6 SIGNS YOU SHOULD BE WORKING IN ANIMATION

Animation, at its core, is the process of creating motion.

If we are being technical about it, it involves an illusion of motion that is created by producing a series of images (or ‘frames’) that show a sequence of poses with slight changes from one image to the next in order to make a complete action. As a form of art, it has existed for thousands of years.

The earliest evidence of animation is found in cave paintings, which depict people and animals with several legs superimposed on one body to imply motion.

Since then, the concept of sequential drawing has taken on different shapes and forms: the phenakistoscope (a rotating disc with a sequence of images along the edges), the kineograph (better known as the flip book), the cinematograph (or film camera), hand-drawn and cel animation (also known as traditional or classical animation), and modern-day digital animation through computer software in a virtual environment (both two- and three-dimensional).

The phenakistoscope, showing an animation of two people dancing.

 

 Wall-E, a 3D animated film.

Animation as a medium for visual media became very popular on television with ‘cartoons’ such as Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones, Looney Toons and Scooby Doo, and the hit films made by The Walt Disney Company from the 1970s onwards.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast are films that we marvel at even today. Toy Story was the first animated film made entirely using computer software.

Since then there have been several gems of animated films that are made digitally in 3D, like The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall-E, Zootopia and more. The animation industry is booming, and without further ado, let us look at some signs that will help you understand if animation is the right-fit career for you.

You Enjoy Creating.

Creating and creativity is the heart and soul of every form of art, including animation. The purpose of art is to evoke emotion in the beholder, meaning that the aim of an artist when making a work of art is not just to represent his or her own thoughts and feelings, but to create them in someone who is an audience as well.

As a song lyric goes, “a story told that can’t be real… somehow must reflect the truth we feel“. Animation is a visual form of expression, and since sight is the most powerful sense for human beings, creativity can go a long way in leaving an impact. And if you enjoy it, not even the sky is the limit.

You Have A Sense Of How Things Move.

Do you find yourself thinking? ‘Hey! To make it seems as though my character is walking, he should be in such and such pose’? If you draw, then you must have had such a thought at some time or another.

Aesthetics or appeal (including visual appeal and presentation) is a crucial part of media, and of animation. Staging and posing are among the basic principles of animation, meaning that if you have an idea of how a character should look, stand, sit – or in a more general way, what shape the character or object’s body should be in – while performing a certain action in a way that a viewer can easily understand, you have an edge in animating.

Also important knows the line of action for any movement. Honing this skill is easy: observe things around you!

Theoretical Knowhow Is Within Your Reach.

For a practical task to be done to its maximum potential, it is necessary that there is a theoretical backing to supplement it.

In addition to being creative and knowing how things move, there are certain rules that are followed when creating an animated sequence – regardless of the mode it is made in.

These rules are called the principles of animation, and they can help you produce a good and appealing clip. MAAC is here to help you brush up on these principles through its various courses in 2D and 3D animation.

Technical Skills For Animating Can Be Developed easily.

Nowadays, both 2D and 3D animation are done digitally – i.e. on a computer using animating software – in most studios. For 2D animation, Adobe Flash is most commonly used, while for 3D animation, Autodesk Maya is the preferred choice.

This software can be mastered with some guidance and practice, which MAAC is ready to provide you with through tailor-made courses depending on which type of animation you want to learn and perfect.

The Animation Industry Is Booming.

If you turn on the TV, you are guaranteed to come across at least one instance where animation has been used. With popular kids’ TV shows made in India like Chhota Bheem, Mighty Raju, Pakdam Pakdai and Motu Patlu airing episodes regularly, the animation industry in India is growing steadily.

If you don’t want to work in TV, there studios that work on film projects, both Indian and international. You could even look for web-based animation series to work on – or start your own if you are feeling entrepreneurial.

There is no dearth of work, only of workers… so it is up to you to step up and choose to follow your career in the realm of animation. Here, too, MAAC will guide you towards the work environment that you prefer.

The Scope Of Animation Is Virtually Endless.

The best thing about animation is that it’s not just limited to one form of media, nor is it only used to create purely animated content.

Animation is applied not only for cartoons, but also in visual effects to create computer-generated characters and moving objects.

And visual effects are used in media ranging from advertisements to TV serials to films and web content. You can create different styles of animation by manipulating the number of frames in every second of action to create stop-motion.

Feature films like Fantastic Mr. Fox and Kubo and the Two Strings were created using traditional stop motion, which used actual models that are manipulated physically and captured on camera. Conversely, films like The Emperor’s New Groove and Warner Bros.

The Iron Giant are full animated, meaning each of the 24 frames in one second’s footage of the films is drawn. Also, there are films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Space Jam, which combine animation with live-action.

So then, what are you waiting for? Jump into the fray and start building your career as an animator today!

With MAAC Chowringhee | Rashbehari | Kakugachi by your side, and the bright future that the industry holds, you simply can’t go wrong!

Behind The Scenes of Avengers: Age of Ultron VFX

The Age of VFX has seen its share of upgrades since the silent black and white era cinema. When Chaplin dared to make a film on Hitler, he didn’t hire a supernatural amount of crowd members to be present in his scene; he used VFX.

King Kong was never a real thing, but VFX made it possible for the giant gorilla to be shown rampaging up a building. The historic flying bicycle scene in ET by movie genius Steven Spielberg was also done through the magic of VFX. In today’s generation, VFX is an integral part of movie making.

Superhero movies have been hitting the theatres since 1920, when the Mark of Zorro was released. MARVEL Studios was about to declare bankruptcy in the year 1996, but they had a last card to play when turned out to be their one-way trump card to cloud nine of success.

They started the MCU (MARVEL Cinematic Universe) under the guidance of Joss Whedon and Kevin Feige. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe that focuses on a series of superhero films that are independently produced by Marvel Studios based on characters that appear in the publications of Marvel Comics.

The franchise has expanded to include comic books, short films, television series, and digital series.

The first film released in the MCU was Iron Man (2008), which kicked off the first phase of films that culminated in the crossover film Marvel’s The Avengers (2012).

Theatres were swarming with members of all age demographics. The world loved it and MARVEL embraced the attention to continue on and produce two more phases and plan for the fourth.

Starring a huge range of actors Like Robert Downey Jr. (playing genius billionaire playboy philanthropist Iron Man), Chris Evans (playing the the patriotic Captain America), Scarlett Johansson (playing the super spy assassin Black Widow), British megastar Benedict Cumberbatch (playing sorcerer supreme Doctor Strange), Aussie Chris hemsworth (playing the Norse god Thor) and so many more.

Phase Two of MCU saw the return of the Avengers in the movie “Avengers – Age Of Ultron”, where the team once again assembled to fight of a secret World War 2 Nazi-based cult society that survived since then, called Hydra.

The Avengers at the beginning of the film raid the last standing outpost of the Hydra at Sokovia and retrieve a weapon.

Tony stark AKA Iron man then decided by himself to return to normal life and retire from being a superhero. He had to create some kind of substitute to take up his time, like an AI intelligent enough to detect threat and subdue it before any crisis even happened.

So he and Dr. Banner AKA Hulk created Ultron. But their project went south real quick and Ultron makes an enemy out of humanity because humans are more dangerous to themselves than anything else, and plans to destroy the earth’s population.

But the Avengers help save the day from an army of intelligent robots created by Ultron in the end in a thrilling action sequence. As exciting the movie sounds, it takes a lot of time to shoot, execute and finally release a film on this big a scale.

All the stars present in the same set is both exciting and severely stressful to direct and pay attention to each and everyone.

The film contains 3,000 visual effects shots, completed by ten different visual effects studios, including Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Trixter, Double Negative, Animal Logic, Framestore, Lola VFX, Territory, Perception, Method Studios, Luma Pictures and The Third Floor.

Joss Whedon said in an Age of Ultron promotional interview to CNN that, “This one was harder than anything I have done, both structurally and physically”. So even if the film looks great, it’s what happens behind the scenes that tells us the whole story.

In the same interview, other cast members were asked about their experience on set with Joss and they had some pretty funny stories to share.

Cobie Smulders (who plays Agent Maria Hill) said, “Joss does an amazing job of keeping the set happy and fun, and everyone is happy and well”.

Chris Hems-worth and Chris Evans mischievously revealed that them being together again on set felt good and they made a lot of commotion and felt like they were back in high school, but Joss was like their Principal and shouted at them several times to make them work more seriously.

The development of the characters in the movie is very interesting. Tony, the fast moving, narcissistic genius is shown to have grown closer to life.

He is shown to fund every student’s project at MIT but doesn’t get personal with them; he is also shown to not like being a superhero because the love of his life is avoiding him just for being a superhero all the time, which is exactly why he wants to retire and consequently creates Ultron.

Bruce Banner, who prefers being a loner because he knows being the Hulk might get him (and others with him) in trouble, is growing a love interest for Natasha but is hesitating to move forward with that train thought; Natasha, too, is shown to be a tortured cult product from Russia where she is taught to be a cold blooded killer and turned infertile.

Steve Rogers, the perfect soldier, is shown to carry the burden of the failures of his team. Thor, after rejecting his throne at Asgard and living on earth with his lover, loses his motive to be a hero but finds it again because of a nightmarish premonition.

Clint Barton AKA Hawk-Eye is shown to have a family isolated and living off the grid so that they are safe from any danger he might be in.

Ultron, too, is developed as a great character – originally created to save humanity, he grows into a killing robot because he concludes from all his knowledge that humans are their own worst enemy.

MARVEL studios have been excelling in the VFX department from the first Iron Man film.

Visual effects are often integral to a movie’s story and appeal. Although most visual effects work is completed during post-production, it usually must be carefully planned and choreographed in pre-production and production.

Visual effects are primarily executed in Post-Production with the use of multiple tools and technologies such as graphic design, modelling, animation and similar software, while special effects such as explosions and car chases are sometimes made on set.

A visual effects supervisor is usually involved with the production from an early stage to work closely with production and the film’s director design, guide and lead the teams required to achieve the desired effects.

VFX can be categorized into: Simulation FX, Animation, Modeling, Matte painting, and Composting. From making Tony Stark fly to Bruce Banner becoming the Hulk, almost everything is done with the help of VFX.

The production for this movie was really high of about $267.4 million is earned a gigantic amount of $1.405 billion which is fabulous.

Although Ultron had many an appearance in the comic books, this story was independently created for the MCU and had very little inspiration from the original comic books, making it 10 times more interesting to watch as an original take on the subject.

The film performed really well in theatres and got a rating of 7.5 on IMDB, and even performed well commercially. The Avengers will assemble again in April of the year 2018, in the film Avengers: Infinity War, with solo films of members of the Avengers in between.

Let us look forward to the awesome work to come our way with these films.

Maac Kolkata MANIFEST 2017: AN OVERVIEW

22nd June 2017 was a special day  at Maac Kolkata for those at MAAC Chowringhee | Rashbehari | Kakurgachi, as students, faculty and staff alike gathered at the Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata for a unique experience.

Every year, Maac Kolkata organises the MAAC Manifest, a 3D and VFX seminar hosted with the novel aim of providing a platform for students to gain insight directly from stalwarts of the media world.

The organisation of the event is spearheaded by Mr. Naveen Choudhary, whose entrepreneurship and dedication facilitated the presence of this year’s esteemed speakers: Mr. Pete Draper, one of the founders of Makuta Studios, and Mr. Abir Aich, AVP-Academics of MAAC India and a media professional for the past 18 years, despite their packed schedules.

There was an air of excitement in the auditorium as everyone gathered for the event. The emcee for the event was Sajan Samuel, and with everyone gathered on time, the inaugural lamp was lit by Mr. Draper, Mr. Aich and Mr. Choudhary shortly after 10AM.

The speakers for the day were introduced, and Mr. Draper took the stage.

 Makuta Studios, under the supervision of Mr. Draper, most recently worked on the visual effects (VFX) for the blockbuster Baahubali: The Conclusion, and the first topic of discussion for the day was on the VFX journey of the film.

The Baahubali duology has been lauded for its grand visuals, and it wasn’t hard to see why as Mr. Draper explained the hard work and lessons that were integral to the development of what we saw on the silver screen.

There is a common phrase among some filmmakers, to ‘fix it in post(-production)’, that Mr. Draper explained was a totally incorrect way to go about VFX.

With the sheer magnitude of VFX being used in films these days, it is essential that planning be done from the pre-production stage itself, as the most obvious and important aspect of VFX is the very first word: visual.

VFX exists mainly to augment – or add to – the action that the audience sees on the screen, not to ‘fix’ what went wrong during the production (or in layman’s terms, shooting) stage.

Also, while VFX helps reduce the costs of production to a great extent by taking away the need to physically create imaginary worlds, it doesn’t come cheap; there is equipment to be bought to help the time-consuming digital work that needs to be done.

As he put it, creating realistic CG is extremely difficult because in most cases, everyday things are being replicated digitally.

As a result, the output that is being delivered needs to be flawless; the smallest missed detail will seem odd to the viewer because what they are seeing is things that they interact with on a daily basis and are intimately familiar with.

Everybody is an expert in their own right. With this in mind, Mr. Draper and his team worked closely with the production crew of Baahubali in order to plan out shots in a way that would ensure that things could be made to happen seamlessly.

Baahubali is an epic two-part film.

The VFX for the first film was done primarily by Firefly Studios in Hyderabad, while that for the second was dome mainly by Makuta Studios with Mr. Draper as the supervisor. Look development was crucial for such a grand project, as every kingdom being shown had to be visually distinctive as well as reflect the kind of land it was.

Maheshmati was designed to be industrial and overbearing, with repeated use of the elephant motif as their sacred goddess took the form of the elephant.

In contrast, Kunthala Rajyam – the home of princess Devasena – was softer and calmer, with more blues and greens in the colour palette.

It wasn’t just the individual kingdoms that needed planning, but the river that connected them as well; there is a lengthy sequence in the film where Amarendra Baahubali and Princess Devasena travel by a swan boat to Maheshmati on the river, through which we get closer glimpses of the latter kingdom.

The landscape of the events of the film was designed and pre-visualised in 3D well before production work began, so that the shooting could be planned efficiently.

As the environments were created digitally and live-action sequences had to be integrated into those environments, it was essential that the real and the virtual matched.

Sets had aged since the first film due to human interaction and natural weathering, this had to be reflected in the digital assets as well.

A lot of the area models were redesigned to add more detail for the close-up shots. Notable examples Mr. Draper shared were the King’s court and the citadel of Maheshmati.

A lot of elements, such as pillars, trellises, and the detailing on the Swan Boat, were used as instances or repurposed in a different area of the kingdom to cut down time and maintain uniformity.

Not everything is simple to solve, however. The corridor for the arrow dance sequence in Devasena’s palace where the camera follows the arrows had to be recreated in 3D after shooting – while the shot was initially slotted for 3-4 days, it took nearly three months to complete!

For the fields and forests, it wasn’t possible to get live references, so the team had to make do with images from the internet based on which the assets were created for the shots.

The rudders on the swan boat had been designed facing the wrong direction, and fixing it was a costly mistake.

Each day of shooting had around 30-40 lakh rupees invested, so mistakes had to be avoided as far as possible.

Some establishing shots for the kingdoms had to scrapped as well. Six different shades of green were used for chroma shots, and some footage was of poor quality but had to be used properly despite the fact.

VFX is all about illusions and making people believe that the unreal is real. In order to do so, it is important to be practical and grounded in the real.

At the same time, cinema is removed from reality and calls for suspension of disbelief. Striking a balance between the two is the biggest challenge, which was best seen in the sequence of Bhallaldeva’s statue falling in the climax of the film, and the shot of the arrows zooming down the corridor and killing the soldiers in the arrow dance sequence.

The rampart fight sequence, while depicted as a continuous shot in the film, actually used seven cutshots for the actors’ actions. Camera tricks, practical effects and digital magic all work together to make the final output.

After explaining the making of the film, Mr. Draper concluded his talk with showreel tips for those ‘crazy people’ who want to make their career in VFX.

The first 15 seconds, he stressed, are the most important to capture the attention of the studio so the best works go in first.

The other point he stressed was professionalism: no thanking X, Y, and Z, and if you’ve collaborated with others for a shot, mention who did what so that your contribution can be focused on.

After this, he was presented with a memento and Mr. Aich took the stage to speak about the media industry as a flourishing career option.

With nearly two decades of experience in the media industry, and several years curating content for MAAC’s courses to push it to its place as a leading educator in animation, VFX and multimedia, Mr. Aich gave an eye-opening presentation on the media industry and the career options that it presents. While film and VFX is the most obvious and glamorous option when one thinks of a career in media, there are numerous alternate options that are coming to light in this day and age.

And that film is the best-paying of media careers is also a myth. For a career in media, one can choose from film, TV, advertising, game development, print media (such as magazines, newspapers) and digital or internet-based media.

India has the second-largest internet user base in the world… and As Mr. Aich pointed out, internet access is what makes our smartphones ‘smart’.

Recent socioeconomic measures implemented by the government have increased the number of smartphone and internet users drastically, generating the need for more content to satisfy these new customers and thereby creating thousands of lucrative job opportunities for aspiring media professionals.

Mixed media, too, is a booming industry. There are now smartphone applications and wearables that allow users to combine content from print media with audiovisual media (like videos), or design spaces virtually for demos before construction (a VR-prototype that is being developed by Microsoft).

Or even visualise consumer goods in spaces like one’s home before purchasing them (an initiative by Swedish furniture giant IKEA, which is planning to launch in India very soon)!

Students can now use the skills that they learn from their courses at Maac Kolkata and push boundaries like never before. After all, Mr. Aich noted, most media students will go into careers outside of film and VFX, and learning the opportunities available is essential to deciding the direction you want your career to take.

After the event, both the guest speakers visited MAAC Chowringhee and interacted with the students and faculty and shared more tips. Mr. Draper saw some of the student works on display in the centre, and that inspired him to do a live demonstration by shooting a video on his mobile to explain the need for contrast in tracking and chroma removal.

This is a great advantage that students at Maac Kolkata have, to interact with the legends of the field directly in the familiarity of their centres and gain invaluable guidance and advice.

In past years at Maac Kolkata, we have had people like Tom Alter (renowned actor), Rajiv Chilaka (creator of Chhota Bheem), Sanath PC (director of Firefly Studios) and Prasad Sutar (VFX supervisor at NY VFXWalla) share their experiences both onstage at the Manifest and in the centre directly with students and faculty.

We are thankful to have Mr. Naveen Choudhary, head of Maac Kolkata, to thank for pushing relentlessly forward to make these events happen, and we look forward to scaling new heights at next year’s Manifest!

A FRUIT-FULL SUMMER WITH MAAC KOLKATA

“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside”, as Maud Hart Lovelace merrily described it, but summer has been growing to be intolerable for everyone living in the metropolitan cities.

People find joy in visiting hill-stations to cool off the heat they have been enduring. Summer can get rough on us, but when else can you get the taste of those sweet mangoes, the occasional windy storms at dusk known as “Kalboisakhi”, or the festival of colour where every barriers of caste and creed are broken and we unite together to colour each other’s lives?

Summer is beautiful, indeed. In order to enjoy the spirit of summer Maac Kolkata organizes its Fruit Festival.

Fruits have been the center of attraction for every kid in summer. Be it fresh coconut for its water, mangoes for their impeccable sweet taste (that is at times sour, too, and is equally enjoyed), the banana milkshakes we make at home (which I think most will say is one of the most wonderful things ever).

Summer showers us with many an exciting thing; there are so many festivals to go through like Mahavir Jayanti, Chithrai Festival, Ram Navami etc.

Going to the movies is also an exciting thing to do in summer; there are so many movies that get released every weekend in summer that one just cannot miss. Summer of 2017 marked the release of some superb movies like Wonder Woman, Get Out, King Arthur : Legend of the Sword, Logan, All Eyes On Me, and so on.. as well as animated and visual effects rich movies like Disney’s Beauty And The Beast, MARVEL’s Guardian of the Galaxy Vol.2, Despicable Me 3, The Boss Baby etc.

3D animation has been a growing industry in the movie circle.

The growing interest in this genre has increased among people over the last decade and a half. From Disney’s 2D classic movie Bambi, to this present day’s The Lego Batman Movie, the field of animation has shown growth like no other artistic field.

India has been even participating and producing many national and international projects and has been getting up the ladder step by step with grace and getting stronger and surer of its output in the media industry Maac Kolkata has been the creative hub of producing production-ready artists in both 2D and 3D styles since 2001.

Maac Kolkata a few years later, and has grown to be very popular and most efficient in the Eastern zone of India. Starting from Modeling, Texturing, Rigging, 3D Animation, Digital Paintings, 2D animation, the Kolkata Centers of Maac popularly known as Maac Chowringhee, Maac Rashbehari , Maac Kankurgachi are home for films and clips that are proud recipients of numerous awards in different film festivals.

We find both peace and excitement at our work.

Trained by relentless hardworking faculty at MAAC with the help of some brilliant state of the art infrastructure, our students get all they can dream of.

“Summer will end soon enough and childhood as well” said George R.R. Martin, but we never get too old to dive into exciting programs to refresh our not so over childhood.

So at MAAC Chowringhee – Rashbehari – Kakurgachi on 12thjune’2017, we all gathered to show off our creative fruity skills – no, not as the masters at the mobile game Fruit Ninja, but at how to decorate fruits to create something extraordinarily beautiful to look at.

Each participant was unique with their own skills, but they all had the same excitement flowing through their veins. No one had guessed that fruits could be used as materials of art – and so efficiently, too.

Here we can see a humble looking Orange who seems to be lost in his thoughts of how the universe works; he seems pretty serious about it, though. Aparna Paul certainly did a splendid job putting it together.

Someone is pretty excited to be alive, as Gaurab Ch Das’s cute kid Apple here looks too full of life.

Those wide eyes and big smiles show that he is here to bring happiness and joy and I bet everyone looking at it for the first time is pretty sure to have a smile on their face.

Halloween was too early this season, this menacing Mister Apple looks too mean to be trifled with.

You will be messing with the wrong apple if you intimidate this one! AkashPoddar has certainly made a master piece.

We also have mister cucumber, probably a friend of mister apple. He looks savage in all respect, he is tall and powerful and seeks to have fun; this piece was made by Sagnik Biswas.

The Monopoly Guy has many forms and avatars, yet apple is certainly a new one to add. This student was really very creative.

The Orange and banana seriously looks very innovative to be fused together to make a turtle, which looks really calm and serene.

The Crabby Apple is one of a kind for sure. It looks seriously cute.

“Summer time is always the best of what might be,” Charles Bowden truly spoke, as summer of 2017 marks another year of this celebration at Maac Kolkata, where students gather to show-off their creative skills, being confident, humble and with a spark that brought all of them together.

The Summer Festival 2017 was a resounding success and we look forward to each year coming to celebrate another one of this beautiful event organized by MAAC Chowringhee – Rashbehari – Kakurgachi.

Steps To Make Animation Short Film

Animation is easy to get into its easy to master if you know the right trick.  Each animator has there signature style.  One can develop own style after rigorous practice.

Just like any other film, making animation film also takes time, patience, and a lot of planning to get it right.

Write out a script. This is often easier said than done, but you need to write down your ideas clearly and give them structure before you start working on the animation film.

Unlike in live action, it is almost impossible to “improvise” an animated film, as it simply takes too long animate everything. You can use a simple Word document using some sketches or images.

Determine your animating medium. This usually depends on your expertise and hardware what configuration you are using. For example, it is very difficult, if not impossible, for a beginner with an older computer to make 3D animations.

There are many, many animating software and styles that can be learn with ease.

2D Animation: This is the classic cartoon, hand-drawn look. The characters are flat line drawings. Originally, they were drawn frame by frame, but now there is a variety of software that makes the process traditionally, you use 12-24 drawings per second of film.

3D Animation: 3D animation is a type of animation which uses computer generated images to create animated scenes.

It is a process of generating 3 dimensional moving images in a digital environment. Careful use of 3D models or objects is carried out within 3D software for exporting image sequences giving them the illusion of animation or movement. Software used are Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds MAX, Blender, 3D Movie Maker etc.

You also need to add lighting and textures. 3D software can used, yet it takes a long time and requires software like Autodesk Maya, 3DS Max. Most 3D animation is the result of large teams working together.

The theme. What is the “point” of the short film? This doesn’t need to be grand, profound, or complicated.

It can be anything from a small concept to a simple story trying to convey some morals.

Characters. What will hold the attention of your audience is very important to analysis and understands? This can be anything starting from a person or an animal to a squiggly line living or nonliving objects.

In order to keep a grip over the viewers it is important to have appealing character for animation movie.

Visuals: – Another aspect is the screenplay of the movie.

It is required to tell the story in short sweet way so that the visuals leaves an impact on audiences mind.

A beginning, middle, and end. This sounds obvious, but that’s the point — almost all stories are told in three specific, delineated parts, or acts. This doesn’t mean you must have a three-act story, or even “characters.”

You do, however, need to think out the “action” of the short film before moving forward.

 Sketch character models. Before starting to animate, you need to know what your characters are going to look like. Sketch them in a variety of poses, costumes, and expressions to get a feel for what they will look like. This will ease your work, and scope for innovation remains open.

Remember that a character can be anything in an animated film, from a bear to a pair of salt & pepper shakers. Still, you want to develop your characters ahead of time so that they look consistent when you animate them.

Draw up a storyboard. Storyboards are individual drawings that are required for every bit of action an animator takes in the script.

It is mainly used in the production of almost every film — animated or otherwise main stream films.

They are both simple and comprehensive, as you need one for every change you want in the film. They do not, however, need background detail or colour, unless it is essential to the story.

 The Dialogue/ Background score: – Underneath the shot, write down what needs to be said in the shot, the proposed length of the shot, and any effects (zoom in, shaky camera, etc). You may select any musical piece to go with the story also.

Remember one thing your animation movie is a collective work if it’s in a 3D genre, if 2d still you can take the whole movie making on your own shoulder.

The moment you know the techniques and tricks of animation you are good to go. Its is Maac-Kolkata the only animation institute whole of Eastern India which will give you hands on practical exposure over the subject. And you will get the best of the placement after completion of the course successfully.

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IT’S TIME TO MANIFEST WITH MAAC KOLKATA

We’ve all wondered at one point of time or another it would be like to be among the stars – not just the gaseous kind that we see in the night sky, but those that walk the earth as well. In every field, there are some names that – through time, perseverance and dedication to the work – have established themselves as ‘stars’, shining bright against the sea of ordinary folk.In the sphere of media education development, there is one such name that stands apart from the rest: Maac Kolkata.

From its inception sixteen years ago, MAAC has worked tirelessly to encourage aspirants to the world of media with its unique Research and Development department that curates holistic course content and ensures that the institute, its faculty and its students stay abreast of the latest happenings and advancements in the world of media.

The star behind this amazing facility to our students is Mr. Abir Aich, who is the AVP-Academics of MAAC India. He is a self-taught 3D Artist, and has been in the animation and visual effects industry for over 18 years.

He is also one of the first Autodesk Certified Instructors in India.

With this driving force of advancement as a constant motivation, MAAC Centers across the country organise several events every year so that its students can make the most of their learning period by interacting directly with the stars of the field and gaining invaluable insight and knowledge.

One such event is the MAAC MANIFEST, which is a seminar conducted with the sole purpose of serving as an interface between the students of MAAC and the stars of the media industry.

In recent years, MAAC MANIFEST  at Maac Kolkata was conducted in the Eastern zone by MAAC Chowringhee | Rashbehari | Kakurgachi in Kolkata covering themes such as visual effects and techniques used in films today.

The students got to have an in-depth behind the scenes look at some of the recent visual effects work in groundbreaking films from the various film and television industries, such as Baahubali, Magadheera, Bajirao Mastani and so on.

Also, an important and irreplaceable take away was the advice that these stalwarts of the media world gave the students.

Sanath PC of Firefly Studios, Hyderabad stressed the need for time management and having a well coordinated team, and provided insight on the importance of visual effects in the media industry today.

Gitanjali Rao, a legend as far as classical animation films in India go, talked about the timelessness of the format, and about animation in general.

Rajiv Chilakalapudi, founder of Green Gold Studios and the mastermind behind the popular TV show Chhota Bheem spoke of the importance of the market and the audience in the media world, which runs entirely on the demands of the end user.

All work and no play, however, make one a dull boy or girl… and through the information exchange, these stars shared little tidbits about their experiences that were both entertaining and wholesome.

Mr. Chilaka, for instance, while explaining the story behind the creation of Chhota Bheem, touched upon the topic of how they decided on a name for the studio.

Mr. Sanath PC recounted several incidents from when the team was working on Baahubali: The Beginning. These anecdotes were welcome reminders that despite the all-consuming nature of work in the media industry (be it in the form of film, television, advertisements or graphics), there is plenty to enjoy along the way.

This year, too, MAAC Chowringhee | Rashbehari | Kakurgachi is organising a MAAC MANIFEST by Maac Kolkata, with a very special star of the field as the guest speaker. Mr. Pete Draper, co-founder of Makuta Studios will be gracing us with his presence and sharing his expertise with our students.

 


For those who aren’t familiar with these names, Makuta Studios is based in the USA with an office in Hyderabad, and is the studio that churned out the likes of Ghajini (2008), Eega (2012), Magadheera (2009) and the Baahubali duology (2015-17).

These films are path breaking in terms of the quality and amount of visual effects work involved, and we at MAAC Kolkata are privileged to have someone who was closely involved with all three projects in a supervisory capacity to share his experiences with us and our students despite his busy schedule.

The latter three films are part of the oeuvre of Telugu filmmaker S. S. Rajamouli, who has established himself as a maker of unique fantasy-films which feature the brilliant and often ingenious use of visual effects.

Eega depicts the story of star-crossed lovers, one of whom turns into a fly that makes it its mission to protect his lover. Magadheera is the tale of a warrior and a princess who are reincarnated and reunited after four centuries.

Baahubali is an epic yarn about a heroic ruler whose lost son returns to claim his birthright as king. The films have all been critically lauded for their technical achievement, and have won several major awards.

Pete Draper was VFX supervisor and advisor for these projects, and is a well-recognized name in the world of film and visual effects.

He is also known to be a jovial and passionate person, thoroughly versed in his craft of making illusions come to life on the big screen.

It’s not every day that one gets an opportunity to mingle with the stars of this world, and that Mr. Naveen Choudhary, Director –  MAAC Chowringhee | Rashbehari | Kakurgachi is keeping up the initiative to ensure that students, and the well-rounded formation of their careers, come first, is a wonderful thing indeed.

We look forward to seeing you at the MAAC MANIFEST 2017, at Maac Kolkata which living up to its name, will share the light of wisdom that is in store for us all.

Or click here on the link to register yourself free of cost for this gala event.

https://animationkolkata.com/up-coming-competition.php

MAAC MANIFEST  AT MAAC KOLKATA 2017

When: 22nd June, 2017; 10.00 A.M. Onwards

Where: Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata

For free passes, drop by MAAC Chowringhee (3rd Floor, Chatterjee International Centre, 33A,  J. L. Nehru Road – near Park Street Metro station). Or Call: 98363 21595

Seats are limited – hurry!!

Motion Capture: The Technology That Makes Work Easy For Animator

Motion capture also known as MoCap is a way you can digitally record human movements.

The recorded motion capture data is mapped on a digital model in 3D software example 3D, Maya or 3D Studio Max.

Here the digital character and the moves of the actor is captured and is recorded for visual enhancement.

The MoCap technology is used in the entertainment industry mainly for films, games, advertisement to get more realistic human movements.

Well lets Close our eyes and go back and back in time.  Remember Picture Jar Jar Binks or Polar Express, movies that put the “Uncanny Valley” on the map?

The technology like motion capture (mo-cap) has laid its seeds from there only.

From there to now, the technology has not only advanced but had a huge leap, where we can see the relevance of motion capture from Lord of the Rings’ Gollum to Avatar to The Avengers’ Hulk.

Now let’s understand which field we use Motion Capture?

Motion Capture is used in the following field:-

Engineering

Law

Entertainment

Video Games

Television

Feature Films

Medicine

Sports

Security and Defence

The benefit of optical motion capture software and systems used in computer vision which helps  – the digital images to process by software to identify objects – in order to track motion.

Typically, an array of video cameras is connected to a computer running specialized software.  The strength of such technology is accuracy, reliability and speed followed by it can capture large volume.

Only problem one faces to work on such platform is one has to spend extensive time to build the setup of the shoot. And none the less the optical data requires extensive post-processing time.

The hardware incurred is also very expensive. One cannot capture motion when markers are occluded.

Now –a day’s Modern Marker less Motion Capture Technology uses the techniques of No Markers – Markerless motion capture systems use advanced computer vision technology to identify and track subjects without the need for any special suits or markers.

To accomplish this, advanced algorithms are used, especially when the expectation is to track motion in real-time.

No Setup Time – Because no special suits, markers or equipment are required, subjects can simply step into the capture volume to begin tracking.

Benefits – This means that animators and game developers can capture more accurate motion data in less time, and for a much lower total cost.

It also makes many clinical and research applications much more practical. Because there is no special setup required, it is easier to track the motion of children or people whose condition makes the application of special suits difficult.

The difficulty, however, is implementing accurate tracking algorithms that perform well enough for real-time use, without the aid of markers to provide hints to the software. This capability is the core of Organic Motion’s technology.

With Maac-Kolkata we teach you the advanced techniques by our course ADVFX Plus through which you learn how implement motion captures. You practically learn in house with studio setup to gain expertise.

And if you are really looking forward to make a promising career in the said filed just trust us come for a free counselling session @9836321595

Our official website: – http://www.animationkolkata.com

Just give it a try……..