Computer Graphics World

dusty car crawls through a fl urry of barking dogs, women in swirling sa- ris, and children scampering about in the traffi c-choked streets. It could be a scene from Slumdog Millionaire, but it is a typical scene from my life in India. is cultural mosaic captivated me when I arrived three years ago to help drive Digital Bollywood, an initiative started by Nvidia in 2006 to support the fast-growing Indian animation and visual eff ects indus- tries. We had an ambitious agenda that in- cluded bringing in Western experts, provid- ing training and educational opportunities, building community support, and assisting with technological and workfl ow issues. A solid foundation for digital animation and visual eff ects already existed because of India's strong fi lmmaking tradition, the so-called Bollywood industry. One of the world's biggest fi lm industries, it releases ap- proximately 1000 titles a year. With a high percentage of musicals and melo dramas, Bollywood did not delve into animation and visual eff ects very often. at has quickly changed, not only in Bollywood but worldwide, as the international fi lmmaking community has discovered India's wealth of animation and visual eff ects talent. India is a country of determined, pas- sionate people. ey are enlisting support for the animation and visual eff ects move- ment from multiple sources, including government offi cials and business leaders. e city of Pune, for example, was the hub of the IT industry in the '80s and '90s. Now, Pune is committed to becoming the animation and gaming hub of India. e entire community is behind this eff ort, including the MCCIA Chamber of Com- merce and local studios, and construction is under way on a 25-acre animation com- plex that includes studios, artist spaces, schools, and a technological park. Recently, the fi rst students began classes at Pune's DSK School of Gaming and Ani- mation, an off shoot of the internationally renowned Supinfocom School in France. Similar to the way in which digital con- tent creation developed elsewhere, the initial focus in India was on animation. Since the Digital Bollywood initiative be- gan, hundreds of animation studios have sprung up across the country, in small towns and major cities alike. Large anima- tion operations are being launched now in Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, and Mumbai. ey join a network of ex- isting facilities that are already producing outstanding work on the world stage. For instance, the animation by Bangalore- based facility Tata Elxsi, Ltd. for Roadside Romeo was nominated by the Visual Eff ects Society in the Outstanding Animation in an Animated Motion Picture category, along- side big Hollywood-animated fi lms such as DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda and Disney's Wall-e. Released in 3D, it is widely regarded as India's fi rst "super animation" feature. Other established Indian animation play- ers include Paprikaas in Bangalore, which has a collaborative operation working with both DreamWorks Animation and om- son Technicolor. Big Animation in Pune, with impressive credits such as Little Krish- na, has a top R&D team. Other notewor- thy facilities already established are Kray- onz, Crest Animation, Prana Studios, and EttaminA studios. May 2009 38 India-based studios, including Anibrain in Pune, are showing their strength, producing shots for fi lm projects such as Resident Evil: Extinction. Resident Evil: Extinction distributed by Sony/Screen Gems.

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