Do you also get fascinated by movies like Inception, Gravity, Avengers, Bahubali and Interstellar? Then you are a fan of animation and VFX. VFX is the future and India invests in the future.
Asian audience has an appetite for Visual Effects and the success of the aforementioned movies have established this fact. It’s well known that visual effects are an integral part of film making and wide use of this can be a game-changer. VFX makes the filmmaking as well as the watching process very exciting. And Asia has the potential to cater to the VFX market forever.
Asia and VFX: India’s appetite
Asia has an over 1.7 billion population under the age of 17 years. And they make the best audience for animation and VFX. In Asia, India is the major stakeholder as India stands third place in box-office revenue collection. India was the fifth-biggest market for Avengers: Infinity War in 2018. The Marvel Movie broke records for Hollywood releases in India on every single day it was shown. Better results were shown by homegrown Bahubali. India’s appetite for Animation and VFX must be catered to, and the Karnataka Government is leading the cause from the front.
Also Read: Indian VFX Industry – The backbone of Hollywood but still untapped by Bollywood
Karnataka is ahead in the game of Animation
Indian state Karnataka is ahead in the game of VFX and Animation since 2012 Karnataka was the first state that brought in the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC) Policy.
Now, under the ‘Innovative Karnataka’ initiative, the Karnataka Government has launched the AVGC Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, the largest in Asia.
The centre was launched by the Minister of Electronics Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, which has been termed as a pioneering hi-tech digital media hub. According to the Karnataka Government, ‘The objective of the CoE is to syndicate and make available the best facilities and technologies to start-ups, AVGC studios and professionals who find it difficult to fund or access such hi-tech stack individually.’
Also Read: Government of India is all set to provide a push in Animation, VFX, Gaming and Comics sector
Launching the CoE, Ashwath Narayan said, “This CoE brings digital excellence to creative industries. India now commands around 10 per cent of the global AVGC market and has the potential to reach 20-25 per cent by 2027. Karnataka has been driving the AVGC sector in India. This centre will take us to greater prominence in the sector.” He also said that this CoE may be the first largest but is surely not going to be the last as many other such centres will be established in the times to come.
The CoE also plans to offer unique courses based on emerging technologies like virtual reality, digital compression, photogrammetry, gamification of Education and real-time virtual production.
The centre is equipped with different facilities like, it enables virtual production through real-time camera tracking. It enables full-body performance capture. The centre has a witness camera, i.e., a four-headed camera with removable lenses. This centre is also equipped with Photogrammetry-3D that scans that enables ultra-detailed 3D rendering among others.
Karnataka currently accounts for a 20% share of the Indian entertainment industry. At present, more than 300 animation and gaming studios operate in the southern state. However, the IT Minister has said that within one year the state will come out with a new AVGC policy. He also mentioned that Karnataka will work towards establishing a dedicated ‘Digital Media Entertainment Area.’ These steps will prove to be a game-changer in the sector of VFX in India as well as Asia.