VFX Wonders

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: Flying spaceships, fire spitting dragons and levitating aliens seen in various television shows may transport you to a world of fantasy. But as viewers enjoy these soaring flights of imagination, there is a great amount of technology and intricate visual effects that are crucial in breathing life into these fictitious characters. Since mythology shows are being positioned across prime time slots on most general entertainment channels (GECs), broadcasters are keeping aside a considerable amount of their production budget to embrace this technology. Visual effects (VFX), which was once used minimal mainly for science fiction and fantasy shows, is now extensively being used as an enhancer of almost all kinds of programming.

Just as the TV industry is burgeoning by the day, VFX too is finding a good foothold amidst this development. The entertainment portion of the animation, gaming and VFX industry (now included in the overall size of the entertainment and media industry) grew by 24% and was estimated at Rs 13 billion in 2007. This industry is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 25% and become Rs 40 billion by 2012.

Says Vishal Dudeja, vice president, 3D and Gaming, DQ Entertainment, “The visual effects field — referring to computerised digital animation and picture-layering processes known as compositing — is evolving quickly. Very small boutique studios are mushrooming in all metros to cater to the needs of small screen content makers and advertising agencies.”

Industry experts feel that in this technology still has a long way to go and Indian broadcasters are no where near foreign studios when it comes to the budget and the level of dexterity involved in the quality of VFX. While in countries like the US and the UK the budget set aside for a heavily induced VFX sitcom ranges from $4 million to $10 million, in the Indian scenario, the amount is only up to Rs 90 lakh to Rs 1 crore. How about the viability of this medium on Indian television then?

Content producer Dheeraj Kumar of Creative Eye Productions says, “Special effects and graphics are viable and are cost effective for television. But they are useful only if a particular genre uses the technology in moderation. An excess of VFX thrown in with unnecessary animation which seem like a force fit ruin a programme.”