Do you love anime? Wanna learn how it is done? Then, animation courses are your go-to way. Get ready to give lifelike characteristics (motion, speech, and breath) to otherwise still or inanimate drawings or pictures.
What do animation courses typically entail? Well, it is a specialisation in 2-D and 3-D artwork, along with digital graphics, digital photography, web design and architectural model making. For someone looking for a job in this field, options are aplenty ranging from basic design and animation to digital graphics and more.
The benefits of these increased manifold due to the already high internet traffic that increases every day. Therefore, any form of digital animation or graphics is highly valued and necessary at the moment. And this is where a specialisation in animation or animation courses makes the cut for someone with the penchant and talent.
While animation courses seem to be interesting, these are not for everyone. A career in animation and design requires dedication and passion without which it is impossible to excel in this field.
It is equally important to assess your skill set before you decide to go in for an animation specialisation or trying a hand at animation courses. If your strength is web page design, then stick to honing that and perfecting it, before deciding to work on your game designing skills or say even creating and making animated characters.
That being said, animation courses are not necessarily easy to pursue. While prospective job opportunities might seem like fun, they require a trained eye for detail and an immense amount of patience. While both these skills can be acquired, the journey to perfection is slow, long and arduous. Therefore, it is important to keep an open mind and hone your abilities.
After completing animation courses, there is a multitude of job prospects waiting for you. Most people that have specialised in the above fields find jobs without much hassle.
1. Web page design is becoming more and more important to website developers as attractive web pages are better at halting/increasing internet traffic or steering visibility/traffic to a good website. While navigability and good content do play an important role, the basic design element and theme do the talking in the first instance.
2. The seemingly easy art of Photoshop is covered in many media houses and advertising agencies. Specialising in this will automatically guarantee employment.
3. 2-D/3-D animation skills have been valued by many media and advertising houses for a long time. Proficiency in either or both will make it quite easy for one to improve their job prospects
4. Video and audio editing is a basic requirement for most televised shows or advertisements and people with such skills are in high demand.
5. Game designers are also in high demand due to the constant requirement that video game developing companies have to create new, more realistic and more interesting games for their customers.
To apply for animation courses at undergraduate level, one must have passed 12th standard or an intermediate course with a minimum of 50 percent aggregate.
For a diploma in the same, it is necessary to have passed 10th standard with a minimum score of 45 percent.
However, for a master’s degree in animation, it is required to have a bachelor's degree in any field with a minimum aggregate of 50 percent.
There is no requirement for job or field experience while applying for animation courses. However, it is recommended that one be familiar with at least one kind of animation software, to make the learning process easier.
Admission process depends on the university you apply to. After accepting applications, some universities and colleges require the candidate to appear for an entrance exam while others do not.
Some colleges that do require the candidate to appear for an exam before they grant admissions are:
1. Symbiosis - Symbiosis Institute of Design (SID) requires candidates to appear for an entrance test based on which they admit students to animation courses. The Symbiosis Entrance Test, or SET, is the first phase in the process of being admitted into SID, after applying.
2. NID - National Institute for Design has a test for animation courses that is taken in two phases. The first phase involves testing things such as visual sense, observation, design problem solving, perception, and mental ability and communication skills. The second phase of the test involves further evaluation of observational skills and additional tests that evaluate your doodling skills.
After this, there is also a round of interviews that only students who have passed the entrance tests are eligible for. This round is usually the last round before students are admitted into universities or colleges.
The duration of animation courses depends on the program you are pursuing.
The duration of a diploma can range from a few months to a year, or more, depending on the university that is offering the animation course.
For an undergraduate degree in animation, the duration is three years, over the course of which you can expect to be well-versed in animation technology and digital design.
The basic duration for a postgraduate degree in animation is two years, which is the same as most others.
From part-time animation courses for already employed to full-time classroom studies, several universities and colleges in India have customised their programs to accommodate the requirements of aspiring students.
1. Classroom courses - This involves the most common and traditional method of teaching. In a classroom, the teacher could also be an expert from the field of animation, who is employed and working on animation projects, or a dedicated faculty member. This is beneficial because it offers one-to-one assistance when dealing with and learning about animation software and other related things. Not just this, when you have teachers who are also working in the industry, there is a lot more live examples and real-life experiences that are shared in great detail. Also, what is trending, what is expected of, what to focus on or what would be ideal to get through, is also some know how students would get.
2. Online courses - Online animation courses are becoming popular with lots of students seeking to learn animation. The reasons behind the increasing popularity of animation courses are that they are easy to access and one can learn from the comfort of their own home.
3. Part-time courses - Some colleges also offer part-time and evening classes for those wishing to pursue a career in animation.
The fee structure for most animation courses varies from university to university.
1. Diploma animation courses usually have a fee structure that ranges from INR 20,000 to INR 1, 40,000, depending on which university you decide to apply to and the kind of course you choose.
2. Undergraduate animation courses can range from INR 30,000 to INR 3 lacs; again depending on the university and course.
3. Postgraduate animation courses are pricier as compared to diploma and undergraduate courses, and can cost more than INR 5 lacs. But, these offer a far greater degree of expertise than the diploma and undergraduate courses.
|
Type |
Fee (INR) |
Duration |
|
Diploma |
1.4 lacs |
3 months to 1 year |
|
Undergraduate |
30k to 3 lacs |
3 years |
|
Postgraduate |
5 lacs and above |
2 years |
It is important to understand that animation is not restricted to making images move, it encompasses far more. With a specialisation in animation, you will be able to master the following:
Something that will never go out of style is 2-D animation. The 2-D representation of an object or character lends life to it in terms of movement, breath, expressions, etc. This not only makes following the animated object easier but also makes the experience of encountering it far more enjoyable.
3-D animation has shot to popularity in a relatively short period of time. It is now the preferred mode of visual entertainment for most people. 3-D animations make the visual entertainment experience more lifelike and therefore more enjoyable. This is especially important because of the growing competition to improve on existing 3-D animation capacities.
This is an extremely interesting field to work in. The broad definition of character animation can be applied to cartoons, animated movies, and even video games. As the market for all three is constantly growing, so are the job opportunities. If you are passionate about good animation being a part of the shows you watch or the games you play, this is definitely a profession worth considering.
This is the one thing that is absolutely vital to visual media. From print to motion entertainment, Photoshop is required to cover up any and all sorts of blemishes and discrepancies wherever they may appear. This takes a lot of patience to master. However, being good at Photoshop can yield many benefits.
The animation is not merely limited to what you can do on a computer. Some of the best-animated characters and designs of all times have been hand drawn. A significant ability at drawing that is honed and nurtured can take you very far in the animation industry.
For any website, the design and layout of the web page are extremely important. People browsing these sites linger on and revisit those that appeal to them, both visually and intellectually. Therefore, proficient web page designers who can create attractive and quirky web pages while retaining all important information are in high demand.
An integral aspect of all video games is the animation and design of the characters and the spaces they inhabit. The more lifelike the characters and their surroundings, the more authentic the game feels; the better the game-playing experience becomes. This is also an extremely lucrative field as there is a high demand for new games that are unlike anything that has been played before.
Visual effects can make or break a movie. While some amazing movies can be ruined by terrible visual effects, some terrible movies can do quite well with amazing visual effects. It’s no wonder then, that people who are proficient in visual effects are sought after the way they are. This takes a great deal of patience and passion to master.
One of the most crucial aspects of any video is editing. Without it, a video can look crude and appear as amateur work, regardless of how good the core matter is. Therefore, if you are looking to get into visual entertainment, a good set of video editing skills is a must.
Much like visual effects, audio effects are essential to entertainment. In fact, audio effects are required in more fields than visual effects thanks to the growing popularity of podcasts. This is a good time to develop and show off your audio editing skills as they are in high demand.