Usha Prasad

BANGALORE, INDIA: The digital animation industry in India is witnessing an exponential growth what with music videos, advertisements, and even feature films going big with digital effects. In addition, the worldwide demand for animation experts from India stands testimony to this rapidly growing market.

Mumbai-based animation studio Maya Entertainment Ltd., (MEL), one of the leading players in the field in India, which has geared up with high-end projects this year, is in the process of delivering two hi-definition international television serials for the UK and US markets. In addition, MEL is also working on 72-minutes of high-end animation for the Bollywood feature "Toonpur Ka Superhero".

"Our IT infrastructure is critical to our ability to deliver an unprecedented quantum of complex work in heavy formats like hi-definition and film. Our requirement of storage solutions is met by NetApp's FAS 3050, a unified enterprise class storage system," says Jai Natarajan, EVP - Business Development, MEL.

As MEL continues to develop IP as well as offer services, the NetApp system will be at the heart of providing round-the-clock data access for artists and other specialized personnel, he adds.

"With the Indian digital animation industry getting worldwide attention, we are seeing an enormous opportunity for the market to grow in this space," adds Soumitra Agarwal, marketing director, India, NetApp.

According to NASSCOM estimates, the global animation industry is expected to touch $80 billion by 2010 and the Indian digital animation industry will be close to $900 million by 2010, out of which exports account for over 70 per cent of revenues, he says.

Highlighting the growth and challenges in the animation industry, Jai outlines some points -

Challenges for a digital studio:

• Increasing complexity of projects and types of data that need to be handled
• High definition, stereoscopy, film and so on
• Stiff client deadlines
• Data must be available constantly for non-stop work
• Stringent client requirements for maintaining data back-up and security
• Longer archived time
• Content reuse is key to delivering projects on time

Data storage - Foundation for tomorrow's digital studio

• Increasing complexity of projects and more and more data being generated
• Stringent requirements for data back-up within limited time
• Rapidly growing data repository

"Scalability of technology is the most critical factor for a digital industry," says Natarajan. While utilization of technological assets more efficiently is the key, data back-up and security processes are going to be essential and no longer desirable, he adds.

The digital sector is catalyzed by India's cost advantage and attractive domestic market opportunity. In addition, the large pool of skilled, English speaking manpower, the growing maturity of animation studios and the development of IP has drawn world-wide attention towards Indian animation industry, Agarwal adds.

With the rapid adoption of animation and digitization in all sectors, the Indian digital animation industry is sure to take a big leap in the days to come.