Good scope for animation professionals

TIRUCHI: Mainstreaming of animation as a subject of serious study into the university system augurs well for tapping the enormous opportunities in this emerging field, it was felt at a seminar on ‘Animation-based gaming, entertainment computing and education’ here on Friday.

Organised jointly by the Department of Computer Science, Bharathidasan University, and Shrimati Indira Gandhi College (SIGC), the seminar was conceptualised as a genesis for the five-year M.Sc. Integrated programme in Animation that the university plans to offer from the coming academic year.

Formalised entry of animation programme into the university system will instil confidence in the minds of the public, R. Govardhan, Director, Virtualmaze, Chennai, said, presiding over the seminar. Mr. Govardhan, who is a Member, Board of Studies, Bharathidasan University, and chairman, Board of Studies, Karnataka State Open University, said that there was a good scope for animation professionals in gaming and film industries.

An understanding of the utility of animation programmes that involved a serious study of high-level scripting, computer-based simulations and games programming with a background knowledge of Mathematics and Physics was rising steadily, he said.

Providing an account of the integration of animation into the film industry over the past few years, M. Trotsky Marudu, artist and Special Effects Director, observed that it was akin to the gradual acceptance of computers in film-making. “Artists have come to realise that there is an immense scope for creativity through digital tools in photography, cinematography and editing. An animator is primarily a cinema specialist,” he said.

SIGC Principal K. Meena said that multi-channel television, popularity of computer games, Internet, and platforms for cross-platform exploitation had fostered the growth of animation industry in India. Specialised application areas such as corporate presentations, web technologies, computer animations, display- based applications and PC and console games were emerging in the field, Dr. Meena said.

Owing to a high demand for animation professionals, students need to be trained in latest multimedia technologies, she said.

Gopinath Ganapathy, Director, Bharathidasan University Technology Park and M. Govindaraj, Lecturer, Department of Computer Science, also addressed the gathering.