The field of animation can be pursued by anyone who possesses an artistic blend of mind, excellent skills in creativity and dexterity in drawing. Talented artists who can create characters for different projects such as movies, advertisements, and television series and so on are called as Animators. The basic responsibility of an animator is to go through the script carefully and come up with an animated character that simply fits the character described in the script. In other words, one can say that the animator needs to know as well as understand the character.

Numerous career prospects are available for animators all over the world. As this industry is growing with each passing day, there is assuredly no dearth for jobs in animation and the demands for these people are quite high.

What is Animation?

First the story is mind is written in detail and a script is created. Subsequent to this, technical assistance is given to it. These are the procedures involved in making an animation. Apart from the most commonly applied animations such as three-dimensional (3D) and two-dimensional (2D), many others such as puppet animation and vegetable animation are available. Other types of animation are sand animation and Clay animation.

The creation of 2D and 3D animation is done digitally. Whilst, two-dimensional images possess a shallow look, three-dimensional images have a feel of depth. This makes them looks more authentic.

Eligibility Criteria for Animation Course

The most important thing a person needs to become a professional animator is training as well as experience in the field. No specific academic qualification is required for a person to become an animator. Those who possess basic sketching skills in addition to an in-depth passion for animation will find animation as a good prospect. For better job opportunities, it is necessary for a person to have a Diploma or Degree in Animation.

These courses are very much available nowadays. The basic qualification needed by a person to join these courses is a pass in class 12 or its equivalent. Graduates of any field, especially of Arts, can join the Post Graduation course in animation. But a few institutions for example the Industrial Design Center (IDC), Indian Institute of Design (NID) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) will require the students to pass an entrance examination at the national level. Only those students who have finished their graduation in Architecture, Engineering, Fine arts or Technology can apply for the PG courses offered at these institutions

Apart from these courses, a variety of professional courses that concentrates on various styles and techniques of animation are available as well. A few examples are:

• Clay-motion
• Computer generated 3D and 2D animation
• Courses in Traditional animation
• Human anatomy
• Photoshop
• Rotoscoping
• Stop-motion animation

Basic knowledge in computer is also needed for individuals to shine in this field.

Courses in Animation

These are a few courses available for a person to choose from in animation:

• 2D Expert Program
• 3D Expert Program
• Advance Diploma in 3D Animation (AD3D)
• Advance Diploma in 3D Animation and VFX
• Advance Diploma in Animation (ADA)
• Advance Diploma in Animation and Visual Effects
• Advance Diploma in Animation Engineering
• Advance Diploma in Digital Arts and Animation
• Advance Diploma in Graphics
• Advance Diploma in Graphics and Animation
• Advance Diploma in Multimedia
• Animaster Certified Professional (ACP)
• Animaster Foundation Program (AFP)
• Animaster Graduate Program (AGP)
• Animaster Graphic Designer (AGD)
• Animaster Web Designer (AWD)
• Arena Animation Academy Specialist Programme (AAASP)
• Arena Animation International Program (AAIP)
• Arena Multimedia Specialist Programme (AMSP)
• B.A. (Hons) 3D Animation
• B.A. Animation and Graphic design
• B.A. Multimedia
• B.Sc. Animation
• B.Sc. Animation and Game Technology
• B.Sc. Animation and Multimedia
• B.Sc. Multimedia

Personal skill required for Animation Course

These are a few qualities that are required by people who aspire to become animators:

• Must have an artistic blend of mind
• They also need to have a lot of passion in addition to imaginative skills
• Should be innovative
• Should possess good skills in Drawing and Sketching
• Should have the ability to create new themes for stories
• Should have a lot of patience as well as dedication because only in time will animators be able to create the figurines they had in their mind
• Should have good skills in communication
• Need to have good acting skills as well. This is because animators can express the personality of their character by means of hid animation

Apart from the aforementioned skills, animators also need to have a keen sense of color, pattern, proportion, visualizations and most importantly, the knowledge of the art of layout and background. Computer skills are yet another essential feature required for the start as well as progression of their career. Knowledge of computer programming languages such as Java and C++ will prove to be an added benefit for individuals. It will be more beneficial for animators if they have the ability to comprehend lighting, photography and movement of images.