Even as scores and scores of institutes mushroom day in and out across most Indian towns and cities, what finally does separate the chaff from the wheat is the effort to offer value based education.

While learning animation is no child's play, teaching it is all the more difficult! And the better the quality of training offered at institutes, that much better progress for Indian animation Industry is ensured.

Mumbai based Workstation,(A division of TASAA Netcom) is one such institute which has been working on improving the quality of their animation education offerings. The institute which has been around since 1997 currently has 3 centres (2 in Mumbai and 1 in Pune) and has eight courses for animation and post production.

Speaking to Animation 'xpress, Workstation Executive Director Roopali Kurve shared," We are striving to improve our courses all the time and we have come up with an "Animation Specialist" course which is a very specialized and advanced course for those who want to get into 3D"

"We start with 2d concepts and drawing skills, Sketching of characters [observe 3d construction], Structure of character, Understanding and creating Shapes at flat level, understanding perspectives, understanding human character, understanding 4 legged animals, bird character, drawing from live models, head study, understanding human anatomy, Textures, model constructions [cars, bike etc.], Character development, Expressions, Exam and Portfolio submission"

" Then we go onto 3d from basic to advanced concepts and use of various software as 3dsmax, Maya, Photoshop etc. ending in students own short animation movie, Some main topics are as mentioned:- Logo Designing & Typography Raster v/s Vector & Color Theory, Alpha Channels, Textures, Introduction to 3D [max], Pack Shots, Product Modelling & Animation, Logo Animation, Lights & Cameras, Materials, Innterior & Walkthroughs, Introduction to 3D, Types of Modelling ,NURBS, Polygonal, Subdivision, Character Modelling, Character Rigging, Character Animation, Texturing, Lights & Cameras ,Dynamics , Rendering, Mental Ray, Vector Rendering, Cloth, Fur, Fluids,"

"After this course students can take up the course in Combustion /Premiere also if they want to specialize in that" concluded Roopali.

The institute is looking for franchisees in Mumbai and Maharashtra and is looking to team up with existing setups as well as with Entrepreneurs and Setups in Colleges and Schools.

Barring a handful few no Indian institute has so far been able to get good reviews from across the Industry. It would be interesting to see whether efforts like the above mentioned, manage to meet the objective of instilling and honing animation talent and satisfy the Indian animation industry's demands of quality training.

And like with all things in Indian animation, this one too is gonna be a wait and watch game!