Power of (Animation and VFX) Media in Shaping New Age Cinema
By Prof. Suraj Dhar, Maharishi University, NOIDA
THE INDUSTRY: Today animation and Vfx industry has emerged as one of the fastest growing media industries. It is multi-billion dollar industry generating huge employment across the world. International production houses are coming to India and setting up their studios. Major commerce used to be outsourced business once but recent statistics show the Indian media industries in-house project is expanding rapidly and in talent crunch. Films like Bahubali has set up the benchmark and geared up the confidence in filmmakers and has opened doors for big budgeted animation and vfx based movies in India.
CAREER: The salary in animation and Vfx industries generally starts with about Rs 10,000 per month for a fresher. This may look bit less amount but with skill and proficiency sky is the limit. You can be promoted to Creative Director, Animation Director, VFX Director, Lighting Professional, Modeling and Rigging artists, Production Head, etc. You can also work as a freelancer or can start your own studio.
Today 3D Visual effects and animation has become the main ingredient of entertainment media industry. Not only films but TV series, advertising and news channels too have to boost the growth of the market. The evolving age of 3D gaming and mobile industries is creating a major platform for animation Vfx industry. The emergence of augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence has taken to next age of this industry. The increasing uptake of 3D mapping technology in the geospatial analysis as well as in navigation will accelerate the growth of the global 3D animation market.
FUTURE SHAPE: Technology is constantly changing, every minute new benchmark been set worldwide. Future is set for virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Animation and Vfx are the backbone of virtual reality. Today human creativity is riding the Chariot of animation and Vfx industry and creating all dreams come true at least virtually. Today whatever we can think can be generated on computers with help of this creative partner. It has become hard to analyze the difference between reality and virtuality on screen.
The world has entered into virtual and augmented reality revolution. A lot of money is being spent and invested in this technology which is likely to find use in gaming, home entertainment, advertising etc. and in future who knows what else.
Interestingly, the studios behind some of the best VR/AR work are also visual effects outfits. That’s because some of the hardest things to solve in VR are things that VFX artists have been trying to solve for years, including stitching panoramas and 360-degree video, compositing, HDR lighting, dealing with stereo and making digital assets.
Digital Human: For several years, body doubles or digi-doubles have been used to perform stunts and impossible shots, but in terms of close-up emotional shots, we might not quite be there yet. Although there are several technologies coming up to make digital humans more possible and more palatable.
Hollywood filmmakers are engaged in developing a photorealistic and believable human performance, digitally. Other technologies and tools:
- · High fidelity facial
- · Motion capture
- · Re-lighting techniques and rendering
- · Muscle and skin simulation
Digital Make up: Use of digital makeup on real actors, to smooth out blemishes, make them look younger, older or like someone or something else.
Altering Human physique/ Digital retouching: The way Steve was made a Skinny Steve in Captain America and a younger Michael Douglas in Ant-Man are outstanding work. Digital retouching techniques have taken visual techniques to the higher level.
Like ILM’s LightCraft, Haircraft, Pixar’s MURE and AutoSpline. Other tools like Atomic Fiction, Conductor etc. are solving hard equations of hyperrealism. There are others notes such as physically based rendering tools, real-time rendering.
