sip @ big animation (i) pvt ltd

8/14/2019 SIP @ BIG Animation (I) Pvt Ltd

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SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT

On

Animation Pipeline Planning & Maintenance

Study conducted from May 5, 08 to July 4, 08

At

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of

Post Graduate Diploma in Management

Company Guide: - Faculty Guide:-

Mr. Vikas Verma Mr. R.K. Singh

Line Producer GHS IMR

BIG Animation (I) Pvt. Ltd. KanpurPune

By

SHUBHANK GUPTA

Roll No. 0920

Batch XIII

PGDM 2007-2009

Dr. Gaur Hari Singhania Institute of Management & Research

Jaykaylon Colony, Kamla Nagar,

Submitted By: Shubhank Gupta; Batch 2007-2009; GHS IMR, KANPUR


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Kanpur-208005

DEED OF DECLARATION

I, Shubhank Gupta, hereby submit my summer internship report, entitled

Animation Pipeline Planning & Maintenance and truthfully declare that the above-titled report is a product of my sincere efforts & study.

I further declare that a substantial portion of my report is lifted, from original sources, usingthe words of the author and other statistical & graphical datas from Survey Reports.

This Summer Internship Report is being prepared & submitted by me, in two copies, one atBIG Animation (I) Pvt. Ltd, Pune & the other at Dr. Gaur Hari Singhania Institute ofManagement & Research (GHS IMR), Kanpur, for the partial fulfillment of therequirements ofPost Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM).

However I take the responsibility of all my shortcomings.

DATE: July, 10th,08 Shubhank Gupta



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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is a great pleasure to record my thanks and gratitude to persons and organizations whosegenerous help and support enabled me to complete this project within the stipulated time

period. To complete a project of this magnitude requires a network of support, and I amindebted to many people.

I take this opportunity to thank Mr. Vikas Verma; Line Producer, Mr. Shambhoo Phalke,VP; Flash-2D Production at BIG Animation (I) Pvt. Ltd, Pune and other studio membersfor making this endeavor possible and sharing the long-term vision for the production studio.

I would like to thankProf. Prithvi Yadav, Director, Dr. Gaur Hari Singhania Institute ofManagement & Research (GHS IMR), Kanpur for granting me an opportunity to do mySummer Internship Project at BIG Animation (I) Pvt. Ltd, Pune and concomitantly gain a liveindustrial experience. It was indeed a matter of pride & privilege to work as trainee with oneof the Indias leading groups.

I am equally grateful to my Faculty Guide, Mr. R.K. Singh, GHS-IMRand also all other

faculty members for guiding me throughout my summer internship project.

And lastly I give my heartiest thanks to my batch mates & colleague trainees for supportingme.

Shubhank Gupta



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CONTENTS

1. Deed of Declaration

2. Training Certificate

3. Acknowledgement

4. Executive Summary

5. Introduction

6. Roots Of Animation

7. Past, Present & Future Of Animation

8. Animation Movie Timeline

9. 12 Principles Of Animation

10. Report On The Indian Animation Market

11. Animation Studios In India

12. Animation Feature Films In India

13. Company Profile

14. Organization Structure

15. Company Structure

16. List Of Persons Interviewed During Internship

17. Introduction- Flash Animation

18. Production Pipeline

19. Flash-2d Feature Film Pipe Line

a. Pre-Production

b. Production



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c. Post-Production

20. Crux Of Animation Pipeline

21. HRM @ BIG Animation

22. MIS @ BIG Animation

23. Commonly Used Technology In Producing Animation Movie

24. Animation Pipeline - Planning And Maintenance

25. Stage Wise Planning Process

26. Levels Of Productivity Management

27. Process & System Criteria

28. Animation Is All About Skills

29. Seventeen Key Issues That Demand Urgent Steps

30. Aladin-An Example Of 2d Animation Film

31. Conclusion

a. Setting An Industry Agenda For Accelerated Growth

32. Referencesa. Books

b. Films

c. Internet

33. Appendix

1. Appendix 1 - General queries regarding animation industry.

2. Appendix 2 - List of organizations working for upliftment of animation industry



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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

India ranks among the top five economies of the world in terms of purchasing power parity,while its GDP ranks eleventh in absolute terms. Combined with the fact that India has thesecond largest population in the world with over a billion people, this makes India one of themost exciting marketplaces for any consumer products or services industry.

The Indian entertainment industry is on the threshold of emerging as a large market globally.Future growth of the industry is expected to be led by rising spends on entertainment by agrowing Indian middle class, regulatory initiatives, increased corporate investments and theindustry's dynamic initiatives to make strategic structural corrections to grow. In addition tothe Indian middle class enhanced spends projected towards entertainment, the rising globalinterest in Indian content is expected to fuel growth in this industry.

The project report on ANIMATION PIPELINE PLANNING & MAINTENANCE isan effort to present a critical view of the constraints faced by the industry that areimpediments to its growth, the need for concerted action and hence achieve itstrue potential.One of the key imperatives that can realize this potential, as pointed out in this report, is theneed for retaining talent pool and better management of the production system.

The summer internship at BIG Animation (I) Pvt.Ltd. gave me a good idea on how ananimation studio functions and how the 2D Feature Film Pipeline is managed.

I also got to spend time in various departments like Animation, SFX, Lip sync, Light &

Shadow, Compositing and Editing, where I developed bit technical knowledge of film andanimation production equipments and procedures, as well as instructional and organizationalskills, while providing managerial support, maintenance and planning aspects in the film andanimation facilities.

There were various assignments that I was made to do, that also helped me in building myskill sets and exposed me to working in a studio environment.

The analyses presented in the report have been arrived at through a combination of in-houseknowledge base of the Indian Entertainment Industry and extensive discussions with keymembers and other experts of the BIG Animation (I) Pvt. Ltd.



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The recommendations if implemented will be fruitful for the studio & it will also provide

value addition to the production process.

INTRODUCTION

Let the fun begin

Over the last few years, there have been discussions on the Indian entertainment industry being on the verge of take-off, powered by new delivery platforms and technological breakthroughs, increasing content variety and favorable regulatory initiatives. This isexpected to transform the entertainment landscape, with more players entering and traditional

players being forced to adapt or perish. One can already witness changes that have the potential to alter the industry structure and the planning procedures for managing the

industry.

Increasing content variety

New forms of content are emerging to cater select viewers, as the industry evolves.Content innovation is necessary to sustain the interest of the urban population.

A few instances of rising content diversity are: Newer programming categories like reality television, Crossover content in music and films, Niche programming on radio like sports and comedy, Film productions moving towards Animations, Visual Effects,

Newer genres like lifestyle television, religion channels, etc.

Regulatory initiatives

The regulatory framework for media is still evolving. Looking at the policies announced byTRAI, it seems that a liberal framework is likely to be developed in order to allow theindustry to flourish.Alongside regulating broadcasting and distribution, it will be important to create stronger

protection mechanisms for copyrights and royalties. Ifintellectual property is protected



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to a fair extent, the industry could capture far greater value, giving its growth rate asignificant boost.

The past and the future

The entertainment industry is thriving on the current economic upswing and is currentlyestimated at INR 432 billion. Due to its sheer size, television has been the main driver for theindustry's growth, contributing 62 percent of the overall industry's growth. Films contributedanother 27 percent, while other segments like music, radio, live entertainment and interactivegaming constitute the balance 11 percent.

The macro-economic environment

While India's GDP ranks eleventh in the world in absolute terms, it ranks among the top fiveeconomies of the world when assessed in terms of purchasing power parity.It is the growing consuming class with the ability to spend that will drive the growth of theIndian entertainment industry.Adding to this positive outlook is the fact that the average Indian is getting younger and isshowing a greater propensity to indulge and entertain him.



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India is the world's largest producer of films by volume - producing almost a thousand filmsannually. However, revenue-wise, it accounts for only 1 percent of global film industryrevenues. Film and film-based entertainment together occupy a considerable part of theIndian consumer's mindshare. In terms of its sheer impact and visibility, film and film-basedentertainment transcend well beyond what their 27 percent direct share of the Indianentertainment industry's revenues would indicate.



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The four traditional sectors television, film, music and radio, together account for 96

percent of the entertainment industry revenues.



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The balance 4 percent is made up of revenues from live entertainment (currently a

fragmented segment with few small players) and IT-enabled businesses like interactive

game development and visual effects (engaged in outsourcing work primarily in areas of

2D animation, 3D graphics, post-production, etc.).

These sectors are now taking off and could become significant drivers of growth in the

future years.

LIGHTS ! CAMERA !! ANIMATION !!!

Animation is a complex and immersive art, with science as its backbone. It takes a great dealof practice and dedication for an artist to master it.Animation is a type of optical illusion; it is the process by which we see still pictures move. Itinvolves the appearance of motion caused by displaying still images one after another at therate of 24 frames per second.The most common method of presenting animation is as a motion picture or video program,although several other forms of presenting animation also exist. Often, animation is used forentertainment purposes. In addition to its use for entertainment, animation is considered aform of art. It is often displayed and celebrated in film festivals throughout the world.Also used for educational purposes, animation has a place in learning and instructional

applications as well.

Frames per second: the rate at which sequential frames are displayed under a given displaysystem

Feature films are projected at 24 fps.

NTSC video is displayed at 30 fps (actually 60 interlaced fields per second).

PAL video is displayed at 25 fps (actually 50 interlaced fields per second).



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Computer ``multimedia'' animation are displayed at various frame rates, with10 fps being the minimum tolerable rate for viewing of motion images.

So, a 90 minute feature film requires 90 min. x 60 sec. x 24 fps = 129600 frames, many ofwhich may require some routine, iterative procedures to produce.

There are two major forms of animation: 2D (hand-drawn) and 3D (CGI).

ROOTS OF ANIMATION

SLUMBER

In 1935, when Disney had released its first feature film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs",Indian animation was still at its infancy stage. Late Dadasaheb Phalke - the founder of Indianfilm Industry was attempting to make the first animation short film with matchsticks. Thefilm was never screened.

CLAIR WEEKS

In the late 50s Clair Weeks, an animator at Disney Studios, came to Bombay and trained acore group of animators, the principles of classical animation at Films Division, agovernmental organization, under the ministry of Information and Broadcasting. This was thetime that Indian short animation films actually got started and was exposed in the theaters.

THE 60s

The late 50s and early sixties saw the production of some good animation shorts. Some ofthe films won International awards. All these films were essentially produced by thegovernment organization - Films Division, which had Indian stalwart animation film-makers



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like Pramod Pati, Ram Mohan, Bhimsain, Gokhale, Satam and others. There was a virtualnon-existence of private animation studios (which were not to come into existence till theearly seventies). It looked as if Indian animation was poised for a leap. However, despite the

promise, the quantity rarely exceeded more than 4-5 shorts or more than 30 minutes ofanimation each year.

And this output too started declining towards the end of the decade due to bureaucratic delaysand lack of governmental funds. Promotional films on governmental policies, familyplanning, birth control, hygiene etc. started constituting a major bulk of these films. Indiananimation really started struggling to gasp for breath once again.

THE INDEPENDENT STUDIOS

Came the 70's and a whole group of people trained under Clair Weeks deserted the ailingFilms Division and started Independent Animation Studios of their own. Among them werethe two pioneers of Indian animation Bhimsain - who headed Climb Films and Ram Mohan,started Ram Mohan Biographic. Some really good films were made during this time andsome International recognition came in. Again this was merely compensating for the declinein production of films at Films Division and in no manner represented a boom.

By 1976, the independent studios were doing commercial work with little or no funds foranimation shorts. Bhimsain diversified into Feature films production and Ram Mohanimmersed himself almost totally in ad films.

THE DEPRESSION

The 80s saw a virtual cessation of animation films. There were no new entrants in thisunviable field. A few ad films were the only productions to show in the name of animationand that couldn't have sustained more studios or harnessed new talent. However, with T.V.growing at a tremendous rate, the possibilities of producing animation films could be seen inthe horizon once again. Bhimsain submitted a proposal and got approval for a 26 episodeanimated series in 1989. Animation of this vast quantity was unheard of being attempted inIndia.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES OF THE 90S

The 90s has seen a relatively unprecedented boom for the Indian animation Industry.

Ram Mohan ventured into a Indo-Japanese collaboration animated feature based on Indianepic Ramayana. After about 10 years of labour, the film was finally released in 1997 amidst

bad publicity and virtual non-awareness among the general media and people and didn't dowell commercially in India.



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Past, Present & Future of Animation

Past

Cave paintings

Early examples of attempts to capture the phenomenon ofmotion into a still drawing can befound in palaeolithic cave paintings, where animals are depicted with multiple legs insuperimposed positions, clearly attempting to convey the perception of motion.

Spinning pottery

A 5,200-year old earthen bowl found in Iran has five images painted along the sides. Whenthe bowl is spun, it shows a goat leaping up to a tree to take a pear.

Frieze reliefs

One of the earliest successful depictions of an image in motion is evident in the Greekera.Ex. A Parthenon frieze relief which depicts a series of horses that appear to gallop atincreasing speeds as they progress.

Leonardo shoulder study (ca. 1510)

Seven drawings extending over two folios in the Windsor Collection, Anatomical Studies ofthe Muscles of the Neck, Shoulder, Chest, and Arm, show detailed drawings of the upper

body (with a less-detailed facial image), illustrating the changes as the torso turns fromprofile to frontal position and the forearm extends.

The magic lantern (1671)

The magic lantern was classed as the inventor of the modern day projector. It consisted of atranslucent oil painting and a simple lamp. When put together in a darkened room, the imagewould appear larger on a flat surface.

Thaumatrope (1824)

A thaumatrope was a toy used in the Victorian era. It was a disk or card with two differentpictures on each side that was attached to two pieces of string. When the strings were twirledquickly between the fingers the two pictures appear to combine into a single image. Thecreator of this invention may have been eitherJohn Ayrton Paris orCharles Babbage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_(physics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_paintingshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greecehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon_Friezehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_lanternhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ayrton_Parishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Babbagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_(physics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_paintingshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greecehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon_Friezehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_lanternhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ayrton_Parishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Babbage


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Zoetrope (1832)

A zoetrope is a device which creates the image of a moving picture. This contraption wasproduced in 1834 by William George Horner. The device is basically a cylinder with verticalslits around the sides. Around the inside edge of the cylinder there are a series of pictures on

the opposite side to the slits. As the cylinder is spun, the user then looks through the slitsproducing the illusion of motion. No one thought this small device would be the initialbeginnings for the animation world to come. As a matter a fact in present day beginninganimation classes the Zoetrope is still being used to illustrate early concepts of animation.

Praxinoscope (1877)

The praxinoscope, invented by French scientist Charles-mile Reynaud, was a moresophisticated version of the zoetrope. It used the same basic mechanism of a strip of images

placed on the inside of a spinning cylinder, but instead of viewing it through slits, it wasviewed in a series of stationary mirrors around the inside of the cylinder, so that the

animation would stay in place, and also provided a clearer image. Reynaud also developed alarger version of the praxinoscope that could be projected onto a screen, called the ThtreOptique.

Flip book (1868)

The first flip bookwas patented in 1868 by a John Barns Linnet. This was another step closerto the development of animation. Like the Zoetrope, the Flip Book creates the illusion ofmotion. A set of sequential pictures seen at a high speed creates this effect. The Mutoscope(1894) is essentially a flip book in a box with a crank handle to flip the pages.

Present

Stop motion

Stop motion is used for many animation productions using physical objects rather thanimages of people, as with traditional animation. An object will be photographed, movedslightly, and then photographed again. When the pictures are played back in normal speed theobject will appear to move by itself. This process is used for many productions, for example,

clay animations such as Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit, as well as animated movieswhich use poseable figures, such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and theGiant Peach. Sometimes even objects are used, such as with the films of

Stop motion animation was also commonly used for special effects work in many live-actionfilms, such as the 1933 version of King Kong and the 7th Voyage of Sinbad.

CGI animation

Computer-generated imagery (CGI) changed animated films forever. The first fullycomputer generated feature film created was Toy Story, produced by Pixar Animation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoetropehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praxinoscopehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-?mile_Reynaudhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th??tre_Optiquehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th??tre_Optiquehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_bookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutoscopehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_motionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Runhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_and_Gromithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nightmare_Before_Christmashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_and_the_Giant_Peachhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_and_the_Giant_Peachhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_(1933_film)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7th_Voyage_of_Sinbadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-generated_imageryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_Storyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoetropehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praxinoscopehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-?mile_Reynaudhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th??tre_Optiquehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th??tre_Optiquehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_bookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutoscopehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_motionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Runhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_and_Gromithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nightmare_Before_Christmashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_and_the_Giant_Peachhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_and_the_Giant_Peachhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_(1933_film)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7th_Voyage_of_Sinbadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-generated_imageryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_Storyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixar


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Studios in 1995. Toy Story proved that companies were slowly making the transition fromtraditional animation to CGI animation. The process of CGI animation is still very tediousand similar in that sense to traditional animation, and it still adheres to many of the same

principles.

A principal difference of CGI Animation compared to traditional animation is that drawing isreplaced by 3D modeling, almost like virtual version of stop-motion, though a form ofanimation that combines the two worlds can be considered to be computer aided animation

but on 2D computer drawing

Future

Animated humans

Most CGI created films are based on animal characters, monsters, machines orcartoon-likehumans. Animation studios are now trying to develop ways of creating realistic-lookinghumans. A couple films that attempted this were Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within in 2001,and Beowulf in 2007. However, due to the complexity of the human body functions,emotions and interactions, this method of animation is rarely used. Of principal complexity isthe creation of a convincing human face model. Of secondary complexity but still a modernapproach are techniques for the production of convincing hair or cloth movement. Later thisform was tried again by scanning humans into computers such as the movie Beowulfin 2007.

Animation Movie Timeline

1906 -J. Stuart Blackton made the first animated film which he called "Humorous phases offunny faces." His method was to draw comical faces on a blackboard and film them.

1908-In France Emile Cohl produced a film, Phantasmagorie which was the first depictingwhite figures on a black background.

1910-Emile Cohl makes En Route the first paper cutout animation. This technique saves timeby not having to redraw each new cell, only reposition the paper

1911-Winsor McCay produced an animation sequence using his comic strip character "LittleNemo."

1913-Pat Sullivan created an American cartoon series called "Felix the Cat." J.R. Braydevised "Colonel Heeza Liar," and Sidney Smith created "Old Doc Yak."

1914-John R Bray applies for a patent on numerous techniques for animation. One of themost revolutionary being the process of printing the backgrounds of the animation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Feethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsters_Inc.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cars_(film)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredibleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredibleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy:_The_Spirits_Withinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf_(2007_film)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Feethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsters_Inc.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cars_(film)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredibleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredibleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy:_The_Spirits_Withinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf_(2007_film)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf


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1914-Earl Hurd applies for a patent for the technique of drawing the animated portion of ananimation on a clear celluloid sheet and later photographing it with its matching background.(Cel animation)

1914-Winsor McCay produced a cartoon called "Gertie, The Trained Dinosaur" which

amazingly consisted of 10,000 drawings

1917-The International Feature Syndicate released many titles including "Silk HatHarry"Bringing Up Father", and "Krazy Kat".

1923-Walt Disney extended Max Fleischer's technique of combining live action with cartooncharacters in the film "Alice's Wonderland".

1926-The first feature-length animated film called "El Apostol" is created in Argentina.

1927-Warner Brothers released "The Jazz Singer" which introduced combined sound andimages

1928-Walt Disney created the first cartoon with synchronized sound called "Steam BoatWilly".

1930-The King of Jazz is produced by Universal. In it is a short animated sequence done byWalter Lantz. It is the first animation done with the two strip techni color process

1934-Urb Irwek creates a multi-plane camera. This camera is capable of filming severalseparate layers of cels giving the final frame a truly three dimensional look.

1943-John and James Whitney produced "Five Abstract Film Exercises."

1945-Harry Smith produced animation by drawing directly onto film.

1957-John Whitney used 17 Bodine motors, 8 Selsyns, 9 different gear units and 5 ballintegrators to create analog computer graphics

1961-John Whitney used differential gear mechanisms to create film and television titlesequences

1963-Ivan Sutherland and SKETCHPAD at MIT/Lincoln Labs

1964-Ken Knowlton, working at Bell Laboratories, started developing computer techniquesfor producing animated movies.

1972-University of Utah, Fred Parke creates first computer generated facial animation.

1974-National Research Council of Canada releases Hunger/La Faim directed by PeterFoldes and featuring Burtnyk and Wein interactive keyframing techniques.

1982-Tron, MAGI, movie with CG premise



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1983-Bill Reeves at Lucasfilm publishes techniques for modeling particle systems. "Demo" isStar Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn. The paper also promotes motion blur.

1984-The Last Starfighter, CG is used in place of models

1984-Porter and Duff at Lucusfilm publish paper on digital compositing using an alphachannel.

1985-Girard and Maciejewski at OSU publish a paper describing the use of inversekinematics and dynamics for animation.

1985-Ken Perlin at NYU publishes a paper on noise functions for textures. He later appliedthis technique to add realism to character animations.

1987-John Lasseter at Pixar publishes a paper describing traditional animation principles."Demos" are Andre and Wally B and Luxo Jr.

1987-Craig Reynolds then at Symbolics (now at Dreamworks SKG) publishes a paper onself-organizing behavior for groups.

1988-Willow uses morphing in live action film

1992-Beier and Neely, at SGI and PDI respectively publish an algorithm where linecorrespondences guide morphing between 2D images

1993-Chen and Williams at Apple publish a paper on view interpolation for 3D walkthroughs.

1993-Jurassic Park use of CG for realistic living creatures

1995-Toy Story first full-length 3D CG feature film

12 Principles of Animation

From the "Illusion of Life" by Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston-(pp.47-69)

1. SQUASH AND STRETCH

This action gives the illusion of weight and volume to a character as it moves. Also squashand stretch is useful in animating dialogue and doing facial expressions. How extreme the useof squash and stretch is, depends on what is required in animating the scene. Usually it's

broader in a short style of picture and subtler in a feature. It is used in all forms of characteranimation from a bouncing ball to the body weight of a person walking.

2. ANTICIPATION



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This movement prepares the audience for a major action the character is about to perform,such as, starting to run, jump or change expression. A backwards motion occurs before theforward action is executed. The backward motion is the anticipation. A comic effect can bedone by not using anticipation after a series of gags that used anticipation. Almost all realaction has major or minor anticipation such as a pitcher's wind-up or a golfers' back swing.

Feature animation is often less broad than short animation unless a scene requires it todevelop a characters personality.

3. STAGING

A pose or action should clearly communicate to the audience the attitude, mood, reaction oridea of the character as it relates to the story and continuity of the story line. The effective useof long, medium, or close up shots, as well as camera angles also helps in telling the story.There is a limited amount of time in a film, so each sequence, scene and frame of film mustrelate to the overall story. Staging directs the audience's attention to the story or idea beingtold. Care must be taken in background design so it isn't obscuring the animation or

competing with it due to excess detail behind the animation. Background and animationshould work together as a pictorial unit in a scene.

4. STRAIGHT AHEAD AND POSE TO POSE ANIMATION

Straight ahead animation starts at the first drawing and works drawing to drawing to the endof a scene. You can lose size, volume, and proportions with this method, but it does havespontaneity and freshness. Fast, wild action scenes are done this way. Pose to Pose is more

planned out and charted with key drawings done at intervals throughout the scene. Size,volumes, and proportions are controlled better this way, as is the action. Many scenes use a

bit of both methods of animation.

5. FOLLOW THROUGH AND OVERLAPPING ACTION

When the main body of the character stops all other parts continue to catch up to the mainmass of the character, such as arms, long hair, clothing, coat tails or a dress, floppy ears or along tail (these follow the path of action). Nothing stops all at once. This is follow through.Overlapping action is when the character changes direction while his clothes or haircontinues forward. The character is going in a new direction, to be followed, a number offrames later, by his clothes in the new direction.

6. SLOW-OUT AND SLOW-IN

As action starts, we have more drawings near the starting pose, one or two in the middle, andmore drawings near the next pose. Fewer drawings make the action faster and more drawingsmake the action slower. Slow-ins and slow-outs soften the action, making it more life-like.

7. ARCS

All actions, with few exceptions (such as the animation of a mechanical device), follow anarc or slightly circular path. This is especially true of the human figure and the action of



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animals. Arcs give animation a more natural action and better flow. All arm movement, headturns and even eye movements are executed on arcs.

8. SECONDARY ACTION

This action adds to and enriches the main action and adds more dimension to the characteranimation, supplementing and/or re-enforcing the main action.

9. TIMING

Expertise in timing comes best with experience and personal experimentation, using the trialand error method in refining technique. The basics are: more drawings between poses slowand smooth the action. Fewer drawings make the action faster and crisper. A variety of slowand fast timing within a scene adds texture and interest to the movement. Most animation isdone on twos (one drawing photographed on two frames of film) or on ones (one drawing

photographed on each frame of film). Twos are used most of the time, and ones are used

during camera moves such as trucks, pans and occasionally for subtle and quick dialogueanimation. Also, there is timing in the acting of a character to establish mood, emotion, andreaction to another character or to a situation.

10. EXAGGERATION

Exaggeration is not extreme distortion of a drawing or extremely broad, violent action all thetime. Its like a caricature of facial features, expressions, poses, attitudes and actions. Infeature animation, a character must move more broadly to look natural. Exaggeration in awalk or an eye movement or even a head turn gives more appeal.

11. SOLID DRAWING

The basic principles of drawing form, weight, volume solidity and the illusion of threedimensions apply to animation as it does to academic drawing. These are transformed intocolor and movement giving the characters the illusion of three-and four-dimensional life.Three dimensional is movement in space. The fourth dimension is movement in time.

12. APPEAL

An animated character has appeal. Appealing animation does not mean just being cute and

cuddly. All characters have to have appeal whether they are heroic, villainous, comic or cute.Appeal, as you will use it, includes an easy to read design, clear drawing, and personalitydevelopment that will capture and involve the audiences interest.

Challenges for Animation Industry:

1. Embraced new technology

2. Retain production



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3. Struggle with recruitment of key technical, creative and production personnel

worldwide shortage of talent with expertise in animation

Series production involving 2D digital techniques (like Cel Action and Flash) is currentlyflourishing.

Animation across the Globe

Every country has lent its own flavor to animation through the years. The style is unique toeach region, influenced mostly by the cultural and political atmosphere of each place. Belowis a look at the evolution of animation in each region:

North America-USA, Canada

Western Europe-Germany, France, Italy, UK

Eastern Europe-Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Estonia, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia

Asia -Japan, China, India, Korea, Philippines

Pacific-Australia, New Zealand

Report on the Indian Animation Market

By Indiapressagency.com on July 27, 2006



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According to NASSCOM estimates, the global animation industry is expected to touch

$80 billion by 2010 and the Indian digital animation industry will be close to $900

million by 2010, out of which exports account for over 70 per cent of revenues.

1. Animation is regarded as a part of the creative or content industry as artistic orcreative effort is essential to the process of developing animation.

2. The segment has the potential for job creation through the generation and exploitationofintellectual property.

3. According to NASSCOM study, the forces that are shaping the development of theanimation industry in India include technical manpower to meet the 2-D and 3-Danimation requirements, lower costs of animation production, the expecteddemand from domestic Indian television channels and the formation of domesticanimation studios and training centres.

4. Animation solutions are also finding a place in niches such as film titling, specialeffects, Web entertainment programs, TV broadcast graphics, 3D modeling and

background development. In each of these areas the extent or scopes of services foran animation production company include offering services in animation productionservices, Co-production and content creation.

5. India today has more than 200 animation, 40 VFX and 35 Game Developmentstudios.(Acc. To Industry Reports)

6. According to industry sources, the business volume of animation industry in India

would be making an annual turnover of US $ 950 million by the year 2009-10.

India: The Animation Hub

Although India is lagging behind the world in terms of productivity in the Animation and theGaming sector, India in recent years is slowly and gradually trying to positioning itself as asignificant provider of animation production services.

There are a number of factors which can act as India's strengths and help it get an edge in theinternational market:

1. A vast base of English speaking manpower

2. Excellent creative talent

3. Presence of animation studios

4. Low cost of animation services

5. Indias large entertainment sector

6. Heritage of traditional literature

7. Studios that are well equipped

ANIMATION STUDIOS IN INDIA



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The animation market in India today is characterized by the presence of multiple players including Crest Communications, Films Division Maya Entertainment,Silvertoon Studio, Zee Institute of Creative Arts (ZICA), Color Chips, HeartAnimation, Ocean Park, Padmalaya Telefilms, Toonz Animation, DQ & others like

Big Animation are newly added ones. These companies are spread across cities suchas Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

ANIMATION FEATURE FILMS IN INDIA

S.N. NAME LANGUAG

E

TYPE RELEASED ON.

1. RAMAYANA ENG./HINDI 2D 1992

2. SINDBAD ENG. 3D 20003. ALIBABA ENG. 3D 2002

4. SON OF ALIBABA ENG. 3D 2003

5. GULLIVERS TRAVEL ENG. 3D 2005

6. LEGEND OF BUDDHA ENG./HINDI 2D 2004

7. HANUMAN 1 HINDI 2D 2005

8. BAL GANESH HINDI 3D 2006

9. MY FRIEND GANESHA HINDI LIVE-3D 2007

10. KRISHNA HINDI 3D 2007

11. HANUMAN 2 HINDI 2D 2007

12. GHATOTKACH HINDI 2D 2008

13. DASHAVTAR HINDI 2D FLASH 2008



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COMPANY PROFILE

Type Private Conglomerate

Founded 1966 as Reliance Commercial Corporation

Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Key people Anil Ambani, Chairman

Industry Energy, Telecommunications, Finance, Media & Entertainment

Products Electricity, Wireless services, Bonds, Movies

Website http://www.relianceadagroup.com/

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group is a group of companies headed by Anil Ambani.The companies under the group are:

Reliance Capital Reliance Communications Reliance Energy Reliance Power Reliance Health Reliance Entertainment

o Big Animationo Adlabs Filmso BIG92.7FMo Reliance Big Entertainmento Zapako BigFlickso Bigaddao Big Motion Pictureso Jump Gameso Big Music & Home Entertainment

Tech Reliance DA-IICT

It has 8 million shareholders, making it one of the world's most widely held stock.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Relianceada.gif


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Think Big, Think Fast, Think Ahead.

Ideas Are No Ones Monopoly

Dhirubhai H. Ambani

Big Animation, a venture of Reliance ADA Group with Mr. Ashish S.Kulkarni as itsC.E.O, is a technologically superior digital animation content creation company. ItsState-of-art; high-end digital animation studio in Pune creates next-generation animationfor theatre, television, direct-to-home and other platforms. Companys core businesscommitment is to create feature films for international and domestic markets. Its team excels

in producing world-class, award-winning digital animation shows by blending technologyand creativity. Big Animation aims to create content for the entire audio-visual spectrum andkeep the global audience informed and entertained. The studio has been planned after careful

benchmarking and evolved CG production pipelines aimed at creating animatedentertainment products to be released nationally and internationally. Apart from latesttechnology, the company has approximately 600 human assets working for theorganization.

BIG Animation, short film The Bad Egg won the TBS Digicon 6+2 Awards (pan AsianCG competition) in Japan l July,06 and was also nominated at Ficci- BAF 2006, 24 FPS006 & Anifest 2006, further took a pride of place by winning the World Gold Medal at NewYork Festivals 2007 International Film & Video Competition.

Big Animation is also the winner of Golden Cursor Animation

Awards for Best Animation Sound Effects, Best Visual Effects in

Animation Films, Best 3D Animation Hey Krishna

Big Animation offers the entire range of services for animation production like layout,cleanup, animation, background, in-betweening, scanning, ink and paint, compositing, and

editing. It also provides pre-production services including key animation, key background,character design, color models, and key layouts.



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Persons Interviewed During Internship

1. Mr. Shambhoo S.Phalke V.P.- Feature Films

2. Mr. Vikas Verma Line Producer-Feature Films

3. Mr. Vikram Veturi &

Vincent Edwards Directors

4. Mr. Asit Das Storyboarding Lead

5. Mr. Phaneendra M Assistant Director

6. Mr. Vinayak Kurne Art Director

7. Mr. Prabuddha Perdeshi Art Director

8. Mr. Praveen Tegala Asst. Line Producer

9. Mr. Parmanandam T Sr. Production Manager

10.Mr. Satyanarayan V.V Line Testing lead

11.Mr. Vishwajit R. Chavan Sr. Manager H.R

12.Mrs. Priyanka Kulkarni Manager H.R

13.Mr. Nagesh D Lipsync Lead14.Mr. Neelkiran L Light & Shadow Lead

15.Mr. Suresh Kannan SFX Lead

16.Mr. Dipson Compositing Lead

17. Chandrababu &

Mohd.Sheikh Editors

18.Mr. Sandeep Waghle Production executive

19.Mr. Chandrakant Sagar Production executive

20.Mr. Kiran Reddy M Production executive



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Flash Animation

A Flash animation orFlash cartoon is an animated film which is created using Adobe Flashanimation software and often distributed in the .swf file format. It can be created in Flash orwith other programs capable of writing .swf files. The term Flash animation not only refers tothe file format but to a certain kind of movement and visual style which, in many circles, isseen as simplistic or unpolished. However, with dozens of Flash animated television series,countless more Flash animated television commercials, and award-winning online shorts incirculation, Flash animation is enjoying a renaissance. Flash animation production isenjoying considerable popularity in major animation studios around the world, as animatorstake advantage of the software's ability to organize a large number of assets (such as

characters, scenes, movements, and props) for later re-use.

Animating in Flash can be fun, and can be as easy as just a few clicks.

In Flash, animation can be done in four basic ways:

Motion Tween Shape Tween Frame-by-Frame Animation Guided Motion Tween



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Production Pipeline

A sequence of functional units ("stages") which performs a task in several steps, like anassembly line in a factory. Each functional unit takes inputs and produces outputs which arestored in its output buffer. One stage's output buffer is the next stage's input buffer. Thisarrangement allows all the stages to work in parallel thus giving greater throughput than ifeach input had to pass through the whole pipeline before the next input could enter.



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Flash 2D Feature Film Pipe Line

PRE-PRODUCTION



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PRODUCTION



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POST-PRODUCTION



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----Scripting

This stage is probably the most important stage of any film production. Without a good script,a project is destined to fall flat, no matter how flashy or clever it may be in other aspects.Animated films in particular rely more heavily on the visual scripting at this stage where as a

live action film would be more concerned with dialogue.

----Storyboard

At this stage, the actions dictated in the script are visualized graphically. A lot of changes takeplace during this early stage before getting too far into the production to correct anythingeasily.

----Designs

Every character, background and prop from the script must be assigned a visualinterpretation. At this stage they are by no means final however. A few preliminary charactersketches later turn into character model sheets portraying the character from every angle andin a number of different action poses, adding an element of life to the initial sketches. Thesemodel sheets make it easier for the team of animators to be consistent with regards to thecharacters appearance.

----Animatic

An animatic is basically a filmed version of the storyboard which has been edited to give animpression of the final cut film. It serves as an excellent test of not only the script, but also

the timing, action planning and soundtrack of the animation prior to starting the costlyprocess of final production. This is the stage where the director will make most changes.

----Animation Layout

This step is used in setting up extremes for character to be used by the key animator. Itconveys different information to the storyboard as it gives you an idea of the action requiredin the sequence of motion and shows the most extreme character poses in the sequence.

----Pencil Tests

After the animatic is approved and all animation layouts completed, work is passed on to theanimators to begin this two-stage process. The first stage involves a key animator who mustfirst decide which method of animation he or she will be using.



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There are 3 key methods,

1. STRAIGHT AHEAD

It is basically the idea that you just start drawing and see what happens. It is a naturalprogression from frame to frame without much forward planning.

Advantages:

- Produces a natural flow of spontaneous action

- Its very creative to go with the flow taking all the action as it comes along

Disadvantages:

- Time stretches and it is an expensive way to work

- Characters may unexpectedly grow and shrink

- The director cant see whats happening

- There is a lot of clean up afterwards and so the process is hard to assist

-



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2. POSE TO POSE

In this approach, one first decides the most important drawings, or the story telling drawings,then puts them in. Then one must put in the extremes or contact positions and any otherimportant poses. Then it is a case of working out the nicest transition between two poses,known as the breakdown or passing poses.

It is also advisable to make clear charts to ease in and out of positions and add any finishingtouches or indications for the assistant before any in-betweens are created.

Bad in-betweens will kill the finest animation.

Advantages:

- Clarity

- It is a structured, calculated and logical way of working

- Produces nice drawings and clearly readable positions

- Its in order - the right things happen at the right time, in the right place

Disadvantages:

- Misses the flow of animation

- The action can be choppy and unnatural



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3. COMBINATION OF STRAIGHT AHEAD AND POSE TO POSE

This method involves first planning out what one is going to do in thumbnail sketches. Then

making big key drawings and big extremes, placing in all the important poses along the way.This forms the structure of the animation but is only there to act as a guide for things andplaces to aim at. It is then time to do several straight ahead runs on different parts. This maymean having to revise some keys and extremes along the way. The point is to keep adding tothe detail; continually adding more runs (e.g. legs first, then body, then arms, then head, thenhair or drapery bits).

Advantages:

- Combines the structured planning of the pose-to-pose method with the natural freedom of

the straight ahead method

- Creates a balance between planning and spontaneity

Disadvantages:

- None

A quality animator has already given the character life at this stage, even through just a fewkeys and extremes. They want to make sure nothing is left for change when passing the workon to the inbetweener.



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The second key task during the pencil test stage is that of inbetweening. It is theinbetweeners job to draw the specified number of poses between the key and passing

positions created by the key animator. It is also vitally important that they are drawn at thespecified spacing. Given too much freedom, the inbetweener has the ability to completely

flatten any quality animation.This animation can be tested along the way either by flipping the sheets like a flick-book orsending the frames off for printing and reviewing as a film clip.

----Clean-up

As no two animators draw exactly alike, the clean-up artist is required to make overall workfrom animator to animator consistent from a design and drawing point of view. It is there job

removing some of the testing scribbled lines that occur naturally when conveying a sense ofmotion through drawing. Through doing this, they ultimately reduce every drawing to singletidy lines. This process allows animators to be freer with their work without having toconcentrate on the tiniest of details concerning the design of the character, as these can becorrected or picked up on during the clean-up stage. After cleaning, the drawings are then re-shot to ensure no errors have crept in which may throw off the animation.

----Inking



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After the director approves the cleaned-up animation, each drawing would traditionally betransferred to thin sheets of acetate known as cells, and then painted by hand according to theoriginal designs. Using todays methods however, drawings are digitally scanned thencoloured within a computer, cutting time and cost dramatically.

----Checking

The checker must catch any mistakes before the project enters the final stages of production.These might include broken lines, dirt on the acetate, painting mistakes or accuracy of writteninstructions for the compositor / cameraman.

----Compositing

Once the checker is satisfied, all the artwork and camera instructions are passed on to thecameraman or the digital compositor in more modern day productions, whose job it is to

bring together all the digital elements including animation, backgrounds and special effects.----Final Edit

Unlike with live action filming, the animation final edit isnt very creative, in that the directorhas essentially made all the timing and filmmaking decisions during the animatic stage. Itserves more as a technical compilation process. Simply slotting all the finished scenes intothe initial animatic framework and replacing the pencil tests with final prints ready forviewing on the big screen.

CRUX OF ANIMATION PIPELINE

Planning

The Art Director works with the storyboard department to make a comic book sort ofversion of the script. Here, the story is broken up into scenes and sequences and theanimation director decides and marks the time duration of each scene.

Characters are developed according to the story requirement. It has to be kept in mind thatthe characters have to be such as can be animated. The layout and background departmentdevelops the backgrounds according to the style of animation chosen for the specific

project. Different layouts for all the scenes are created in consultation with the ArtDirector. The animation director prepares the X-sheet which is a very important tool instreamlining, regulating and coordinating the works of different departments andcompleting work within the scheduled time. X-sheet is a chart, which contains the way inwhich the frames are arranged, specifies which frame is to be repeated how many times,how long a specific frame is to be given hold and so on.



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Man at work

Now the work starts on Lightbox. Referring X-sheet, the key frames are drawn for all the

sequences depicting the whole action pose-to-pose through pencil drawings on speciallypunched papers. Line test is then done to see whether the actions are coming out properlyor not and deciding on what is to be done to increase the impact more. After the line test issatisfactory and necessary changes are made, in-betweens of the key frames are drawn.

In-betweens make the action smoother by removing the jarring jerks. To sync dialogues withthe mouth movement and face expression of the characters, a bar sheet is made. Bar sheetcontains the readings of dialogues and expression sounds. Lip sync done by the animatorensures that the dialogues seem to be really being delivered by the characters. To bring out arealistic effect, the animator combines proper lip movements with expressions and complete

body language of the characters.

The special effects animator takes care of the special effects elements like fire, waterfall,different kinds of smoke, lightning and also the light & shade effect of the characters. Allthis work is transferred to the computer through scanning, for further process.

Winding up

After all the work is transferred to the computer, the digital ink & paint department startsworking on the project. All the frames are colored using softwares specially developed for

this purpose. All the work is then compiled and propercompositing done to give it asomewhat complete form.

Editing ensures that no unnecessary bit remains to ruin the overall effect, and every scene isin its proper sequence for the perfect duration of time.

Sound effects and background music is added at this stage. Sound effects and backgroundmusic improve the overall impact of the actions to a great extent and is an invaluable assetfor any animated sequence.



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Outputting, that is, converting the work to PAL or NTSC format, makes the wholeanimated work ready for broadcasting or screening. Quality animation requires well-coordinated group effort, loads of patience and creativity.

To be a good animator one should have creativity, patience, persistence and should be a

good team player.

Human Resource Management @

Four broad categories in animation industry where human resource caters the need.

1. Pre-Production

2. Production

3. Post Production

4. Administrative

Pre-Production

This consists of the creative team which includes Creative directors, art directors, characterand art designers, script writers, prop designers, color key artists, storyboard artists, sound



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breakdown engineers, technical directors, production directors, senior animators, chiefs ofcomputer graphics, model animation and camera, music directors and studio managers. More

people may be involved in this process depending on specific needs

Production

This consists of the hands-on team. Members that are added to the pre-production teaminclude Junior animators, assistant key animators, cleanup artists, breakdown artists, in

betweeners, line testing assistants, production controllers, graphic designers, render andtransfer assistants, model animators, model makers, mould makers, senior and junior

programmers, ink and paint artists, compositors, checkers, scanning assistants, visual effectsdirectors, background artists, set creators, computer model makers, riggers, computeranimators, computer imaging directors, light-men, assistant cameramen, trainees, helpers etc.Almost everyone involved in the actual creation of the project is part of this team.

Post Production

Post-production consists of all activities that take place after the product comes through theproduction department. This includes music recording, editing, addition of extra specialeffects, conversion to various delivery formats and specifications. Certain key personnel arerequired for this category. Creative directors, music directors and their assistants, off-line andon-line editors and their assistants, machine operators and scheduling executives to aid thestudio managers and effects directors.

Administrative

This team consists of the suits that run the studio. From the chief executive to the managers,all administrative staff falls under this category. It would be interesting to note here thatrunning an animation studio is quite a different experience from running a similar facilitywith a few hundred people. Creative arts require a knowledgeable head ofoperations and aflexible financial officer. Artists cannot be termed workers if high standards have to bemaintained because they are the real assets of the studio.

The process starts from the Manpower Requisition Form signed by Head of Department andthen submitted to the H.R Department

Now the recruitment, selection and training process starts.

For recruitments any of the 3 steps are taken:

1. From data base

2. From employee reference, and

3. From consultant

For selections:



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1. C.V. is been shortlisted and send to the concerned department, after approval thecandidate is been called for the interview

2. For the production department candidates need to give a technical evaluation testwhich needs to be evaluated from the technical head of the department.

3. Finally as per the results of test candidate is selected / rejected as the case may be.

Steps taken for stress management & maintaining work-life balance:

1. BIG on Health :- every day 1hr.yoga session

2. Fun @ Work : - organizing various events and activities within and outsidethe studio to inculcate sense of belongingness among the artists.

3. Artists are always encouraged and supported to enhance their creative skill through

various workshops & training sessions

Performance Management

1. Artists career growth are charted through:

a. KPI-Key Performance Indicators

b. Ratings scale for quality/quantity output.

c. Competency ratings

d. Project Completion Bonus for sequence directors & team leaders.

2. Overall Performance Summary are made to evaluate employee appraisal andpromotion.

Performance Management System & Human Resource Management System

(HRMS) is used digitally to get updated with the Management Information

System (MIS

Management Information System (MIS) @

Management Information System (MIS) is a subset of the overall internal controls of abusiness covering the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures bymanagement accountants to solving business problems such as costing a product, service or a

business-wide strategy.



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'MIS' is a planned system of collecting, processing, storing and disseminating data in theform of information needed to carry out the functions of management.

There are many forms of report prepared for the production tracking & all the productiontrackings are maintained in MS Exel.

The Database is eventually programmed in JAVA ASP & SQL Backend, enabling SECUREDinternet as well as intranet access of the whole production process.

All files in the SERVER are interlinked, so any changes done in any of the one files, reflectsautomatically in the other one.

MIS is getting generated with the help of all production executives who daily punch in theupdates of the data.

Some important reports which are taken into consideration while preparing MIS:

1. Artist Output Report

It is evaluated on a monthly basis which automatically gives the result for weekly &daily output. Depending upon their daily average per second outputs the artists aregiven Red, Blue and Green ratings.

2. Projection Report

Gives the numerical interpretation of the time lag, project completion etc.

3. Production Summary Report

4. Sequence Directors Health Chart

It helps in team spirit.

5. Daily MIS Report i.e. Department wise.

It involves; Beat No.

Scene No.

Seconds



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Frames

Type- Normal, Medium, Complex

Artist Name-who does the scene

Starting date

Ending/Deadline date

Submitted On

Approved On

Status- Approved, In Approval, DFU, AWC, Inter Approval,

In Production

Team Lead

Sequence Director

And other necessary aspects which are need for final output record as well as remarksand comments given.

The best performer within the tem is encouraged every month which results inmotivation and also creates healthy competitive environment.

Commonly used Technology in Producing Animation Movie

Softwares used for 2D & 3D animation:

1. AdobePhotoshop, After Effects, Premiere, Flash

2. ToonBoom

Studio, Digital Pro, Storyboard, Harmony



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3. US Animation - cel animation

4. Smoke - editing system

5. Shake compositing

6. RealFlow - water modeling

7. Maya animation

8. RealFlowSimulation of fluids, fibres and particles

9. Media Composer, frequently referred to as "The Avid"

10. Animo

Animation software

11.Sony Vegas

Non-linear editing system

Animation Pipeline Planning & Maintenance

The world of animations, which offers entertainment as a form of visual art, has evolved intoa character-based business with the potential to expand its business base through offeringdigital content to media such as the Internet and mobile phones.Yet, the future of the Indian animation industry is necessarily bright. Competition as such hasnot yet evolved much since its only a beginning.



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In order to address the various problems surrounding the industry, and to establish a systemof providing numerous animated works to children around the world, animation businessesthemselves must acknowledge the necessity for improving their management and businessapproach, and work toward helping themselves. In turn, it is essential that the national, and

municipal authorities come up with support measures, in their own capacities and roles, forthose aspects that cannot be resolved through self-help efforts alone.

Current problems of the animation industry have been analyzed , and hereby four strategiesare proposed to develop comprehensive measures under the partnership of the public and

private sectors.

[Current Status]

India has the world's largest Film Industry where more than 700 feature films and 100documentaries are produced each year.

The Indian animation industry today stands at Rs 12 billion, and the market isprojected to grow to Rs 42 billion by 2009 including the production of animated TVshows / movies, sales of video titles, and sales of merchandize featuring animationcharacters.

India today has more than 200 animation, 40 VFX and 35 Game Developmentstudios.(Acc. To Industry Reports)

[Problems]

The industry lacks the structure for developing creators, IT technicians and otherhuman resources including the creative talent pool. India falls behind other countries in the development of financial systems for

financing the production of animated TV shows and movies. Piracy & Copyright situations have created complicated business practices that hinder

business development. The industry suffers the absence of funds and producers capable of producing major

works on the international level, and the underdevelopment of systems for supportingjoint international projects.

[Four Strategies]

1. Development of quality human resources

a. Establishing animation departments at universities and postgraduate schoolsb. Cultivating animation creators, etc., par excellencec. Developing animation-related libraries (permanent exhibition space)



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2. Promotion of digitalization

a. Utilizing government loansb. Developing broadband networksc. Making joint use of digital editing studios

3. Redevelopment of the animation business

a. Establishing a copyright management organizationb. Expanding the intellectual property & copyright businessc. Building a system for gaining production funds

4. Enhancement of international competitiveness

a. Developing bases for information dissemination / receptionb. Building an industry organizationc. Promoting international joint productionsd. Promotion of international business exchanges

Public and private sector organizations must have their roles clearly assigned, and worktogether in coordination and cooperation for a comprehensive approach toward solving

industry-related issues.

Industry centric functions include:1. Cultivating human resources (as a training center)2. Supporting new ventures (as a debut venue)3. Strengthening international competitiveness (as a business support center)4. Providing the venue for learning and exchange (as a Kids animation museum)

Challenges for a Digital Studio

Increasing complexity of projects and types of data that need to be handled High definition, stereoscopy, film and so on Stiff client deadlines Data must be available constantly for non-stop work Stringent client requirements for maintaining data back-up and security Longer archived time Content reuse is key to delivering projects on time

Challenges at Management Level

One of the biggest challenges faced by the growing company is the ability to share filesdigitally. This created issues with managing versions of work in progress, and printing andscanning within the companys mixed platform environment.

Stage Wise Planning Process

The process for producing animation has the following stages:



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1. Idea, brief, treatment, script, production planning.

2. Concept Design

3. Storyboarding

4. Production Design and Visual Development

5. Recording the Dialogue

6. Building the Models, Rigging7. Layouts and Animatics

8. Animation

9. Final Backgrounds and Colouring

10. Lighting and Compositing

11. Post Production

Idea, brief, treatment, script, production planning.

This is the pre-production phase. First, have your idea or get commissioned with a brief. Thenproduce a written treatment to sell the project, write a script, do an outline budget, pitch theconcept and - get a go-ahead (aka The Green Light). Now you can finalize the budget andschedule and start putting your crew together.

Concept Design

Concept Design often starts during the pre-production phase. This is the first stage of design,doing preliminary work to illustrate both the narrative and possible visual treatment of the

project, a time to experiment with characterization and style.

Storyboarding

The Director works closely with the Storyboard Artist(s)to visualize the script and tell the story. The Storyboardillustrates the narrative, composes the shots,demonstrates action, indicates camera moves andmaintains continuity. The storyboard is revised andupdated to reflect changes to the script or comments

from Director, Producer or Client. The more defined the final storyboard, the smootherthe rest of the production process should be. Storyboard panels may be shot and edited to a

preliminary guide track which can be called a story reel or animatics. This can become aworking reel into which layouts and line tests can be cut as they are completed.

Story boarding is made in 3 stages

1. Thumbnail-script is drawn or visual description of story

2. Clean up team-proper B.G and character on model



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3. Final story board

It serves as a tool to cost reduction techniques.

Production Design and Visual Development

The Production Designer and/or Art Director develops the style of the production andproduce the final designs for both characters and environments.

For 2D, model sheets and turnarounds of characters together with key backgrounds areproduced;

For Stop Frame, characters and sets are designed;

For CG, designs for characters, environments and special effects are be produced.

Recording the Dialogue

The Producer and Director casts the voices and the Director supervise the recording session,usually attended by the Editor. Often, all the actors assemble and the script is recorded in oneor more sessions. However, producers work in various ways and there can be many goodreasons for recording all the actors individually and assembling the dialogue track afterwards.A dialogue track is edited before animation starts and, if it involves character lip synch, thosevoices will be pre-recorded to a final production standard. If possible, actors like to see astoryboard and designs of the character whose voice they are providing and it can be veryhelpful to their performance. Voice over guide tracks will be needed for timing but can be

rough recordings which will be replaced at a later stage. If it is necessary to animate to a songor music track, it is important for the composer to provide an accurate demo.

The Editor will assemble the selected takes and produce a soundtrack to length for approvalby the Director before the track breakdown is done.

Already a library set of 13 mouths is made and it is used for the purpose of lip

synchronization.

To escape from work and time pressure a dummy file is been

prepared of lip synchrosination for animation file at someextent similar. When the animation file gets approved till thattime this dept. would have already finished the work and they

paste that file to the approved animation file. Then they sendit for director approval where if they get any corrections theywork on it.

Especially for the process of voice recording many a times celebrities or prominent

voices are hired to increase the market value of the movie.



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Building the Models, Rigging

From the approved designs, Modellers translate thedrawings and build the models of characters andenvironments in Flash. Before these models can be

animated, Riggers breakdown these characters intovarious symbols like head, hand, eyes, eyebrow, legs,feet, etc, this rigging controls the movement of that

particular part of the body, and thus the entire charactercan be moved convincingly exactly like a real human

being on the screen.

In Stop Frame, the Model Making Department uses the approved designs to build models,puppets and sets.

Layouts and Animatics

The first pass at timing is done with the story reel oranimatics; in Stop Frame this is likely to become theworking reel that is without layouts. Layouts in 2D &CG are different processes but, in both techniques, the

purpose of layouts is to stage every scene and camera setup.

Layouts are produced based on the storyboard and previously approved design material to provide scene

planning, camera movements, visual information about character action and backgrounds.

On larger CG projects there are often be two phases of layout, Rough and Final.

Animation

Animation starts when there are approved layouts (if applicable), designs or models, voice

track and timings for the Animator to work with. The Director or Animation Director assignsscenes to Animators who produce the images which, when recorded in sequence, create theillusion of movement. Depending on the project and technique, there can be a singleAnimator working alone or a large team in which there may be a range of talents and skillsfrom lead animator down to junior assistant. The Director approves the animation or, on alarger project, this may be done by the Animation Director or Supervisor.



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Final Backgrounds and Colouring

In 2D, the final colour backgrounds can be produced

from the approved layouts onwards. They reflect the production designs and are supervised by the ArtDirector. In Stop Frame, the sets have to be built beforeanimation can start. In CG, the basic environments are

built by modellers before the animation starts but SetDressing and Lighting are done at a later stage.

In 2D, paper animation is usually scanned and sometimes cleaned up within the computerbefore being coloured digitally using one of several software packages. Depending on thestyle involved, some animation is still produced as artwork that is coloured by hand.

Lighting and Compositing

Light and shadow is a very crucial stage in the creativeprocess of the animation, dictating the final colour andatmosphere of each shot. The work process starts at thestage level itself,1st render is given for every scene thenthe shadow reference is created for every individualscene: 1st frame. After this the shadow key is send fordirectors approval. If the animation file has lipsync in itthen it need to go to the lipsync dpt 1 st and den to theshadow dpt. And if animation file dosent have lipsync it

directly goes to light and shadow

The formula for shadow is --- Alfa 15 % black and rest is skin tone

Or we can say that 15% transparency is maintained.

2 kinds of shadow - normal shadow & deeper shadow

In deeper shadow another 15% black layer is put on the previous shadow layer.

Only black is used for shadow and rest all is done at compositing level.

Person in this department needs to examine the light source which is already done inanimatics.

When the rendering is been done for the shadow approved file, the transparency is beenremoved and the character animation is made 100 % black

Shadows can be normal, medium and complex as well



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Special Effects (SFX) is the process where science is applied upto great extent. There couldbe the following kinds of effects: Dust, water, fire, smoke, clouds etc.

These effects are further broken into sub categories, for example the water could be of a deepwater body like an ocean, or it could be just a splash. Fire could be of various kinds like, fire

on the wood, on oil etc. Different techniques are implemented to achieve desired results andthe final look and feel.

FX is a science and physics is applied to it.

Design, colour scheme, style etc must be well defined

Templates must be always ready to make the process go on smoothly.

Working on the SFX is a very tedious tasks and requires not only the high level artistic

skills but also a good knowledge of the hardware and software capabilities and their

limitations.

Compositing

Compositing can apply to all techniques of animation and is the point at which various visualelements including animation, backgrounds and effects are combined into the final image. Itis a very necessary part of the production pipeline where all hook ups, corrections arematched up and end results come in. The final composited frames are sent to editing wherethe final trimming or audio video timing adjustments are done.

Editing

At the editing level a negative is required for the feature film. When the file is been sendfrom compositing then the line up for all the files acc. to animatics

Is made to make a new composited file. The final trimming or editing is been done on thatlined up files. After the trimming is over, film gets in with the dialogue

Then the file is given to the music director to score the music or for re-recording & alongwith it one copy is given to the SFX department. Once its all gets finished off, the final mixtrack goes to laboratory to be developed as a sound negative and as well as in all otherformats like DTS, Dolby etc. After this the system files i.e. compositing files are given to labfor colour corrections etc. And when the movie is confirmed, they refer it with edit and denDI-negative is made. Finally it all gets mixed up and they make a married print i.e. picturenegative and sound negative copy

Post-Production

During the post production phase music is recorded, sound effects added and the soundtrackfinalized. The digital picture is combined with the completed soundtrack as an Edit Masterand can then be output either at broadcast standard or onto film, depending on the delivery

requirements.



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LEVELS OF PRODUCTIVITY MANAGEMENT

ity

Productivity Does Not Go Hand In Hand with Quantity



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Process & System Criteria

It is a two & fro process from the part of line producer to animation director and vice versa.


EXECUTION

PLANNING

STRATEGY

VISION

PROCESS

MONITORING/

PRODUCTION

PRODUCTION

QUALITY/

CREATIVE

APPROVALS


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The 2 stage checking process where approval has to be taken from sequence director &

animation director ensures filtration and continuous value addition to the product.

Animation is All About Skills

Animation is a sector in which there is great potential for creativity and innovation, althoughsome people find it difficult to adapt to fast paced production environments.

Key skills for animators include:

Creativity and imagination Patience and attention to detail Drawing skills Computer literacy and familiarity with graphics software Communication and presentation skills Ability to meet deadlines and work as part of a team

Getting the House in Order

Sector specific issues depending on the nature and extent of evolution fall under thefollowing four categories:

1. Structural issues, including issues relating to distribution of value amongst value chainparticipants, extent of competition and level playing field.2. Resource related issues with regards to the industry's difficulties in attracting resourceslike investment, talent, etc.



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In order to effectively manage the 'growing up' process, the industry needs to question andreview its current structure and several aspects of the operating strategy.

Studio must look upon the following aspects: Exposure provided to a multi-disciplinary environment.

Importance given to extra-curricular activities

Whether multi-layer thinking is encouraged

To unlock the value, the Indian animation industry would need to:1. Develop marketable products keeping in mind the socio-economic realities of theIndian market2. Improve operational effectiveness through global benchmarking, adoption of practices,technology and strategic innovation3. Leverage the capabilities thus developed in international markets

Seventeen Key Issues That Demand Urgent Steps

The initiatives have been prioritized in the table below to identify high-impact initiativesusing a weighted average with the 'Ability to drive value' as the most influential factor.



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Improve operational effectiveness



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To achieve sustainable efficiencies, the priority should be on enhancing organizationaleffectiveness in delivering strategy and addressing the following key aspects of effectiveness:

Organisation structure and its alignment to operational strategy Streamlined processes Inculcating global entertainment industry best practices to enhance the process

delivery quality Consistent global benchmarking to facilitate continuous improvement Strategic use of technology

Enhanced activity in newer genres

Animation studios need to blend artist creativity with consumer tastes and preferences. In this pursuit they need to constantly define new/ changing genres based on the demographicprofile of the market and a surveyed understanding of consumer likes. Creativity needs to bechannelized in the right direction so that its commercial attractiveness can be exploited.

Create an environment to attract and retain talent



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The attractiveness of the entertainment industry as a professional option needs to be re-established in a challenging talent market (both on the creative and the business managementside) against stiff competition from sunrise sectors.With the intensity of market activity and the extent of competition rising, the need forattracting and retaining top talent assumes greater significance. If the industry seeks to

continue attracting talent, it would need to undertake a number of measures that areinfrastructure building in nature and also lead to a change in mind-set.

Some of these include: Developing an educational infrastructure catering to the sector by

- Creating world-

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