Ayan writes…
 
Ayan Acharyya has 3 tips for people who want to take up animation as a career: One, practice creativity; two, choose a good institute and, lastly, start drawing and painting.
Ayan works as a Lighting & Precomp Artist with Bangalore’s Paprikaas Interactive animation studio. He enjoys working on international projects and using different tricks and tools to create something new and exciting.
In 2006, Ayan completed the Arena Animation Academy Specialist Program (AAASP).
From Arena to Paprikaas, here’s all about his journey, in Ayan’s own words:
Way back when I was in the 9th standard, I decided I wanted a career in animation. Years later, I start visiting animation academies to learn more about this field. Finally, I selected Arena’s 3-year AAASP course.
Though many institutes offered animation courses, AAASP included all the topics and subjects I wanted to learn. The semesters were well-planned and covered all those topics that match today’s production requirements.
At Arena, I found the faculty ever willing to help me understand advanced topics, especially 3D animation. I got exactly what I was looking for and completed my AAASP course in 2006 – within just two-and-a-half years!
 
Apart from academics, even the experience of studying at Arena was pretty good. I enjoyed the highly creative and disciplined environment there. My Centre at Kolkata’s Park Street regularly hosted various types of competitions, seminars and special ‘Master classes’ – all of which helped me become what I am today.
 
They regularly organized contests such as the CG Artwork Competition, Quiz and other entertainment programs. I even played the guitar at some events.
 
Where jobs are concerned, in the world of Computer Graphics, if you are good enough, you can actually choose any studio to work with, anytime. But to get to that position, you need a good start with a good studio. Here too, Arena helped me get a great start through their Campus Interview.
Thus, during the third semester of AAASP, I got to work in broadcast compositing with ETV Entertainment at Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad. My designation there was ‘Animator’. After that, I worked with 2 other firms and learnt many new things before getting to my current job.
8 months ago, I moved to Bangalore to work at Paprikaas. It was a dream come true since the prestigious Dreamworks Animation SKG (an international studio) has a production tie-up with Paprikaas. My current salary is Rs. 30,000. From next month, I shall receive an increment of Rs. 6,000.
More than the money, it’s the work that is really very exciting. My office building houses facilities such as banking, shopping, food stations, gyms – all under one roof. Above all, I am gaining exposure of working on international projects.
So far, I have worked on projects such as Barnyard and Big Top which are being telecast on the Nickelodeon channel in California, US, and on HBO in India.
To anyone who wants to work in animation, just start working towards your goal today.
Forget about money for now and focus on learning - the money will follow you by itself. All the best!
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