creative Directors in an ad agency.

Animators also work freelance and work is easy to come by. With some experience and credentials, an animator could easily earn between Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 per month.

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Career in Animation

An animator works to create cartoon films, video games, TV serials, promotional films and anything else which uses animation. The industry kick-started only in the mid-90s but is already growing in India almost as fast as the IT industry. India is a major hub of outsourcing of animation work by production houses and studios in the US, Canada and other countries abroad.

It was with Walt Disney's creation of first cartoon character that animation witnessed a modest beginning in 1928. But the subsequent years saw a deluge of cartoon characters becoming a part and parcel of daily life. Mickey Mouse, Tom & Jerry, Dennis the Menace are some of the notable characters. Animators provide services in 2D Animation (classical, traditional and semi-classical animation), 3D Animation, Special Effects (morphing, colour correction, blue screen, composting), Editing (linear and non-linear), Post Production. While 2D animation can be cell, puppet or sand animation, clay modeling, cut - out animation or computer generated; it goes through the stages of story, boarding, character development on paper, background and layout, scanning, inking and painting, key frames and in between sound - effects and editing. Therefore, a one hour film takes almost one year of hard work. As the name suggests, 2D animation generates characters like what we see in Cartoon Network. Animation is basically giving motion to an object - to give appearance of movement using varying drawings. Every frame is drawn individually with gradual variation does in it. The procedure is hard, and requires patience. The drawings are then played at the desired speed, which makes the static images look like one smooth picture.
The 3D animation also goes through the similar processes but uses more sophisticated gadgets and processes. Real and life like features of characters created through 3D animation can only be restricted by the creator's imagination.

There are computer animators who work on computers to make their characters come alive. But there are also cartoon animators who draw the pictures for the animated movies. Most computer animators draw their characters by hand and then plug them into the computer to make them act out their part in the movie or the commercial.
 
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World Of Animation And Cartoons

Do you like drawings and create new animations and cartoons?! Well then animation is the field for you to go for, if creativity is your forte and colors and sketches your passion then you would surely excel in the field of animation and multimedia. 

Remember the friendly little rat of ratatouille or the wild animal crew in Madagascar, or our very own world of jungle book and mowgli, how it left its marks on your life and memories, it was all the wonder creations of the animation world. 

The world of animation & multimedia has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years; with invention of new technology and a new trend wave of people’s preferences the world of animation has also witnessed many new changes. Today cartoons and animations are no more limited to young kids and children’s; it’s taken quite seriously for all age groups in the various spheres like – film industry, advertisement, games etc. it makes a huge contribution to the country GDP and employment as well.

With the rise in the demand for animation artists there is a rise in the number of universities and colleges in India offering animation courses. Few some among top animation schools in India include:

• Arena Animation school.
• Maya Institute.
• FTII – Pune.
• IIT – Guwhati.

The demand for new talent with proper knowledge of at least technology and techniques is rising in this industry; pursuing a course in this field can lead to bright career prospective as well. 

The main thing essential to be successful in animation is creativity, the ability to observe your surroundings, take into account the minute details and be able to convert it into the kind of animation or picture that you want to depict to your audience. You should be capable of making people laugh, to humor them with your creation.

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