‘The easy way out need not nescessarily be the best. That was the message that came across at the end of Day 1 at CgA World 2004.
The day began with animation veteran Ram Mohan delivering the keynote address, wherein he debated the general assumption of animation being IT driven. He stressed that animation in the past and till today is an industry driven by human talent. Commenting on the poor quality of training being imparted to aspiring animators, he lamented the fact that most institutes simply train their students on software manual tutorials and then issue certificates declaring their students as qualified animators.
The next speaker Dr Ravi, associate professor at IIT Mumbai, enlightened the audience on the advantages of what he referred to as ‘Knowledge Technology’ as against Information Technology. The latter, said Dr Ravi, was good for creating a basic services industry, the former offered a lot of as yet untapped potential.
Elaborating on his concept of Complete Domain Knowledge. Dr Ravi stressed that Complete Domain Knowledge will drive the industry to the next level. Citing an example, he said “If it was required of an animator to animate flowing water he would be unable to deliver if he was armed only with his basic animation training, the animator would also require to have a sound knowledge of physics, including fundamentals of motion etc. ”
Later on in the day, animation producer and active TASI member Ranjit ‘Tony’ Singh presented a white paper on the state of animation training in India. In a detailed power point presentation lasting for more than two hours, Tony pointed out the major flaws of the animation courses being offered in the country.
“Pardon me” said Tony “but the great Walt Disney must have lost his marbles when he said that ‘it takes sixteen years to become an animator’ for in India they can make you an animator in six months.”
Making an interesting observation at the difference of attitude between Indians and those of other countries, tony remarked that an Indian company before giving a job inquires about the software and workstations in use, whereas an international company would first inquire about the skill sets that the animator posesses.
Further commenting on the plight of talent training in the country he said “Most institutes overlook important topics like pre production and administration in animation, and it is very surprising that the training of senior animators who want to refresh their knowledge is a field which is completely ignored out here.”