From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, May 12: Games, visual effects and animation will come alive in Bengaluru from Friday as the three-day Bengaluru GAFX Conference 2017 was kicked off by Karnataka’s young and dynamic IT, BT and Tourism Minister Priyank Kharge.

Blockbusters like Baahubali, Fast & Furious 8, Jungle Book, Pulimurugun, Shivaay, Doctor Strange or animation feature films like Moana, Finding Dory, The Good Dinosaur along with VR 360 films like Dear Angelica will be featured prominently in the three-day event.

There will also be panel discussions on the success stories of the GAFX Industry in Karnataka by top speakers from all over the world.

Kharge sought to encourage young entrepreneurs to focus on original IP creation as 18 % year on year growth in the gaming industry and Karnataka is the first state to tap this space.

The three-day GAFX conference is the largest animation, games and visual effects conference in India.

“Bengaluru is a growing hub for gaming, animation and visual effects. We aim to leverage this and aid in the development of the industry, which has a huge potential and is currently valued at 1 billion dollars,’’ he said.

He said the idea is to position the State as the centre for animation, visual effects and gaming. 

"We need to go beyond IT and attract more investments that will help our local talent get more exposure. We have now labs of companies like Deamworks, Technicolor, Zynga, MPC, Mr X etc. in Bengaluru. We should look at creating IP rather than just doing back end work. We have the whole ecosystem of gaming including the semiconductor companies like Nvidia and AMD apart from the AR and VR companies that all provide a 360 degree ecosystem,’’ the minister said.

"The Government is doing its part by establishing centres of excellence by skilling our work force in IT, gaming and animation, aerospace or cyber security. We only create an ecosystem with policies. The curriculum is set by the industry and the certifications are also given by the companies in the sector,’’ he said.

Laying down the State Government’s plans, he said: ``We also plan to start a digital media city in Bengaluru where all post production work of films, videos, advertisements, television programmes can be done.  We are also bringing the Kannada film industry to show affordable visual effects. Animation and gaming as an industry is growing 18% year on year. The online mobile gaming itself in India is expected to be $1 billion by 2021. 

"The game industry last year was worth $ 360 million. This conference provides a stepping stone for aspiring youth to make a career in the animation industry, along with provide learning opportunities for professionals,’’ he added.

Sharon Calahan, Director of Photography, The Good Dinosaur- Pixar Animation Studios said it is best to take them from different scenes in different movies and compare them to understand how to make images better. 

Lighting plays a vital role in the making of a movie as seen in the legendary films like The godfather, Munich, X-men- The Last Stand etc. 

"These movies are a perfect example of the different effects of light that can affect the mood of the shot be it highlighting the main character, or changing the mood, portraying a certain quality, foreshadowing future problems, the lighting does it all. All symbolism and light come together to tell a story,” she said.

Shelley Page, Head of International Outreach, DreamWorks Animation said: ``Character design is all about creating compelling animated characters. Early designs are the most important in the process of making a character. Experts aim to create a drawing which expresses a sense of personality. They try to make the designs more believable and then evolve the style. Basically, we start with prop, with a complete attire and design, as it helps us to create a backstory."

Alejandro Garcia, Professor, San Jose State University, said ‘Physics of Animation” is a tool the world of animation. ``It is the science of making physically believable motion and not accurate motion. It involves incorporating real life physics laws and theories like the centre of gravity, law of inertia, etc. in making animated characters,” Prof Garcia said.

He also shared insights on the principles of animated characters and what really goes into the making of animated characters, from a frame by frame perspective and highlighted the common mistakes that animators make and how this can be avoided.

Steve Walker, Art Director, Character Art, Dhruva Interactive, gave an intensely informative speech on every aspect of high-end character creation for games. 

He stressed on the differences between what was and how far we have come with the help of several side-to-side examples of how far technology has improved in terms of animation for games. He spoke about light, colour, proportions and characterization.

"We no longer have to slave all day in an office area, but travel and find what you’re looking for. If you have to animate an ice cave now, you have got to go to the ice cave. We can stop being software engineers and start being creative,’’ he explained.