Career options

There is a wide variety of jobs available in the animation industry, some of which are
as follows:

Designer

Audio & video specialist

Visualiser

Graphic designer
A graphic designer is responsible for the layout and presentation of different types of media (such as a poster, a package or a website)

Multimedia author

Web designer
A web designer creates webpages. Web designers use graphic design skills as also tools like Flash, HTML, CSS, etc.

Content developer

Modeler
Modelers facilitate the filming of puppets or any form of 3D models. The puppets are positioned and filmed before being moved slightly and filmed again. This gives the impression that the models are moving. A modeler should have a solid understanding of anatomy, form and volume.


Texture artist
A texture artist applies a surface to the 3D modeled character, object or environment. Coordinates are laid out to give the model an applicable surface for colour and texture.

Rigging artist
A rigging artist takes the modeled, textured 3D character or object and sets it up with a skeletal system or joints (if required). Without this step, the 3D model would not be able to animate, talk or move fluidly and correctly.

2D animator
2D animation involves the creation of a high volume of separate drawings that define a sequence. This technique is widely used in creating characters for animations and cartoon programmes

3D animator
The 3D animator takes the sculpted (or modeled), textured and rigged 3D model and breathes life into it. This is done by putting in order the key frames such that they appear to be in motion.

Compositing artist
compositing consists of layering individual frames of animation on top of one another to create final images. These images are then strung together to create complete shots or mini animated movies.

Editor
An editor assembles various visual and audio components of the film into a coherent and effective whole

Storyboard artist
A storyboard artist creates a series of panels that contains a visual interpretation of the screenplay - much like a comic book

Character animator
A character animator brings characters to life and generally has knowledge of traditional animation, stop-motion animation as well as claymation

Effects artist
Effects artists create a believable world for the action to take place in.

In-between artist
Tweening (short for in-betweening) consists of drawings that are inserted between the 'key' or important drawings to make the first image flow smoothly into the next one.

Image editor

Multimedia developer

Digital post-production artist


Special effects artist
Special effects artists integrate live-action footage with Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) or other elements (such as model work)

Programmer

Animation careers
Animation is a booming industry with a wide variety of jobs available.

Industry overview
Animators can work on full-length animation movies, create television commercials, make DVDs, make games for Internet, mobile, PC or consoles (like PlayStation or XBox), work in the advertising industry or as web designers. The e-learning industry also uses animators and so do fields like medicine, engineering and architecture.
The entertainment industry including movies, TV programmes and Special Effects (VFX) for movies or TV is a major employer.
A typical animated film requires 700 to 800 animators. Of the 30,000 animation studios around the world, 70 percent have a turnover of US $1 million.
India, South Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Japan and China are seeing a deluge of outsourced animation work from across the globe. Indian companies are creating a number of animated films and cartoons for US and European studios.
The latest NASSCOM statistics predict the size of the Indian animation industry to be US $1.5 billion by 2009. Currently, it is at US $550 million. India has over 300 animation studios employing over 12,000 animation professionals. In addition to outsourcing, content is being made for the Indian market as well. Films like Hanuman, Krishna, My Friend Ganesha, etc. have proved that animation can make huge profits at the box office.
Animation is a global industry with a large turnover (estimated at $59 billion in 2006) and a growing demand; this is causing a shortage of skilled people....

What does it take to be a complete animator?

A good animator should have knowledge of:
~ Drawing techniques
~ Animation techniques
~ Different styles of animation such as 2D and 3D animation
~ Design and layout
~ How people move and express their feelings
~ How animals move
~ How to create different moods and feelings in characters
~ Computers and animation software applications
~ The history of art and design
~ Film and television production


Besides, he or she also needs to:


~ Be artistic, creative and innovative

~ Be a good communicator

~ Have inclination for good music

~ Be able to ideate and conceptualise

~ Be focused, self-disciplined and self-motivated

~ Be able to use knowledge of the human body and how animals move to create animations

~ Be versatile and adaptable and able to accept criticism

~ Be able to work to a deadline

~ Be observant, with an eye for detail

~ Be able to work well in a team

~ Be able to understand the comic nature of cartoons

How does animation work?

A simple theory known as persistence of vision offers an explanation. The Greek astronomer Ptolemy discovered this principle back in 130 AD. If images are flashed before the eye at a speed of at least ten frames per second, the brain thinks it is seeing a single moving image. The number of Frames Per Second (or FPS) directly correlates to how smooth the movement appears. If the frame rate is too slow, the motion will look awkward and jerky. If the frame rate is too high, the motion will blur.

Animation techniques

2D cel animation

Also known as traditional animation, 2D animation involves the creation of a high volume of separate drawings that define a sequence. These drawings are then traced with ink onto transparent celluloid sheets called cel, which are scanned and painted using a special application software. These cels are layered on each other to create a sequence. The sequence is later edited to synchronise the audio and video content. This technique is widely used in creating characters for animations and cartoon programmes.
Did you know that a full-length feature film produced using cel animation often requires a million or more drawings to complete?


3D CGI animation

This technique makes extensive use of animation software programmes. 3D objects are constructed using curves or 2D geometric figures. Software programmes are used to modify the texture, light and colour of the object surface. Virtual cameras are used to zoom, focus, illuminate and resize the 3D objects. Important frames are developed to regulate the flow of intermediate frames. This technique is commonly used to create animation for television programmes, movies and online and console games.


3D motion capture animation

This process of creating 3D characters is similar to the 3D CGI animation technique; however, the techniques differ with respect to the time when the animation effects are introduced. To produce animation effects, sensors from a computer are attached physically to a human being. These sensors help coordinate the real-time movements of the human actor with the movements of a computerised 3D character. This technique is widely used for low-resolution games, Internet characters, live TV performances and special effects for animated movies.

What is multimedia ??????

Multimedia is a combination of all the interfaces like pics, images, vedios, sounds and touch sensors, this can be broadly divided into 4 clusters namely
Graphic Designing,
Web Designing,
Visual Effects and
3D Animation.
All the designs, color combinations, which includes from 50 paise shampoo packets to crores of Rs. business logo designs etc, are a part of Graphic Designing
Web Designing is a merger of web site creation, editing, modification updating the present websites, this requires creativity and patience, Learning DHTML, Java Scripting, PHP etc would add glamour to your career.
Visual Effects deals with Sound editing & creating, vedio editing and modification etc, the entire entertainment industry depends upon the Visual Effects
3D Animation completely deals with creation of new characters, what ever u dream u can make it through the 3D Animation in terms of general sense...............

A multimedia project may involve a team of experts such as a Web Designer/Programmer, Video Producer, Audio Engineer, Graphic Artist, and Interactive Designer. CE Multimedia can supply the skillset, project manage the team, and provide tutoring in the content management of multimedia assets.

However, small projects are also catered for; e.g. the production of GIF/Flash animations or banners, podcasting news stories, highlighting product features, audio streaming music, video streaming 'vox pox', or implementing 360° photo shots.....

Multimedia Picture Gallery

Planning and Managing for a Better Product:

Planning. A multimedia product, such as Power Point, can really get the students going in a computer lab. Presentations can become extremely complex and help is needed often when students are in the middle of creating special effects. There really is not much to be accomplished if there has been no planning between teacher and computer tech. Students have to have research geared towards this product; it will not work if they bring in a typed report intending to produce a multimedia product. Use of graphic organizers are key to the success of a multimedia project, because students must become aware that they are NOT writing a series of paragraphs. They will be presenting a series of main ideas, facts, or short descriptions. The presentation will be a series of charts, and student must have a good idea of how their topic is to be broken up. Bibliographies should also be complete before beginning the project. Students should have all research and graphic organizers complete before beginning Power Point, or any other multimedia software, because they will not have a good plan for the total presentation. Teachers can review the drafts of the text in hand written form or typed, printed format. Power Point allows the easy printing of text only for teacher review.

Types of multimedia projects:

* Self Playing presentations. With this type, slides advance automatically and all special effects play automatically. There is no manual intervention at all, and the presentation becomes a "show."

* Manually advanced presentations with linear progression. This type of presentation will advance slides and text only on the click of the mouse. Special effects can be set to go off automatically or by a mouse click. Students required to give an oral presentation accompanying their multimedia presentation should use this type. Example of topics with linear progression are biographies or History.

* Manually advanced presentation without linear progression, or "interactive." This type of presentation is most difficult for students to plan in advance if they haven't seen it done already. The front slide will have hyper links which can be clicked in any order by the presenter. When clicked, another slide will appear which has specific information, special effects, and a place to click which takes the presentation back to the front slide or on to another. Students should be required to make a "map" in advance, with lines connecting all slides (boxes) which are to be connected by action buttons. Otherwise it becomes difficult to visualize. This type of presentation are for topics where there is no particular order that information should be presented. Examples are parts of a plant, math projects, etc. This type of presentation can be created with an accompanying oral talk in mind, or it can be created as a presentation which students will take turns sitting down and studying it interactively. This is a particularly good format for students [or teachers] who want to create interactive quizzes. Power Point has a feature for action buttons which when clicked, will take the viewer back to whatever slide brought the viewer to that point. This means that a generic "wrong answer" slide can be prepared which will work again and again to return the viewer to whichever slide they came from. Buttons can also activate sound effects, or other actions. save the image and insert it into their documents.

Pulling Multimedia In:

A multimedia presentation has a number of ways that the media can be manipulated to support or enhance the topic. Students should be taught the various ways and encouraged to create presentations which are a "total experience." The available facets of multimedia are discussed below:

* Graphical design and the use of color has a powerful effect in a multimedia presentation. Students should be taught (if time allows) how colors are associated with moods. Teachers should decide in advance how much time to allocate to this topic. Areas of the art curriculum can be emphasized here which deal with use of imagery, lines and color.

* Background music also has a powerful effect to enhance and support a topic. Teachers should think about and establish rules for use of music and how much freedom student preference should be given. Many music files are available on the internet which allows students to conform to the period/ethnic theme of the presentation. If time allows, students should be taught how to coordinate music patterns to animation patterns.

* Sound effects are available on the Internet and some in Power Point. Used sparingly and with careful selection of quality, they add a tremendous depth of feeling to a presentation. Due to the inclusion of inappropriate sounds in all sound web sites I've seen, I do not have a link of sound effects for students to browse through as I do for music. However, teachers can search on "sound effects" and come up with a number of sites having a rich variety of sound effects most of which are designated as open domain files.

* Students can also use a microphone to create their own sound effects. Unexpectedly hearing student voices during a presentation jars the "viewer" into attention with stunning exactness. Again, teachers should decide in advance how much time to allocate to this activity. Due to the need for complete silence, the recording session usually has to be the same period for everybody in the class. The students take turns using the microphones. I have also had a "free period" designated for sound recording when a whole class needed to do this.

* Video also adds fascination to a presentation. Video clips can be downloaded or student created video can be added. If students create their own clips, they must be encouraged to keep the time to 5 seconds or below as the file sizes can become enormous.

* Buttons add a fascination for the viewer. If free access to the total presentation is granted by generous application of buttons, the viewer becomes engaged in a learning experience. Students should be encouraged to explore interactive presentations.

* Animation and timing. It is critical that students be taught how important it is that the motion and progression of the multimedia be controled in a manner that allows the viewer to digest the content. This means readable text, supporting graphics, animation that directs, not distracts.

Technology Skills:

Many technology skills can be chosen selectively for introduction during a multimedia project. These include:

* Text manipulation (font, size, bold, italic, underline, justification, color, text art, text boxes, spell checking, grammar checking, copying, cutting, pasting, deleting). Text needs to be readable, inviting (ie, NOT long paragraphs) and attractive in multimedia.

* Methods to save and retrieve files (the correct server, path, file name, file extension, folder, drive)

* Object formatting (text boxes, sound, video, and graphics boxes, formatted for animation, autoplay, manual advance, autostart, loop, timing, dim/flash)

* Graphics manipulation (inserting, resizing, cropping, framing, copying, cutting, pasting, deleting, moving, grouping)

* Use of peripherals (microphone, CD ROM, scanner, digital camera, and printer)

* Other Technology Skills: tool bars, short cut icons, menu system, help system, short cut keys, task switching, and other features which can be utilized during word processing. Certainly if there is much searching the Internet for graphics, video or music, task switching can become second nature to the students.

Types of Multimedia Data:

There are number of data types that can be characterized as multimedia data types. These are typically the elements or the building blocks of ore generalized multimedia environments, platforms, or integrating tools. The basic types can be described as follows :

1. Text : The form in which the text can be stored can vary greatly. In addition to ASCII based files, text is typically stored in processor files, spreadsheets, databases and annotations on more general multimedia objects. With availability and proliferation of GUIs, text fonts the job of storing text is becoming complex allowing special effects(color, shades..).
2. Images : There is great variance in the quality and size of storage for still images. Digitalized images are sequence of pixels that represents a region in the user's graphical display. The space overhead for still images varies on the basis of resolution, size, complexity, and compression scheme used to store image. The popular image formats are jpg, png, bmp, tiff.
3. Audio : An increasingly popular datatype being integrated in most of applications is Audio. Its quite space intensive. One minute of sound can take up to 2-3 Mbs of space. Several techniques are used to compress it in suitable format.
4. Video : One on the most space consuming multimedia data type is digitalized video. The digitalized videos are stored as sequence of frames. Depending upon its resolution and size a single frame can consume upto 1 MB. Also to have realistic video playback, the transmission, compression, and decompression of digitalized require continuous transfer rate.
5. Graphic Objects: These consists of special data structures used to define 2D & 3D shapes through which we can define multimedia objects. These includes various formats used by image, video editing applications.