CG Tantra has always believed in taking the much needed initiative to organize workshops encompassing a wide variety of topics, catering to the needs of the CG Community.
Pursuing this path of providing a platform to discuss and interact, the popular online community site organized an eventful and knowledge enhancing event on 17th June ’07 at the Whistling Woods Campus at the Film City in Mumbai
Attended by close to 300 students and professionals, the workshop which was a part of CG Tantra’s L.I.G. programme featured leading animation artists and VFX gurus. Also spotted were Greg Acuna of Palaflicks, Malcolm A. Kesson of Savannah College of Art and Design among other animation professionals.
Speaking to AnimationXpress.com, R K Chand, Co Founder of CG Tantra shared, “The workshop organized by CG Tantra is a part of the Learn, Inspire, Grow series. We have organized the programme so that students can utilize their spare time during vacations and holidays and can also interact with people and speakers to learn new things.”
The highlights of the event included a case study on Santa Banta for Channel V by Uttam Pal Singh, a session on Color Keys by Vinayak Kurne, Making of Ta Ra Rum Pum by VCLs Vishal Anand, Making of Happy Planet and Ardman Experience by Dhimant Vyas and Toon Boom Story Board workshop amongst others.
Despite the heavy rains and the wet gloomy weather, the programme kick started with much enthusiasm with a welcome speech by Malcolm. “I am happy to be in India again and I can see the progress of Indian animation industry which is growing at a prolific rate. The growth of artists and their work in the quality and quantity is progressive. What we need is to have a session focused on animation and CG education which can bring out the best talent. I am happy to be a part of this workshop and I look forward to being a part of such initiatives and workshops in the future” said Malcom
The first presentation was the case study on Santa Banta by Santa Banta creator Uttam Pal Singh. The much entertaining presentation of Uttam showcased the making of Santa Banta for Channel V promos including Lola-Cutie, WWF, Olympics, A trip to Goa, Santa-Banta Christmas and Metrosexy were the few to name.
Shared Uttam, Santa Banta creator, “Santa and Banta have always prolonged creating humor. What makes them different is their simple animation, voice over given by Chetan and their smart attitude.”
In the Color Keys session by Vinayak Kurne of AniRights, the audience gaped in awe as Vinayak emphasized on painting a picture using various options of Photoshop to bring out the best of a black & white image or a sketch. One could immediately sense the inspiration that the drawing talent of Vinayak evoked in the audience.
Added Vinayak, “For painting a sketch or an image, you need to have a mood to refer to. Using Photoshop to paint an image is the best application. You just need to work on layers and should go from light to dark shades of color which will give you a fair idea about the color combination.”
Vishal Anand of Tata Elexsi showcased the making of Ta Ra Rum Pum and emphasized on how closely he worked with Siddharth Anand, Director of Ta Ra Rum Pum and the challenges which he faced during making the bears dance in the song.
Sharing the challenges faced, Vishal shared, “Making the bears dance was one of the most challenging part of the movie. The whole background was made in CG and featuring the dancing bears along with Rani and Saif was interesting. We put four men dressed in black instead of bears and later we replaced them with CG bears”
The presentation saw active participation by the audience through the numerous questions that were asked by them. Vishal also showcased some of the other CG shots which were done for the movie. Racing cars, stadium full of cheering crowd, and the accidents which take place in the movie were the key highlights of presentation.
CG Tantra also kept a three hour long Toon Boom Story Board workshop for selected 20 students which were chosen by a quiz contest followed by a luck draw. The workshop was presented by Vishal Rubdi, Firoz Jamadar, and Rahul Chheda of Rahul Commerce (Distributor of Toon Boom and reseller of Autodesk products)
Remarked Firoz Jamadar, Support Engineer at Rahul Commerce, “Toon Boom Story Board software is the first digital story boarding software which helps professionals and amateurs in story boarding. It helps an artist to animate its story board, to put sound innovations and to try new ideas with his story board. At the same time it reduces the production cost as it is cost effective and saves time as well”
Another interesting session at the event which was appreciated by the audience was the workshop by Dhimant Vyas. Dhimant at the session discussed the making of his clay animated movie Happy Planet. Also, he shared his experience during his visit at Aardman animation while working at Flickerpix Ltd., Belfast.
Dhimant emphasized on the lighting and direction, information and tips on the Aardman style of animation and how each animator approached his/ her shots. Answering a query on the scope of clay animation in India, Dhimant expressed that although there are very few experienced professionals in stop motion in India, it is still possible to accomplish similar quality here in India. He also added that these individuals should work together to create a stronger platform.
Talking about his directed movie Happy Planet Dhimant shared, “The movie was produced by Manisha Mohan and was made for the Tata Interactive System to train their employees with the help of clay animation as a part of their internal training.”
CG Tantra also announced the Super Hero Challenge which will start from June 25th and will run for over 50 days. The winners will be announced during the ABAI festival this year. About the workshop Chand said, “Though it was a rainy day but the turn out we received was phenomenal”
“Moreover, the sessions which were conducted were interesting and we saw a good response from the audience. Just because we received a good response from Dhimant’s workshop we are planning to have a workshop on clay animation soon” concluded Chand.