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Doing Animation Business
Camille Selvon Abrahams [email protected]
Factors That Increase Demand for Animation Services Globally • Globalization/outsourcing. International studios are expanding to developing countries with lower costs or outsourcing animation work to low-cost service providers. • More use of animation, and special e?ects in mainstream feature ?lms. • Technological innovation has increased the ability of animators to contribute to ?lm, television and games at a faster rate. • Countries are expanding animation industries to create culturally-themed animated productions to ?ll the big cultural gap in the market • Quality of games will soon equal animated feature ?lms; this is a strong growth impetus
The Global Animation Industry The major international animation industry can be found in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan and South Korea. The United States and Japan are regarded as the world leaders in animation having the highest output value of content. In recent times, other countries like The Philippines, India and China have developed animation industries. Generally, animation serves the media industry. The worldwide media industry largely comprises feature ?lm, computer games, advertising (commercials) and TV shows. All four sectors use animation and in recent times animation usage has increased. For example, over 75% of the top grossing ?lms in 2010 had animation. According to The Hollywood Reporter, one of the top American trade publications of the entertainment industry, the worldwide media industry will have an average growth of 6.6% annually to reach USD 2.2 trillion by 2012. The advertising industry in the United States alone is expected to grow to USD 217 billion by 2012 and the worldwide gaming industry is expected to grow to USD 49 billion in 2011. Although the ?nancial crisis has softened the growth potential the outlook of these industries remains positive. Applications of Animation For many non-entertainment applications animation can be a cost e?ective means to dramatize mundane information and data; enhance visual appeal using graphics and movement; raise the perceived value by making products look more attractive and vibrant; simplify the working of complex processes using dynamic illustrations and emphasize the consequences of good or bad actions without the creation of live scenes. Due to the large application for animation, studios have many sources of business to choose from.
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Animation Applications Are Wide And Varied • Feature ?lms for cinemas and DVDs • TV series for TV and cable stations • Web-episodes, interactive animation and animation user content for the internet • e-Learning for the educational and training industries • Downloads for mobile phones • Games for online, personal computers and gaming machines • Audio visual productions, visual e?ects and commercials
Sources of Business • Providers of outsourcing animation production services to international studios • Provision of full animation services (from preproduction, production and post-production) • Co-producer with an international animation studio under a co-production agreement or otherwise • Creator and producer of original content for distribution, licensing and merchandizing • Sub-contractor to a larger animation studio • Provider of interactive training material for e-learning and demonstrations
www.creativeindustriesexchange.com
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