After having worked on several hi-profile International projects in the past six years, Pune based Digikore Animation Studios has now launched its own college of Animation and Deisgn.
Speaking to AnimationXpress.com, Digikore College of Animation and Design Course Director Nilesh Kakade shared, “With the amount of outsourced work that is coming from overseas to studios in India as well as a large number of Indian Studios now getting into original content, we see an urgent need for quality, skilled talent in India. There is an acute shortage of quality manpower in India in terms of artists that are capable of delivering quality work and with speed. Also, what most training institutes do not focus on is the Fundamentals and Principles of Animation. Most of their teaching is tool based. We felt this did not really help in creating good animators. Thus we went about creating our own program which is an 18 month full time intense program in Animation which focuses more on concepts rather than the software itself”
“The basic thought process behind the curriculum is to create thinking Animators. Our students are not only taught 3D Animation Software, but are taken through an entire journey called Animation. They explore most mediums of Animation from Classical to Clay to CG. Students also undergo classes in Film Studies. We believe every human is born creative…we help them discover their creativity. We encourage Group assignments to help people learn from one another. Students are given a free hand to explore talents which they thought they never possessed” he added.
Besides Abhishek More, the CEO of Digikore as well as Nilesh Kakade, who is the course director, the other key members of the team for the college include, Harold Raichur (Creative Director), Akhlaqhue Sheikh (Technical Head), Shraddha Kulkarni (Head of Design), Shyam Gurubaxani (Classical Animation Expert), Vrushali Kulkarni (Communication Head), Sarang Sonwane (Software Expert).
Digikore boasts of a string of International Big Ticket clients including Archies Comics, Egmont and Disney (it provides digital ink and paint services for their comics). The studio has also worked on several 2D & 3D Animation projects for South Korean producers including features like Turandot and The Rain Children as well as TV series such as Gladiators, People of God, In the name of Jesus and St. Francisco. The studio also worked on Little Amadeus which made a big splash at MIPCOM this year.
“We are pleased to kick-start our Professional Animation Program and are sure that our college will be a major contributor in providing the industry with quality manpower. It is our endeavor that every student who passes out of Digikore College of Animation and Design excels in the field of Animation” concluded Kakade