Animation gears up for 2.0 avatar
Hyderabad: The visual effects, animation and gaming segments are getting into a new avatar to support content demand from over-the-top (OTT) players. Hyderabad will see about Rs 750 crore investments in the next three years or so from domestic as well as international players catapulting these segments into large scale job creators. The companies operating […]
Hyderabad: The visual effects, animation and gaming segments are getting into a new avatar to support content demand from over-the-top (OTT) players. Hyderabad will see about Rs 750 crore investments in the next three years or so from domestic as well as international players catapulting these segments into large scale job creators.
The companies operating in these segments have used Covid to sharpen their growth and expansion plans and are readying to invest big time and also up their workforce, Telangana VFX, Animation and Gaming (VAG) Association president Rajiv Chilaka told Telangana Today.
“The growing number of OTT platforms has increased the demand for quality content now. Many TV productions earlier did not budget for special effects, animation and other enhancers. The trend is changing due to the OTTs and they are willing to invest in new technology and tools to enhance the final outcomes. Some local companies are also tying up with international players,” he said.
Hyderabad now has about 250 players in the VAG segment and about 1 to 1.5 lakh people are employed in the sector. “Hyderabad is best placed for the VAG segments. The ecosystem is already present. Moreover, availability of trained manpower is not an issue. Several institutions including those in the government sector are now offering various modules in animation and related fields,” he said adding that some top players are outsourcing their works to Hyderabad, he said.
The visual effects, animation and gaming segments have been affected as film productions have been halted due to Covid. “The work-from-home has increased the usage of gaming and animation-based content. However, there was no proportionate increase in the revenues for the industry. There have been some layoffs in the sector. However, the situation is improving since August and orders have already started flowing,” he said.
“There will be a slew of gaming product launches in a few months. Companies used this pandemic time to build new products and services and their results will be seen shortly,” said Chilaka adding that game engines, a software framework designed for development of video games with relevant libraries and support programmes, are also being pressed into use.
“The VAG segment in the past has not lived up to the expectations in terms of scale of employment generation. But that phase has come now and will create new jobs in a large scale. These units are coming up in Tier II cities as well,” he said. Many technology changes are happening and costs will come down. This will result in more projects coming. Companies are also focused on intellectual property generation and protection.
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