Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Animation Outsourcing to India: Animating our way to the Top!

As compared to the rest of the world, the Indian animation industry was initially what most critics would call a “late starter”. In India, for a very long period of time, the animation scene was considered to be a very expensive proposition, and something that would not draw the Indian audience. Furthermore, with the ever-evolving Indian film industry taking the front seat with regards to issues like piracy and quality control, the animation industry took a back seat. It isn’t that animation was non-existent; it did exist but was rather primitive. But today, India has become the biggest animation outsourcing destination in the world! So whether its 3D modeling or 2D animation, take a look at what India has to offer.

Currently pegged at over 15 billion rupees, the animation and visual FX segments in India have experienced a tremendous upsurge over the past three years. Taking into consideration the speed at which this industry is growing within the country, our nation will probably need thousands and thousands of professionals in the coming year to take care of this ‘techno savvy’ field.

Yes, India’s animation sector is indeed witnessing a boom. Many of the overseas giants like Sony, Walt Disney, Pixar and Imax have been increasingly outsourcing special effects projects and cartoon characters to India. Apart from this, other companies all over the world have also been outsourcing projects to India for game development and commercials.

So what makes India so special? Why is the animation sector experiencing such drastic growth? Let’s take a look at what makes India so special!

Here are some of the reasons why India is such a hot animation outsourcing destination:

India has a vast English speaking workforce base and animation is a field that requires fluency in the English language. This is perhaps the biggest reason why animation is outsourced to India.
Many of the top-notch animation studios in the country are now creating skilled manpower for the industry through various kinds of training programs.
India has the second largest film and entertainment industry in the world today. And, many of the animation studios supply overseas companies with a large number of high quality, low cost software engineers.
Most of the Indian animation studios come replete with hi-tech setups, which are fully equipped with state-of-the-art software and hardware to execute overseas projects.
The main reason why many of the overseas entertainment companies have started outsourcing animation to India is due to the cost advantage offered by this country. For example, in the United States, animators charge about $125 per hour, while in India they charge a mere $25 per hour.
The estimated net cost for making a full-length animated movie is somewhere around $100 million to about $200 million in the US. But, in India, a movie can be made for anywhere between $15 million to $ 25 million.

Walt Disney has outsourced many of its major projects to various studios within India. Cartoon Network is in the process of buying films that are made in India. MTV has also added India to its list of hot animation outsourcing hubs, along with South Korea and the Philippines.

Cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Trivandrum have fast emerged as India’s major animation spots. A number of companies across the country have been wholly and completely involved in the outsourced world of special effects and animation. Some of these companies include, Crest Communications, Toonz Animation, UTV Toons, Maya Entertainment, and Zee Institute of Creative Animation, to name a few. All of these animation firms have large studios that are fully equipped with state-of-the-art technologies and software’s like 3D Max, SFX, SGI, and Softimage and motion capture facilities.

Slick special effects, skilled 3D modeling, cute cartoon characters and classic 2D animation services are the results of outsourcing to India. Like call centers and software firms, Indian animation studios are popping up all over the country and that are specialized in working for overseas projects. Yes, when it comes to television shows, films and even gaming, India (although she is a latecomer) has strated to gain remarkable recognition over some of her more established competitors like Taiwan, Korea, Philippines and Singapore.

After all, multimedia outsourcing and animation outsourcing is what we call the media equivalent of perhaps business process outsourcing. The dynamics are more or less the same – it is too expensive to animate in the West. So bring it on to India. Share/Save/Bookmark