Hasta La Motion!

South East Asia’s (SEA) cultural diversity is known to everyone. For Indians, it has culturally become an Indian lake of content. Trade and investment remain central to India’s outreach to South-East Asia. As India engages with SEA audiences the strategic partnership, brand collaborations, expansion has increased over the years.

The demand for content is huge and what exactly the audience covet for can only be answered after exploring the market.  India has a lot of potentiality in creating diverse content and there are yet various niche areas which are yet to be explored.

For example, Baahubali team wouldn’t know it, before they explored Japan and found that Japan has become one of the countries who have an interest in Indian mythology and storytelling. On that occasion, Baahubali movie actor at a recent conference expressed that “What is important is how we can build that content, make it relevant to an Indian audience, and take it to international.” Therefore understanding the market and utilising the resources helps to create great and valued content.

With a similar vision in mind animated studios are spreading their footprints in the SEA market. SEA markets are the fastest-growing in both consumption and production of content and it will further expand as a hub for content development.

Be it content, be it studios all aim to become the elephant in the room for marketers who are aiming and attempting to discover, build and monetise their audiences globally.  Therefore Indian studios, which are spreading their footprints in SEA, are actually targeting markets for expansion. Apart from that, there are a lot of other reasons behind such a leap in the expansion which includes:

In conversation with AnimationXpress Toonz Media Group CEO P Jayakumar and Green Gold  Animation CEO and founder, Rajiv Chilaka has expressed how they have expanded their footprints in SEA .

Why do you think, Indian studios are spreading their footprints in south-east Asia? Is it because for the content demand or studios aim for the global reach of their IPs?

Jayakumar: Over the past two decades Indian animation and special effects studios’ footprints have been growing progressively both in the region and all around the world, with studios positioning themselves initially as servicing studios, but as time has advanced increasingly, some have begun to develop into original IP production outfits also. The high production, animation and effects quality and extremely competitive costs that they offer have enabled them to attract attention from all sides, and more recently there is evidently heightened activity in South-East Asia, where there has been a surge in new studios emerging in such neighbouring markets as China, Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore to name a few.  This growth within the whole region means more collaboration and co-production possibilities between studios, resulting in more win-win opportunities all around.

Another important factor to note is that the animation and effects entertainment industry are in a very healthy and expansive situation, with more people consuming entertainment across the planet than ever before, and on and across more personal devices and mediums. The advances and spread of technology have resulted in a much higher demand for content and this has a direct knock-on effect to studios such as Toonz, soon to enter its 20th year of operation.

Likewise, there is a drive to create IPs with a global reach to maximise distribution and satisfy demands of both regional Pay and Free-TV programming needs as well as large global entertainment networks and platforms and telcos who see the benefits of having an IP with global reach and appeal, and also with solid 360 opportunities attached. A strong and versatile IP enables revenues to be sourced not only from TV/Digital content rights and distribution exploitation, but also from Gaming and Licensing, for example, both offering to experience huge growth in recent years, and with strong indications that this is to continue.

Chilaka: I believe it is for both. For Green Gold, it is easier to reach out to neighbouring countries and sell our IPs given the proximity and acceptance. Also, these are prime markets which have the potential and a dedicated target audience for new and fresh content. Indian television content has already proved to be successful in these markets and hence Indian Animation hopefully will also do well.

What are the opportunities/ disadvantages for studios spreading footprints in South-East Asia?

Jayakumar: There are many opportunities especially as the region has certainly become a more powerful, structured and stronger industry, creating an attractive image and gaining respect as a content developer, provider and producer, all around the globe. What is important to bear in mind, is that IPs need to have a certain level of universal appeal to travel both within the region, and around the world, crossing cultural barriers. Being aware of what works in different regions, and what is culturally accepted and not-accepted is key. In such genres as comedy, finding a happy medium that works across different cultures is a fine line and can mean acceptance or rejection, and hence the success or failure of a TV series, film or digital production.

Chilaka: I see this only as an opportunity. We get to work in new markets and create opportunities to associate not only in animation but explore merchandising, licensing and events sector. South East Asia is a growing territory that has immense potential. Also, collaborations can be done with South East Asian studios who want to enter into India with their content.

Both the brands have a strong presence in SEA. Is there any further expansion plan in South East Asia? If yes share the expansion strategy behind it?

Jayakumar: Toonz has a strong global footprint with offices across Asia Pacific region in India, Singapore and Auckland, and as far field as Los Angeles, London, Madrid, Moscow, Istanbul and Quebec. We firmly believe in having a strong regional presence so both have a firm understanding of each region, but also to offer a strengthened position to our partners who are largely global players, or players with at least a global interest.

Singapore is very important strategically for the Toonz Media Group and its different business divisions, and an important part of our commitment to the South East Asia region. Toonz has expanded significantly both into Singapore and South East Asia as a whole over the past years, and especially across the past months, announcing big strategic production, distribution, broadcast and licensing partnerships with key players in China such as Pacific Media Group and Alibaba, whose partnership was announced at Mipcom this year; in Korea with XrisP Co.Ltd for its co-production of The Story of Bookworm Gogo whose production is in full swing also with Malaysia’s Backbone Entertainment;  also in Korea with  Neon Creation, co-producing Dee Dee, The Little Princess, and in New Zealand with Whitebait Media with whom Toonz has produced the scientific adventure series Darwin & Newts.

We have recently announced our partnership in China with Pacific Media Group. We are planning to set up a JV studio in China along with licensing and merchandising activities and entertainment experiences. We are looking for a multi-fold increase in activities in China in the coming years

Chilaka: Chhota Bheem is popular in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Hence it was the right strategy to set base in Singapore and the Philippines to promote the show and our upcoming shows as well as well as looking for new talent. For Green Gold, it is an important step to enter new markets and entertain more kids as we grow.

How SEA business has benefitted the brand?

Jayakumar: Singapore had always been regarded as one of the safest jurisdiction for intellectual property related businesses. This has significantly helped us in establishing the trust and reputation of our business during our early years. The government agencies such as EDB and MDA were extremely helpful in setting up media related businesses in the country. Singapore base has also helped us in establishing an easy business relationship with China, New Zealand and many other Asian countries.

Chilaka: We have got a very good response from these markets. In fact, Chhota Bheem has been topping the chart in Indonesia and equally growing in the rest countries as we speak. This is definitely helping the brand to create a footprint which will be further explored for our other shows and divisions.

As the balance for content power in Asian market transforms and the very coherence of the Asean comes under question, there will be always new demands on India. Further in conversation, Chilaka expressed that “Though the animation industry in India is relatively young in comparison to western markets, South East Asia has been in the animation business since the 1940s. It also has a very young and vibrant talent pool and a large untapped market for content creation and distribution. Though most outsourcing works in animation are from USA, Europe, Japan, China and South Korea, reports suggest that there are demands for new market explorations and partnerships in this region. Thus it is an emerging market and is showing promise.”

Whether it is  Green Gold or Toonz Animation, an increasing number of them are setting up facilities and offices in SEA. Thus SEA has gained an allure of Indian lake like never before.

The post Mission SEA for Indian animation studios appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Inspired by the web-slinging animated film, learn how to create an Arnold shader in the style of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse.

I recently watched Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and was completely blown away by that movie. The lighting, the shading, the half-tone pattern techniques all blew me away. Wanting to emulate shaders in this style, I came up with C4D Arnold material with half-tone patterns and cross hatching.

In this tutorial you will learn about the techniques the animators used to create the film, and then follow along as we attempt to recreate this look in Arnold.

You’ll see how to create a lambert utility to get a value of light to dark. Then you’ll use that to create highlights, midtones, and shadows with their own half-tone patterns.

Ready to get started? Let’s swing into action.

The post Making a Spiderverse-Inspired Shader in Arnold appeared first on Greyscalegorilla.

India as a market for animated content is absolutely raking up the pitch! From being an outsource-heavy destination, the subcontinent has begun churning out original content and is pushing it ahead. Co-productions, mergers and collaborations are on the rise, for good and as the appetite for content is only increasing, these events are only expected to grow manifolds in 2019. Being considered as one of the best times for the Indian animation ecosystem, players in the industry are spearheading changes to leverage the strengths by bringing in fresh, beneficial and smart models. A recent event further solidifies the fact and stands testimony to it.

The animation studio HopMotion has recently joined hands with Sphereorigins, which is an award winning, independent television and media production company in Mumbai. The company has produced some of India’s most loved and most watched prime time entertainment shows which have strong social messages. With over 6500 hours of original broadcast television series for India, the company specialises in producing landmark features in diverse genres for original programming on India’s prime time general entertainment channels including Star Plus, Colors, Zee, Sony, Life Ok, & TV, etc

Anish Patel

Sphereorigins had earlier produced the animated series ‘Chhoti Anandi’ which was aired on Colors & Rishtey. The entire series was conceptualised and created by Anish Patel who founded Hopmotion. This further reflects in the statement of Mr. Anish Patel, “Chhoti Anandi was entirely homegrown and done in Toon Boom Harmony. It was one of the first animated content in India with a female protagonist commissioned by a Hindi GEC channel. It was also the first time that a popular television show character from a social drama has being spun off into an animated show.”

Hopmotion already had a proficient team in place. There are approximately 50 talents in the team currently. Sphereorigins will not only retain the talented team but also retain the brand name which HopMotion has cultivated over the years. While for HopMotion, collaborating with a larger, more versatile entity and rebranding themselves as the animation arm of the aforementioned company will only bring in further goodwill and an even more formidable standing in the industry. The company has already started to scale up the numbers soon. Sphereorigins has acquired a new office space for production in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad which is India’s leading IT destination with the creative office in Mumbai. With the new arrangement, Patel will be heading Hopmotion Animation as a business head of content development.

Sunjoy Waddhwa

Says Sphereorigins’ chairman and MD Sunjoy Waddhwa, “We feel now is the perfect time to enter the animation ecosystem and be in the business of that vertical as it’s growing on a sharp scale. This venture is exciting for us because we believe in the synergy and the insatiable force within, keeps driving us to explore new avenues. We want to focus and specialise in IP creation, development and production. Anish has a skilled team of creative and technical people. We want to support that by making Hopmotion Animation brand much bigger and explore the limitless possibilities.”

The company is not only eyeing the broadcast space but is keen on testing the OTT platforms which is taking precedence over the content industry at a rapid pace. The combined initiative has already received good reaction from the industry and the start has been brilliant and receptive.The studio is also consistently working on the IP of developing episodes for kids, KuKu Mey Mey. However, they plan to create animated content not only for kids but also for adults in the average age group of 18 to 25.

“Home-grown animated content is growing. The broadcasters want to invest more than ever now because they have a stronger connect. Even the internet penetration is huge and we are adapting to digital media much faster. When we started HopMotion, we were focused mainly on 2D animation. With Sphereorigins’ established credentials and long standing pedigree of production, we plan on getting into 3D as well as exploit multiple platforms in various territories. Individually we would not have been able to capture all the spheres”, chuckles Patel

The fresh studio is not leaving out on bringing fresher aspects to the mix. The company will also have an initiative called “Think Tank”. It is an idea incubator where younger talents can come up with new ideas. If prospects are aligned for the same, they will be mentored and nurtured in the right direction.

As Waddhwa concludes, “Animation in India continues to be perceived as a kids’ category unlike the US, where adults constitute a major audience for animated content. We want to reach out to the global audience with original Indian animated content which is visually engaging and captivating.We aim to be content driven and content focused.”

Given the ever evolving space of the content industry, it would be interesting to see what lies ahead for the new venture. However, given the response from the indigenous and international industry being warm, the pipeline sure looks promising.

The post Sphereorigins names HopMotion as their Animation Division appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Adobe Acquires Allegorithmic, the makers of Substance. This brings one of the industry’s best tools in creating 3D textures and materials to the Creative Cloud.

Adobe is taking a huge step into 3D with this acquisition. While Adobe’s 3D offering Dimension bridges a gap for 2D artists, it has not been largely adopted by the professional 3D market. However, Allegorithmic’s Substance has become a standard tool among many 3D artists and studios in a variety of industries, so the move is a big play to bring those users into the Adobe Creative Cloud.

History and Predictions for Adobe and Allegorithmic

For those thinking that this acquisition came out of the blue, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Adobe’s relationship with Allegorithmic publicly dating back to three years ago when the two companies jointly developed Adobe’s standard PBR material. The standards and practices they developed are currently used in Adobe Dimension, Project Aero, Adobe Capture, and all 3D materials in Adobe Stock.

Adobe will now bring in Substance SDK into their product lines, making Substance a more powerful standard for materials.

Chad Ashley shares insight,

I spend quite a bit of time in the Allegorithmic discord, and a source did point out that Adobe had been on the Allegorithmic board for a few years and had been critical in decisions during this period. But behind the scenes, advising is entirely different — both from a PR and operations perspective.

It would not surprise me if this move were part of a broader strategy that ended with Adobe creating it’s own complete 3D DCC with Sebastien Deguy at the helm. After all, we know that Adobe wants in on the 3D market and let’s face it, Allegorithmic’s offering gets you close. 

About Allegorithmic and Substance

Based in France, with several offices worldwide, Allegorithmic tools have been widely adopted by artists working in gaming, film, television, e-commerce, automotive, architecture, design, and advertising.

Per Adobe’s press release, Allegorithmic is the recognized leader in 3D material and texture authoring for most AAA gaming franchises, including Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed and Forza, and the tools used in the making of award-winning movies, including Blade Runner 2049, Pacific Rim Uprising and Tomb Raider.

We’ve also talked to hundreds of artists who use Substance in their daily workflow. At Greyscalegorilla, Substance was crucial to the creation and success of the Everyday Material Collection.

Greyscalegorilla Creative Director Chad Ashley on Substance and the acquisition,

I spent a good part of last year in Substance Designer while working on our Everyday Material Collection and immediately fell in love with the UX and the fantastic capabilities of that app. I remember telling friends that if I had to spend the rest of my career in one program, Substance Designer might be it.

Cut to me this morning reading about the Adobe acquisition and my mouth was agape. I am immediately wary of any sizable company gobbling up such a small and nimble innovator. I’ve seen it go horribly wrong way too many times. I hope that they can continue to deliver killer professional 3D software that is a joy to use.

Final Notes on the Acquisition

Adobe Creative Cloud chief product officer and executive vice president Scott Belsky says,

We are seeing an increasing appetite from customers to leverage 3D technology across media, entertainment, retail and marketing to design and deliver fully immersive experiences…

Creative Cloud is the creativity platform for all and Substance products are a natural complement to existing Creative Cloud apps that are used in the creation of immersive content, including Photoshop, Dimension, After Effects and Project Aero.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Allegorithmic CEO and founder, Sebastien Deguy, will join Adobe as a vice president, 3D and Immersive.

What are you thoughts on this acquisition? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Allegorithmic’s Substance is Coming to the Adobe Creative Cloud appeared first on Greyscalegorilla.

Someone has rightly said, “In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this” No animal in the world has divided the human society in the way cats have. While some might find them selfish or unfriendly, many can’t resist the charm brought about by the felines. Intriguingly so, many great men have had profound things to say about them. Cats have been a subject of interest for many filmmakers and storytellers. We made a list of cat-characters in movies that we were chuffed to bits by.

Puss in Boots – Melting us with those big sparkly kitten eyes and bawling us over with the romantic adventure and swagger, Puss in Boots is an impressive cat. Donning a cavalier’s hat, the feline swashbuckler emerges as one such cat who is ordained with everything needed to tug at our heart strings

Crookshanks – Surely being Hermione’s ginger cat already raises the adorability quotient. Half-kneazle as evidenced by his lion-like appearance, Hermione’s pet cat with her squidgy appearance and charming antics in the magical world has to be one of the most beloved cats. With her ability to detect untrustworthy persons and impeccable problem-solving skills, Crookshanks also helped to find out who the real person under the garb of Scabbers was after years of Tom and Jerry- like chase scenes.

Snowbell in Stuart Little – Just casting our eyes over the elaborate feline has us fawning over her as the white fluffy Persian with a little bell around her sashays her way into our hearts. Although novel portrays Snowbell in a rather bad light where he is shown to be mean-spirited and self-absorbed, he is shown to be kind-hearted and benevolent in the movies.

Garfield  – With failed shenanigans and mischief, the obese ginger cat amuses fans of all age groups. His laziness and sarcasm are his biggest weapons. Cementing his place in newspaper columns, movies and series, the overweight orange tabby cat has become a household name.

Doraemon – With nifty gadgets that are meant to completely resolve impossible problems that afflict Nobita, Doraemon has been an all-time favourite of children. You name a problem and Doraemon is ready with just the gadget that one would be looking for. His fourth-dimensional pocket on his body from which he can acquire various colourful, awesome and futuristic gadgets, tools and playthings make him even cooler.

Hello Kitty – Having become a worldwide rage, Hello Kitty has not only regaled kids for over 40 years but also become an inseparable part of our lives in more ways than we can count. Hello Kitty has almost invaded every article of your day-to-day life. Irresistibly, one can’t help buying stuff that has Hello Kitty embossed on it.

Tom –  Tom and Jerry have entertained kids over many generations. An all-time absolute classic, Tom fails miserably in his attempts to catch the mouse, Jerry. To his horror, Jerry always has tricks up his sleeve to foil his attempts and fall flat on his face. Between the funny chase, the hot pursuit and back and forth attempts, It’s also special to watch the rare moments of their friendship against the common adversary despite the usual enmity.  

Simba – Simba, our favourite Disney character is the big cat that we can not help vying for. His journey has us all cheering for him as he loses his inhibitions and realises his might. Courtesy of the new Lion King movie, the CGI cub has again caused a buzz amongst fans.

We hope you liked the list of our beloved felines. Do let us know if you would like for us to expound on any other species in our next article. Purrrrrr….

The post CG cats that won us over with their feline charm appeared first on AnimationXpress.