UX/UI country. If careers were vacations, you’d probably go here.

In today’s transformational age aflush with career options, the task of finding the perfect career is akin to rumbling through a haystack in search of that elusive needle. Evidently, new disciplines are emerging virtually every day and piling on to the soaring stack of new job roles. With unprecedented choice, one is staring at a confusing plethora of equally good options.

Thankfully, for those in the creative arena, especially, the ones interesting in design-related careers, the choice is as easy as pie; there’s one distinctive option truly worthy of pursuing – UX & UI Design. It’s a new-age career pathway perfect for the young, ambitious, and aspiring designer.

UX and UI Design jobs offer the perfect blend of high salary, growth potential, and job security, making them attractive career choices. In fact, UX/UI Design is trending as one of the top 10 careers in the world. Browse through any design job board today and it’s likely that you’ll find at least a couple of openings for UX/UI Design. And it’s not hard to find the reason for this high demand.

For most of us, hardly a day goes by without visiting a website, using some digital product or an app on our smartphones. From paying a bill online to purchasing a product at an e-commerce store, hiring a cab or seeking some information/service through a website, everything is tied to UX/UI Design; two inter-dependent disciplines that help improve the quality of interaction between the user and the digital product, effectively improving expected outcomes (it could be anything from ‘visitor count’ to ‘sales conversions’, ‘registrations/subscriptions’, etc…)

More and more businesses are realizing that designing apps/websites with attractive+clutter-free user interfaces and functional+intuitive user experience are key to improving customer satisfaction, branding/sales, and relevant organization goals.

Because of this growing importance of UX/UI to business, the job market is witnessing heightened demand for UX/UI Design professionals. Employers are struggling to find UX/UI professionals as there is an acute shortage of experienced talent. While the best web designing courses are available, one cannot say the same of UX/UI as they are emerging disciplines.

Many recruiters in the design space claim that UX/UI Design is one of the most difficult roles for companies to fill and point to the fact that many UX/UI Design roles in the job market remain unfilled. And as demand outstrips supply, UX salaries are increasing year on year. Catering to this growing demand for UX/UI designers, many multimedia institutes are offering ux design courses in Hyderabad. They are imparting a variety of short-term and long-term courses in UX/UI Design, both through the conventional, brick-and-mortar classroom mode and the online, virtual classes platform.

However, in the current situation, online programs are a great way to utilize time, upskill, and prepare for a career in this emerging field. Creative Multimedia’s transformative UX Design program is designed to help you advance your career.

Available in Basic and Advanced versions, the UX Design online programs are imparted by an experienced industry professional through convenient weekend sessions (Two per week) on Saturday and Sunday. Upon successful completion of the program, participants will be awarded a Certificate and can avail placement assistance.

So take the program and get started on a great career journey to UX country. Rest assured, you’ll
stay back and enjoy a lifetime of personal and professional growth. Bon voyage!
For more on the program eligibility, schedule, fees and other details,
Please Call:  +91 9052509052 / CLICK HERE

Growing importance of Animation, Graphics and Illustrations in the Medical arena.

Image Credits: trinityanimation.com

The use of Animation and graphics is extending beyond the conventional fields of media and entertainment – film making, gaming and advertising. For years, Animation and multimedia have been used to tell stories, convey messages and entertain. Today, Animation is also being used to educate, research, simulate and more. It is making inroads into areas such as Science and Technology, Retail, Infrastructure, Manufacturing and Healthcare. A range of Animation techniques – 2D, 3D, 4D and Flash combined with advances in technology are driving new applications for animation, even as “Medical” is emerging as one of the fastest growing verticals of the animation market globally.

This was highlighted during a presentation made during the 21^st Anniversary Celebrations of Creative Multimedia Group held on 20^th July, 2019 at Ravindra Bharathi. (Creative Multimedia Group runs the best animation college Hyderabad can be proud of.)  The presentation was made by Dr. Neeraj Raj, a pioneering expert in Multimedia + Animation and a distinguished speaker at several national and International forums on Digital Medical Education. He holds the distinction of setting up Andhra Pradesh’s first Multimedia Studio and one of the first Animation companies in India. An accomplished artist, his cartoons have been published in leading publications and exhibited at the World Humour Conference.

Dr. Neeraj graduated as Best Outgoing Student from Osmania Medical College and went on to establish “Medisys”, the first and largest ever MOOC for Medicine offering over 150 SmarTeach Online courses. He also set up the first ever Virtual Medical University offering PG, diploma and CME courses and is the proud recipient of the “Vaidyashree Award” for outstanding contributions to medical education. Eminently qualified to hold forth on medical animation, Dr. Neeraj was invited as a special guest for the celebrations, during which he delivered an in-depth presentation on how this emerging discipline is taking shape.

Dr. Neeraj Raj is at the forefront of the medical animation revolution in India, having established Immertive Pvt. Ltd., an enterprise specializing in creating immersive experiences in healthcare using Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) technologies. Stating that Animation is no more just about entertainment, he said: specializations such as Medical Animation are gaining ground as distinct verticals and helping expand the animation sector in India and across the world. In fact, the time is not far away when we will see every animation institute in Hyderabad and India imparting special courses in medical animation.

Image Credits: medium.com

Offering an immersive learning experience for animation students of Creative Multimedia, India’s most sought-after digital media catalyst, Dr. Neeraj screened a series of animation films showing the practical benefits of medical animation and stating: “To put it simply, medical animation has made it easier to explain/articulate things that were not possible earlier.” The animation films screened by Dr. Neeraj offered an easy-to-understand and crystal clear view of how medicines work inside the body, how surgical procedures are done and how the brain reacts to different stimuli and other physiological changes.

Elaborating on the growing role of Animation in healthcare, he said: “Hitherto a niche area, medical animation is now gaining increasing importance with the advent of new-age, game-changing enterprises in the healthcare space.

Globally, some of the major companies in the medical animation space include Immertive Pvt. Ltd. (India), INVIVO Communications (Canada), Random42 Scientific Communication (U.K.), Animated Biomedical Productions (Australia), AXS Studio (Canada) and a clutch of US companies such as Hybrid Medical Animation, Ghost Productions, Scientific Animations, Radius Digital Science, Nucleus Medical Media, Visible Body, Elara Systems, XVIVO Scientific Animation, Blausen Medical Communications, Trinsic Medical Animation and Viscira. (Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/medical-animation-market-223188473.html)

These companies are testing the limits and leveraging the practicality of animation for various purposes including: educating patients, making audio-video demonstrations – simulating a medical device or action of a drug on the body, cellular/molecular animation, emergency medical care education, surgical training, forensic reconstruction and more.

Image Credits: YouTube.com

Specifically, the therapeutic areas where medical animation is being used include: Cardiology, Dental, Gastroenterology, Gynaecology, Neurology, Ophthalmology, Oncology, Orthopaedics and Plastic Surgery. Medical Animation in being used by many players across the healthcare eco-system including hospitals, medical device manufacturers, medical academies, life science companies, medico-legal firms, forensic departments and insurance companies.

Medical Animation is benefiting modern healthcare immensely. Though intended for different audiences, it is most commonly used as an instructional/educational tool for medical professionals and patients.

Art and science have combined and complemented each other to enable medical animation. In collaboration with medical experts, 3D Animation Artists and Medical Illustrators are bringing their knowledge of human anatomy, colour, light and matter to create medical animation. While continuous advancements in technology have helped shape CG (Computer Graphic), the combined effect of these developments is evident in visual communication across industries and verticals including medicine. The foundation for medical animation is medical illustration which is an industry-recognized specialization in numerous colleges around the world: The Department of Art for Medicine at the John Hopkins Medical School, U.S.A. is a popular example.

Image Credits: clinicaltrials

With rising adoption of medical animation by healthcare and pharmaceutical companies; influx of start-ups; expansion of the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries and rising population and lifestyle diseases coupled with the growing number of surgeries across the world, the medical animation market is expected to touch USD 301.3 Million by the year 2021, growing at a CAGR of 20.8% during the forecast period 2016 – 2021.

Current trends and future projections indicate that Medical Animation is expanding rapidly and is poised for a bigger presence as the sector throws up a plethora of attractive job opportunities. Medical Illustration and Medical Animation are in-demand skills with great scope for growth due to the dearth of trained talent. Being a fast-growing, sunrise sector, Medical Animation makes for a promising career pathway. And pursuing an industry-recognized animation degree course in India is the best way to get started.

Visual Effects sector, egged on by the mother of necessity, to emerge a safe career haven for aspiring artists.

Image Credits – thearmageddontimes.com

One of the most powerful enablers of film making in this technologically advanced digital era is Visual Effects (VFX). It’s a magic wand that film makers are wielding brilliantly to craft stunning, out-of-the screen cinematic experiences. And it’s been happening since ages, (though the VFX basics remain the same) in a slightly crude or elementary fashion compared to modern day special effects wizardry. From the use of miniature models in the early 1900s, to the advent of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in the 1990s, and other advancements such as motion-capture (mocap) and animatronics along the way, VFX has helped stretch the scope of film making vastly.

Traditionally, Hollywood has been a super power in film making and the driving force behind the global media and entertainment industry’s growth. And it’s no secret that the VFX sector is growing rapidly on the back of demand from mainstream Hollywood films helmed by creative film makers who understand the impact of special effects on storytelling. Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Michael Bay, Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg are some of the prominent film directors credited with extensively using special effects in their films and popularizing the craft. VFX is growing bigger every year as more and more filmmakers exploit its creative power to dramatize the visual narrative.

As per an online report, there are about 30 VFX-based Hollywood films slated for release this year (From September to December 2019): Star Wars – Episode IX, The Goldfinch, Frozen II, Terminator: Dark Fate, Zombieland: Double Tap, Zeroville, Artemis Fowl, 3 from Hell, Spies in Disguise, Motherless Brooklyn, Downtown Abbey, Sonic the Hedgehog and Ford v. Ferrari to name a few. And these are in addition to a bunch of 3 dozen odd films which have already hit the screens this year (From January till August) and hundreds of Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and other language films and television serials/Netflix series based on VFX which are in the making and scheduled for a 2019-2020 release/premiere worldwide.

Apart from cinema, gaming is another major accelerator for VFX. Every year, scores of new games are being introduced in the market to cater to the burgeoning demand. The line-up for this year’s gaming releases is impressive to say the least. The entertainment world is waiting with bated breath as the biggest names in the business rollout brand new games and fresh editions of existing games from their creative pipeline. Many of these games are expected to be launched during various upcoming gaming events across the world such as EGX Berlin (November 1-3), SIGGRAPH Asia (November 17-20), India Game Developer Conference-2019 and GDC 2020 (March 16-20) to name a few.

Image Credits: pundschus.com

Is it only movies and gaming that are fuelling VFX? Certainly not! Advertising is another major area where Visual Effects is being used to tell unforgettable stories. Be it an explosion, a car chase, an adorable CG character or a sublime utopian world, VFX is creating it all for film makers and enabling stories that engage, enlighten and enthral. The Vodafone ZooZoo commercial, Happydent City Lights television commercial, MTS Internet Baby Ad Campaign, the KitKat Dancing Babies Ad Campaign and the Kawasaki KB 100 morphing advertisement in the late 1900s are some of the best examples in Indian advertising history where VFX was used to stunning effect.

Apart from films, gaming, and advertising, Visual Effects are also being used increasingly in creating high value, mission-critical presentations, videos and other promotional material for companies across industries and verticals including education, engineering, healthcare, hospitality, infrastructure and real estate, manufacturing, science and technology, research and e-commerce to name a few. All of these are adding momentum to the VFX engine as it picks up speed and races towards projected revenues of USD 23,854 million in the year 2025. From the days when people were curious to know what is vfx to this exciting era of digital media and entertainment, VFX has come a long, long way.

What’s evident is the fact that, as VFX is growing bigger every day, more film makers, game crafters, ad builders and promo builders in addition to other new users are make it an indispensable tool for everything from business to entertainment and education. And this is great news as more VFX studios are required to execute the work which in turn means more jobs will be created and artists can look forward to thriving careers. As technology is evolving, Visual Effects is expanding in scope to include many specializations. Some of the popular roles in VFX include Motion Graphics Artist, Digital FX Animator, Visual FX Artist, Compositor, Roto Artist, Matte Painter, 3D Compositor, Audio-Video Editor, Match-moving Artist, Digital FX Artist and DI & Colour Grading Artist apart from talent required for many other integral tasks such as Simulation FX, Motion Capture, 3D Scanning, Character & Creature Animation, Concept Art, and Previs/Pre-Visualization which also require specialized VFX effects skills.

The growing use of VFX in cinema, gaming, advertising and other sectors/industries is triggering a spurt in demand for special effects training academies such as Dilsukhnagar Arena which have been doing phenomenal work in the field since 1998. The academy has trained outstanding VFX artists, many of whom are working with top CG studios, have been honoured with the coveted Oscar for their contributions to the award-winning Hollywood film ‘The Jungle Book’ and collaborated on many other popular Hollywood blockbusters such as Captain Marvel and more. At Dilsukhnagar Arena institute, the emphasis is on enhancing employability: by creating an enabling environment, extending prompt learning support, facilitating experiential learning and selflessly travelling the extra mile to ensure that students rise to their potential and achieve their career goals.

This learner-oriented, industry-specific approach to VFX training is the key to helping the global digital media and entertainment business cope with the surge in demand for readily employable talent. The industry needs more such competent institutes which can deliver the best VFX training in India and across locations around the world. As cutting-edge technology driven by innovation – the mother of necessity evolves to meet the emerging needs of creative film makers who are pushing the boundaries of storytelling, VFX is becoming indispensable to the craft, even as new roles are being created and more talent is being recruited. Exceptional talent passionate about building careers in Animation and VFX can confidently step in to the exciting world and enjoy a secure and rewarding future even as the industry expands.

21 years of spirited career-building and nation-building.

India’s largest and best digital media education powerhouse celebrates its 21^st anniversary.

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Ravindra Bharathi, the prestigious National Theatre, and the cultural showcase of Hyderabad wore a festive look with flowers, festoons and fandangles. As the warm rays of the morning sun bathed the campus in golden yellow, the first of the invitees started trooping in.

It was a beautiful Thursday morning on the 18^th of July 2019. A huge, magnificent muggu (rangoli) in the form of the number ‘21’, splashed with rainbow colors and lined with fresh marigold blossoms, grass flakes and rose petals greeted guests at the expansive stairway to the entrance. The day was special: the 21^st Anniversary day of Creative Multimedia Group, India’s most sought-after digital media career catalyst.

Famed for enabling some of the biggest success stories in Digital Media and Entertainment, Creative Multimedia marked this important milestone with a spectacular extravaganza at Ravindra Bharathi. Accomplished professionals from academia, industry and government graced the celebrations, affording heightened importance to an annual attraction that’s now folklore in the digital media education space.

This is the flagship event of Creative Multimedia Group which includes Dilsukhnagar Arena and Creative Multimedia College of Fine Arts, two of the most sought-after names in creative art and digital media education in India. The event is aimed at affording fruitful opportunities for students to enrich themselves with precious domain knowledge and practical insights from industry leaders who grace the event. Creative Multimedia Group.

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Dr. T. Papireddy, Chairman – Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) was the Chief Guest of the day while the Guests of Honour included Dr. Kavita Daryani Rao, Vice Chancellor – Jawaharlal Architecture and Fine Arts University (JNAFAU), Dr. Phani Sree Vagvala, Registrar – JNAFAU, Anil Pant, MD & CEO – APTECH, Dr. Neeraj Raj, Founder – Medisys, Praveen Kilaru – Production Head at Digital Domain, Binayak & Kaizar from Green Gold Animation, Srihari, Founder – Parrot Communications and Ganesh Kumar, Strategic UX Designer – Infosys.

Dr. T. Papireddy, Chairman – Telangana State Council of Higher Education was the Chief Guest of the day. Congratulating the group on its 21^st anniversary, he said that the flourishing $500 bn multimedia industry needs more such passionate training powerhouses as Creative Multimedia.

Addressing students, Dr. Kavita Daryani Rao, Vice Chancellor of JNAFAU recalled that Creative Multimedia was the first to tie-up with the University for the Visual Art Degree Program. She complimented the group for its unquestionable strength and consistency in imparting industry-focused career programs for 21 years and wished the group more success in the years to come.

Striking a chord with students, Mr. Anil Pant, MD & CEO of APTECH highlighted the prolific job opportunities in multimedia saying: “This is one sector which will never experience a recession due to the deep penetration of internet, explosive growth in mobile phones and advent of new content platforms.”

“Today, people across age groups, gender, social strata and region are consuming content. There is an audience for every genre of content and with spiralling demand, multimedia talent like you who are create that content will never be out of a job and will always enjoy job security.

Highlighting the surfeit of job opportunities in multimedia, Mr. Anil stated: “You guys (digital media students) attract multiple job opportunities. Many are in a comfortable position to tear up at least 2 job offers. Thankfully, you are not affected by the employment crisis facing fresh graduates in mainstream sectors like Engineering. Less than 15% of engineers today are getting jobs and the average starting salary of software engineers is very lower. Also, unlike software and related sectors where new skills are required to stay job-relevant due to rapid technology changes, the basic skills required in multimedia are the same, ensuring that talent will never go obsolete in this industry.”

While parents, for long, have preferred Engineering and other mainstream careers pathways to Multimedia which is not considered aspirational, rewarding and stable enough, Mr. Anil exclaimed: “Today, with the kind of prolific opportunities and demand for multimedia talent, I wish more parents would allow children to take up multimedia careers. This is the time. Collectively, across digital media and entertainment verticals, the industry needs more than 1,00,000 trained people today but is unable to meet demand. Too many jobs are being created but we just don’t have enough talent.”

Mr. Anil treated students to a screening of “Fattu Rap” – the latest promo of Arena Animation. Exhorting students to be proud of embracing a multimedia career, he said that India is has now emerged as a major destination for the biggest names in global media and entertainment. Commending the Founder and CEO of Creative Multimedia Group, Mr. Raja Sekhar Buggaveeti, he said: “Rajasekhar is the most passionate individual I’ve come across in the Multimedia training sector in India. Staying committed to Enhancing Employment^TM for over two decades, producing 26,000 creative art professionals and facilitating jobs for them is no small achievement and I wish the government of Telengana recognizes his efforts.”

Mr. Neeraj Raj, Founder of Immertive Pvt. Ltd., an enterprise specializing in creating immersive experiences in healthcare using Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) technologies. Stating that Animation is no more just about entertainment, he said that specializations such as Medical Animation are gaining ground as distinct verticals and helping expand the animation sector.

Elaborated on the growing role of Animation in healthcare, he said: “Medical Animation is at the forefront of modern healthcare. Though intended for different audiences, it is most commonly used as an instructional/educational tool for medical professionals and patients. Offering an immersive experience, it shows how medicines work inside the body, how surgical procedures are done, how the brain reacts to different stimuli and other physiological changes.”

Mr. Neeraj said that Medical Animation is growing bigger as AR, VR, MR and other emerging technologies are helping improve the quality of medical animation while enabling newer applications. As a result, the field is expanding fast and creating more job opportunities. He wrapped up his presentation with a thank you note and congratulated Creative Multimedia for maintaining its excellent placement record for twenty one long years.

Praveen Kilaru, Production Head of Digital Domain made an enthralling presentation on his studio’s best works including such Hollywood movies as “Avengers: Infinity War”, “X-Men: Days of Future Past”, “Iron Man 3”, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”, “The Fifth Element” and “The Jungle Book”. He congratulated Creative Multimedia on 21 years of leadership and said that the group’s placement initiative “Our Campus-Your Interviews” is the best by any animation and VFX academy in India which has helped scores of students win rewarding jobs at top studios and realize their career goals.

Mr. Binayak and Mr. Kaizar from Green Gold Animation made a presentation on the evolution of the character Chhota Bheem and the behind-the-scenes of the stereoscopic 3D Animation film Kungfu Dhamaka. The team presented an elaborate AV on the creative and animation production process of the film, taking students on an educative journey through the production pipeline of a 3D animation film. The film was produced by Green Gold Animation and features the immensely popular character Chhota Bheem as the protagonist.

A team from Green Gold Animation comprising Binayak and Kaizar made a presentation on the evolution of the character Chhota Bheem and the behind-the-scenes of the stereoscopic 3D Animation film Kungfu Dhamaka. While Binayak is the director, Kaizar is the creative director of Kungfu Dhamaka. The film is about Bheem in the land of the dragon, attempting to rescue the emperor’s daughter from the clutches of the evil Zuhu, emerging victorious and earning the respect of the people. The film was produced by Green Gold Animation and features the immensely popular character Chhota Bheem as the protagonist. The team presented an elaborate AV on the creative and animation production process of the film, taking students on an educative journey through the production pipeline of a 3D animation film.

Mr. Srihari – Founder of Parrot Communications, an established graphic design studio in Hyderabad inspired students with a short speech stating that multimedia is one of the most rewarding professions in the world

Mr. Ganesh, Strategic UX Designer at Infosys held forth on the growing role of UX Design in today’s digital marketing era and said that an array of job opportunities are being created around UX Design. Stressing on the dearth of trained talent in the job market, he said that companies are willing to pay high salaries for trained UX Designers. Mr. Ganesh urged students doing Graphic and Web Design to consider training in UX Design as it is one of the most sought after skill sets attracting salaries upto INR 7 lakhs per annum for freshers.

Creative Multimedia Founder & CEO Raja Sekhar Buggaveeti thanked everyone for joining the celebrations and making it a big success. Renewing his group’s commitment to Enhancing Employability^TM, he said that Creative Multimedia students are well placed to attract the best opportunities in the job market by virtue of the inspiring mentoring, world-class training resources and a ramified placement network dotted with the biggest animation, VFX, gaming and IT companies including  Prime Focus, Technicolor, Deluxe Digital, DQ Entertainments, EA, Green Gold Animation, MPC, Makuta, Firefly, Deloitte, Infosys, Microsoft, Amazon and TCS to name a few.

As a digital media education powerhouse, Creative Multimedia Group imparts outcome-driven Animation, VFX, Graphics + Web/UI-UX Design education through its institutions – ‘Dilsukhnagar Arena Animation Academy’ and ‘Creative Multimedia College of Fine Arts (CMCFA)’. Creative Multimedia Group is the proud winner of the Best Digital Media Academy Award and has shaped 26,000+ successful multimedia careers till date.

CREATIVE MULTIMEDIA GROUP 21ST ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS on Thursday, the 18th of July, 2019.

It’s time to rock it. We are ringing in our 21st anniversary with a mega extravaganza on Thursday, the 18th of July, 2019 [8:30 AM to 5:00 PM] at Ravindrabharathi Kala Bhavan, Hyderabad. Add your energy to the celebrations and pump up the excitement! We are counting you in. #ArenaAnimationDilsukhnagar #21st #Anniversarycelebrations.

Contact us for any details: 040 2404 2343.

Enhancing Employability of Young India. Since 1998

Image Courtesy: aarp.org

Unemployment has always been a thorn in the flesh for India. Recent trends are proving worrisome, especially for young aspirants prepping for a career in the real world. Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data showed that the unemployment rate rose sharply to touch a 28-month high of 8.4% in the third week of April 2019. Since India’s Independence in 1947, unemployment has been hovering in the range of 5.74% (Average of 71 years). While the lowest unemployment rate was 2.9% (in the year 1953), the highest unemployment rate of 9.7% was registered in the year 1982.

The current rise in unemployment presents a disturbing picture highlighted by shrinking jobs and expanding pay crisis. While this trend can be attributed to several factors including slower job creation w.r.t the number of fresh graduates joining the workforce every month, one of the key reasons is sub-standard education for students which fails to provide them suitable jobs. As a result, many settle for low-salary, non-core jobs to earn a living and are thus not gainfully employed, while others remain unemployed for long periods, up to two years in many cases.

This begs the question: What’s the point in churning our degree-holders who lack employability skills and are unfit to be a productive part of the workforce? And spare a thought for the millions of career-aspirants who invest precious resources with the dream of gainful employment.

The book ‘JOBONOMICS’* by Goutam Das presents an in-depth analysis of India’s employment crisis. With hard-hitting facts and real stories, the book highlights the magnitude of the problem and the immediate focus needed on skills-oriented education stating that “India has a culture of knowledge, not one of skilling.”

This culture has been impacting sectors across India for many years now. In fact, this piece is a continuation of our previous blog which touched upon the job crisis, pointing to the fact that unemployment is more prevalent in mainstream career pathways such as Engineering and Management which were until now highly sought-after and appealing.

Lately, Engineering has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. India produces 1.5 million engineers every year but barely 7% are employable according to an India Today Web Desk Report. In fact, a McKinsey report red-flagged the issue a decade ago revealing that only a quarter of India’s engineers were actually employable. This trend is influenced largely by the outdated and sub-standard education (inadequate, irrelevant and inferior) paradigms not just in engineering but management, science and arts too. Virtually every discipline is riddled with the same issue: sub-standard education leading to low employability of graduates.

Creative Multimedia

How can India tackle this problem of low-quality education? Leading the way for academies/colleges across disciplines/sectors in India is Dilsukhnagar Arena, a revolutionary multimedia institute focused on experiential and innovative education. For over 21 years now, Dilsukhnagar Arena has been singularly committed to Enhancing Employability^TM. The famed institution widely acknowledged as the Largest and Best Digital Media Academy in India has successfully skilled over 26,000 students and enabled fruitful placements for them at top companies.

Here’s how Dilsukhnagar Arena got it right…….right from the beginning!

Driving Knowledge: To ensure that education evolves at the same pace as industry, Dilsukhnagar Arena works closely with top recruiters to update its multimedia courses according to current talent needs. This helps equip students with advanced knowledge to stay at the cutting-edge of the discipline and to be recognized as well-informed and industry-relevant talent.

Building Communication: Despite a sterling academic performance, candidates with poor English language skills can lose out on jobs as, English – the common language of the corporate world, is a vital employability skill. Dilsukhnagar Arena affords students a strong grounding in English to enhance their employability and to equip them with this vital advantage so they can stay confident during the interview and at the workplace.

Improving Competence: In most cases, education is not industry-aligned and fails to prepare students for employment. The resulting skill gap ensures that students are not readily employable. Dilsukhnagar Arena thrives on experiential training to close the skill gap through a variety of hands-on training programs: the reason for the high employability quotient of Dilsukhnagar Arena students and the academy’s popularity as the first port-of-call for leading recruiters across industries.

That’s not all, Dilsukhnagar Arena’s prolific mentoring, learning resources, and value-additions, all add to the superior training programs which are designed with the singular goal of Enhancing Employability^TM. Acknowledged for its benchmark training, Creative Multimedia, Dilsukhnagar Arena’s parent organization has been bestowed with the Best Digital Media Academy in India Award (thrice) and the Award for Academic Excellence (twice) by many reputed organizations.

Having facilitated employment for over 26,000 young Indians till date, Dilsukhnagar Arena Institute, with a rich legacy spanning 21 years, has contributed its bit to nation building ever since its inception way back in 1998 and is a veritable role model not just for Digital Media but for other disciplines across the board including Engineering, Management and Science in India.

Education must be a productive instruction and training procedure designed not just to impart knowledge but also help develop skills, especially for young people in colleges who are the immediate future of the nation. Irrespective of the discipline and the academy, the need of the hour is to scrap/refresh outdated curricula to meet the current industry requirements, ensure improved and adequate training infrastructure, and introduce experiential programs designed in collaboration with industry experts so that students acquire relevant, job-ready skills. This will help enhance the quality of education and improve student’s employability.

The goal should be to empower students with high employability skills and put them on the path to productive employment with better jobs and more rewarding work: the key to the improved socio-economic progress of India.

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*More on this in our next blog (other factors such as technology which are poised to impact employment in a big way in the near future).

 

Digital Media Mania!

Growing preference for Digital Media & Entertainment careers over hitherto glamorous pathways such as Engineering and Management.

Mayank was possibly in the happiest phase of his life. All of 22, the relief from chucking studies for good was visible on his face. Fresh as a dewdrop, the newly minted graduate was upbeat about his career and raring to step into the real world. A lucrative job, the satisfaction of standing on his own two feet and the pride in his parent’s eyes; his dream future was just before him. Sadly, life didn’t play along and the dream went bust. Mayank, an aspiring Engineer from a reputed college now finds himself jobless, even a full year after graduation.

His father, an employee with a Hyderabad-based PSU is a worried man. Mayank, from Dilsukhnagar Hyderabad, completed his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering and was keen on building a career in the manufacturing sector. Unfortunately, he was unable to get a job through his skills are highly relevant in industries such as Aerospace, Automobiles, Defense, Electronics, Infrastructure, Marine, Metals, Oil and Gas, Pharmaceuticals and Energy.

Mayank’s case is not an isolated one. This is the plight of lakhs of engineering graduates in India who find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. The employability rate of fresh graduates is declining steeply. Studies indicate that nearly 40 percent of the 15 lakh engineers India produces every year are not readily employable. Another study by ASSOCHAM reveals that only 7 percent of MBA graduates are employable. With the exception of government-run IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management) and a few others, a majority of the 5,000+ business schools in India are producing ill-equipped graduates who are unable to find gainful employment.

While there are several reasons for this sad state of affairs including the obsolete curriculum, and poor training, one of the key factors is the mushrooming of engineering and management institutes and the widening demand-supply gap with more graduates chasing fewer jobs.

While students across career streams, and the industry, in general, are grappling with this crisis, nowhere is it more concentrated than in hitherto mainstream career pathways such as Engineering and Management. As a result, students are increasingly scouting for superior alternatives. In the recent past, the academic sector has been witnessing a major shift to digital media and other new-generation career pathways which are proving to be more rewarding, secure and growth-friendly.

Image Courtesy: Linhart PR

The Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E) sector is going great guns, growing at 13.4% year-on-year (YOY) to touch INR 1.67 trillion in 2018. It is expected to cross INR 2.35 trillion ($33.6 billion) by 2021, at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.6%, according to a FICCI and EY report. The movie industry, of course, is a major contributor to growth. Just one look at the index of films in leading film database websites will give you an idea of the huge business generated annually. The M&E sector is entering a phase of accelerated growth, powered by many factors including new video streaming platforms, the spread of regional content, growth of smartphones and penetration of affordable broadband. Truly, these are exciting times and a harbinger of the huge growth ahead for the M&E industry.

This huge growth is likely to translate into a plethora of jobs and boost opportunities for students learning Animation, VFX, Gaming, Graphic Design, Web designer courses and UI/UX Design courses. In fact, the media and entertainment sector’s growth is directly proportional to the population growth, as virtually every individual consumes entertainment in some form or the other. In this context, it’s safe to say that a career in M&E offers a secure and stable future with strong potential for career growth.

Today, jobs in media and entertainment are becoming more and more attractive. In fact, exciting and rewarding job opportunities exist not just in M&E sector companies but across other businesses including Animation & VFX Studios, Gaming Studios, Film Production Houses, Television Channels, Content Production Companies, Advertising & PR Agencies, Digital Marketing Firms, IT & ITeS Enterprises, Infrastructure & Real Estate Companies, Education & Training Companies, Pharma Research Firms, Industrial Design Agencies and e-Commerce & e-Education companies to name a few.

While an Animation/VFX/Gaming fresher commands INR 25,000 – 30,000 per month as starting salary, Graphic and Web Design freshers command INR 20,000 – 25,000 per month in the job market depending on various factors including the recruiter, the job role and the candidate’s caliber. Importantly, as this is a highly creative field, the growth potential is unlimited. Exceptionally talented candidates with 5+ years of high-quality experience are well-positioned to attract six figures salaries and more.

Some of the big recruiters of digital media talent across industries include Walt Disney Studios, Amazon, Deloitte, HCL, Infosys, Microsoft, MPC, Technicolor, TCS, Prime Focus, Deluxe Digital, Cyient, Prana Studios, Makuta, Green Gold Animation, Reliance Digital, DQ Entertainment, Orient Blackswan, Thomson Reuters, Tech Mahindra and EA to name a few. All these companies are many sought-after companies offering rewarding jobs with tremendous scope for career growth.

The shift, or perhaps more appropriately, ‘Exodus’ from conventional career streams to Digital Media & Entertainment is visible and is gaining traction even as technology and trends unshackle growth.

P.S.: Watch out for our next blog “Enhancing Employability of Young India. Since 1998”, a narrative on how India’s best digital media academy has been playing the training game smartly to help its students avoid the “unemployability issues” plaguing fresh graduates of engineering and other mainstream disciplines in India.

Dilsukhnagar Arena’s YouTube channel DNA Inc hits top speed! Views rocket to 20 million. Subscriber base shoots past 75,000.

DNA Inc – the official YouTube channel of Dilsukhnagar Arena is going great guns and creating records of sorts with big leaps in views and subscriptions. DNA Inc is garnering views on a massive scale as the 3D Animation short films on the channel enthral web audiences worldwide.

Launched in the year 2010 with just a handful of subscribers and a few hundred views in the initial months, DNA Inc, on the sheer strength of its engaging content, commanded a rapidly growing online following and powered ahead to surpass several incredible milestones: one million views in 2011, five million views in 2016, ten million views in 2017, fifteen million views in 2018 and a record-shattering twenty million views in 2019. The subscriber base also kept pace with the scorching growth and shot up from 20,000 subscribers (in 2017) to 50,000 subscribers (in 2018) and 75,000 subscribers (in 2019). The growth seems unstoppable as the numbers continue their northward journey at far greater speeds.

DNA Inc is a collective of 7 high-quality 3D Animation Short Films, apart from other CG art created by animation students. The animation shorts, many of them offering thoughtful messages were crafted by animation students of Dilsukhnagar Arena as part of their experiential training. These films have been attracting immense interest from netizens across the world and together, the films have made DNA Inc one of the world’s most popular YouTube channels in its category.

Films such as ‘Feel The Punch’ and ‘Cecelia-The Balcony Girl’ are blockbusters on DNA Inc’s YouTube channel. These two films are a rage with youngsters and are the most widely viewed films on this channel, registering an astounding 11.5 million views and 7.2 million views respectively till date. These numbers represent unrivalled records and no other Indian YouTube channel in this category (3D Animation Shorts by Students) comes close.

Other interesting 3D Animation films on the channel include ‘Hugo vs. Lino’, ‘Bee in the Bonnet’, ‘Twisted’, ‘Frog’s Day Out’ and ‘Yugapurushudu’. Most of these films bagged prestigious awards at leading national and international film festivals.

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For instance, ‘Feel The Punch’ won 9 coveted awards, prominent among them being ‘Best Film Award in 3D Space (Animation category) at Bit Film Festival – Hamburg, Germany, Best Animation Film Award at the Hyderabad Short Film Festival, Special Jury Award at the Awards of Excellence, Asifa’s IAD-Mumbai and TASI Viewer’s Choice Award in the Student’s Film Category at Anifest India.

Cecelia-The Balcony Girl won an award at the India International Cinema Today Short Film Awards – Chennai while Hugo vs Lino won 3 awards and Twisted bagged one. All these awards demonstrate the high quality of animation talent and training at Dilsukhnagar Arena apart from the college’s focus on Enhancing Employability^TM. To view the complete collection of animated short films (2D & 3D) crafted by students of Dilsukhnagar Arena, please visit http://www.ShortFilmsArena.com

DNA Inc (Dilsukhnagar Arena Incubation), is a first-of-its-kind, experiential animation training initiative aimed at shaping production-ready CG artists for the Animation, VFX and Gaming industries in India. DNA Inc is an initiative of Dilsukhnagar Arena – the leader in Digital Media Education in India offering job-oriented training in Animation, VFX, Gaming, Graphic Design and Web Design at its global-standard campus in Hyderabad.

 

VFX is going great guns with thrilling advancements in technology. And so are careers in this exciting space! Hyderabad is in the centre of action!

Image Courtesy: VFX Industry News

Every now and then, filmmakers keep pushing Visual Effects (VFX) to new levels. Steven Spielberg toyed with VFX in the year 1993 to transport us into the astonishing world of ‘Jurassic Park’ – a live-action movie with living, breathing synthetic animals. The year 1999 saw the Wachowskis stun filmgoers with ‘The Matrix’ – the VFX thunderbolt that shook up Hollywood too. Cameron created history in 2009 with ‘Avatar’ – a VFX masterpiece featuring a spellbinding CG (Computer Generated) world populated by photo-realistic, CG characters. And most recently, Christopher Nolan broke new ground, creatively and scientifically, by visualizing realistic alien worlds with the VFX in the film ‘Interstellar’.

Image Courtesy: Rockying.

Image Courtesy: Hollywood Reporter

Exciting developments/advancements in CG technology and tools including Virtual Production, Performance Capture, VR (Virtual Reality) & AR (Augmented Reality), VFX Rapid Prototyping, Real-Time Tracking/Compositing and Image Processing, combined with the possibilities of creating photorealistic digital characters and younger versions of artists are allowing filmmakers to push the envelope of creativity and choreograph impossible visual spectacles. With more and more VFX films hitting the box-office bulls-eye, and with VFX being adopted increasingly as a high-impact visual communications enabler in industries outside media and entertainment, the demand for VFX professionals is soaring.

VFX is a highly promising career pathway for young creative talent, especially those passionate about film-making/gaming/advertising. With the horizons of VFX expanding, it is now perceived as an exciting career with excellent scope for professional growth. Students keen on careers in VFX would do well to undergo professional VFX training at a reputed institute. Formal training ensures that students benefit from the insights of industry-experienced faculty, vast learning resources such as labs and library and the opportunity to develop valuable and lifelong friendships with like-minded students who could well be one’s future peers in the industry. Importantly, institutes also facilitate campus placements.

Some of the biggest VFX & Animation studios which hire VFX artists include Moving Picture Company (MPC), Double Negative (DNEG), Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), WETA Digital, Sony Pictures Imageworks, and Prime Focus. Most of these studios deliver cutting-edge VFX work for world cinema and attract the brightest CG talent. Prime Focus, for instance, is a major VFX player with offices in cities across the world including India – at Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Chandigarh, Goa, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi. Prime Focus is amongst the largest recruiters of VFX talent in India, a country which is emerging as a cost-effective destination for VFX outsourcing.

As these are the best studios around, they tend to prefer the best CG talent, trained at the best VFX college. The quality of training, importantly the reputation of the college is a key consideration for recruiters when screening fresh VFX talent. Most of these large studios meet their talent requirements through campus drives. While the hiring criteria varies from studio to studio, employers typically tend to zero-in on candidates who are imaginative and have good creative skills, communication and team skills, keen eye for detail, flair for perfection, command over CG software and of course, passion.

Hyderabad is a great launch pad for VFX careers as the city has a thriving academy-industry eco-system. In fact, the city is home to DQ Entertainment – one of the largest animation studios in the world, Green Gold Animation – the biggest 2D animation company in India, and Creative Multimedia – India’s best and largest digital media academy. The local government is also nurturing a vibrant eco-system and encouraging entrepreneurs to drive growth of the AVCG (Animation, VFX, Gaming and Comics) industry and promote employment opportunities. All these factors are contributing to making Hyderabad the emerging hub for digital media and entertainment in India.

Since the industry needs trained talent, there are several digital media academies dotting the city. Career aspirants can choose from a range of short-term/long-term, degree/diploma courses offered by the best VFX training institutes in Hyderabad. The more experienced and passionate institutes ensure that the course is up to speed with advances in VFX, and in line with the needs and expectations of the industry. While the emphasis is on equipping students with productions skills so they are job-ready, these courses imparted by the reputed institutes allow students to gain in-depth knowledge of VFX apart from inspired them to become lifelong learners.

And as technology continues to evolve, VFX will grow bigger and bigger with more growth in job opportunities and greater scope for career progression. There are many technological developments in the pipeline of leading VFX studios. These developments can well shape the future of film making and create a more vibrant VFX eco-system with heightened demand for trained VFX artists across the globe.

91st Academy Awards: 25 Submissions in Best Animated Feature category. Inspiration for budding artists to chase a career in animation

 

Image Courtesy: Nerdist

The Oscars are indisputable, the most awaited film awards in the world. Every year, scores of films compete for the prestigious honour across categories. One of the most anticipated categories at the Oscars, however, is the ‘Best Animated Feature’. Ever since this category was included in the Academy Awards in 2001, a total of 74 animated films have competed for the honour, while 18 films have won the coveted award. These films are benchmarks and the result of passionate efforts by world-class CG artists from top animation training institutes in the world.

The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is given each year for animated films, defined by the Academy as a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes in which characters’ performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique, a significant number of the major characters are animated, and animation figures in no less than 75 percent of the running time.

Until 2001, the Academy didn’t have a regular Oscar for animated features as there were too few films produced to justify consideration. Instead, the Academy occasionally bestowed special Oscars for exceptional productions, usually for Walt Disney Pictures, such as for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1938, and Toy Story in 1996. Prior to the creation of the award, only one animated film was nominated for Best Picture: 1991’s Beauty and the Beast, also by Walt Disney Pictures.

By 2001, the increase of animation film releases was significant enough for the academy to reconsider. The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was first given out at the 74th Academy Awards, held on March 24, 2002. The Academy included a rule stating that the award would not be presented in a year in which fewer than eight eligible films opened in theatres. If there are sixteen or more films submitted for the category, the winner is voted from a shortlist of five films, otherwise, there will only be three films on the shortlist. Additionally, eight eligible animated features must have been theatrically released in Los Angeles County within the calendar year for this category to be activated.

These are the films which won the Oscar in the Best Animated Feature so far: Shrek (2001), Spirited Away (2002), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of The Were-rabbit (2005), Happy Feet (2006), Ratatouille (2007), Wall-E (2008), UP (2009), Toy Story 3 (2010), Rango (2011), Brave (2012), Frozen (2013), Big Hero 6 (2014), Inside Out (2015), Zootopia (2016), Coco (2017) and of course Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). The year in brackets denotes the year in which the film was produced. For 2001, 2003-2008 and 2010 Oscars, there were only 3 nominations in this category, while all other years so far had five nominations. From 2001, thanks to recognition for Animation films at the Oscars, the preference for Animation as a career seems to have gained momentum, triggering improved demand for animation courses across the world.

Oscars 2019 had the entire animation fraternity waiting with bated breath as five exceptionally well-made animated films, ‘Incredibles 2’, ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’, ‘Isle of Dogs’, ‘Mirai’ and ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ were nominated for the prestigious awards. The glitzy awards ceremony was held at the Dolby Theater, Los Angeles, California on 24^th February 2019. Beating other nominees, ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 91^st Academy Awards. Here’s a peek into the five films that made the cut (nominations) for Oscars-2019.

Image Courtesy: GeekTyrant

 Incredibles 2, produced by Pixar, is a sequel to The Incredibles (2004). The story follows the Parr family as they try to restore the public’s trust in superheroes while balancing their family life, only to combat a new foe who seeks to turn the populace against all superheroes. Incredibles 2 released on June 15, 2018, and received praise for its animation. The film grossed over $1.2 billion worldwide, making it the 2^nd highest-grossing animated film. Incredibles 2 was named by the National Board of Review as the Best Animated Film of 2018. The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 76^th Golden Globe Awards and 91^st Academy Awards.

Image Courtesy: Vanyaland

Ralph Breaks the Internet produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios (sequel to Wreck-It Ralph), is Disney’s 57^th feature-length animated film about Ralph and Vanellope who become friends, six years after the events of “Wreck-It Ralph,” and discover a wi-fi router in their arcade, leading them into a new adventure. The film was directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston. It released on November 21, 2018, grossing over $514 million worldwide, and receiving positive reviews for its animation. The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 24^th Critics’ Choice Awards, 76^th Golden Globe Awards and 91^st Academy Awards.

Image Courtesy: nwasianweekly.com

 

The Isle of Dogs is a 2018 stop-motion-animated science-fiction comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson. Set in a dystopian near-future Japan, the story follows a young boy searching for his dog after the species is banished to an island following the outbreak of a canine flu. Produced by Indian Paintbrush and American Empirical Pictures, in association with Studio Babelsberg, the film won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 68^th Berlin International Film Festival. The film grossed over $64 million worldwide and received nominations for Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Score at the 76^th Golden Globe Awards and the 91^st Academy Awards.

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Mirai, which literally means ‘Future of the Future’ is a 2018 Japanese animated adventure fantasy film written and directed by Mamoru Hosoda and produced by Studio Chizu. It released in Japan on July 20, 2018. The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 76^th Golden Globe Awards, Best Animated Feature at the 24^th Critics’ Choice Awards and Best Animated Feature at the 91^st Academy Awards; it is the sixth anime film, and the first non-Ghibli anime film, to receive an Academy Award nomination in the category. The film also won Best Animated Feature – Independent at the 46^th Annie Awards.

Image Courtesy: Vanity Fair

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a 2018 American computer-animated superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Miles Morales / Spider-Man, produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Marvel Entertainment. It is the first animated feature film in the Spider-Man franchise, and is set in a shared multiverse called the “Spider-Verse”, which has alternate universes…..Miles Morales becomes one of many Spider-Men as they team up to save New York City from Kingpin. The film was directed by Bob Persichetti, Rodney Rothman and Peter Ramsey.

The film has its own unique style, combining Sony Pictures Imageworks’ computer animation pipeline with traditional hand-drawn comic book techniques inspired by the work of Miles Morales’s co-creator Sara Pichelli. Completing the animation for the film required up to 140 animators, the largest crew ever used by Sony Pictures Animation for a film to date. The film released on December 14, 2018 and grossed over $359 million worldwide. The film received praise for its animation and won numerous awards, including Best Animated Feature at the 76^th Golden Globe Awards, 46^th Annie Awards, and the 91^st Academy Awards. Film buffs, especially youngsters passionate about film making will love Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. These are the kind of creative and award-winning films that inspire young artists to chase animation careers.

Image Courtesy: Quartz

More and more animation films are being made every year and the competition for Oscars in the ‘Best Animated Feature’ category is getting tougher. From just a handful of entries for Best Animated Feature in the late 90’s / early 2000’s to a sizeable 25 entries in the 2019 Oscars, animation is growing stronger by the day leading to increasing appeal for animation as a career. Today, for anyone aspiring to break into the world of animation, it is important to undergo formal 3D Animation training at a top animation college. Training is required not simply to be equipped for a job but more importantly to be able to create path-breaking, award-winning work that merits global recognition and offers outstanding professional growth