The Visual Effects Industry in India: A Booming Sector Facing a Staff Shortage and the Role of Artificial Intelligence

The visual effects industry in India has been experiencing a significant boom in recent years, with both domestic and international demand for high-quality special effects. This growth has led to an increase in outsourcing opportunities for Indian studios, as well as the creation of new jobs in the sector. However, the industry is currently facing a major challenge: a staff shortage.

One of the individuals benefiting from this boom is Vinay Sastha R, a technical director at DNEG, one of India’s leading visual effects studios. Vinay’s passion for visual effects was ignited as a child by films like The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series. Today, he gets to work on fun and fantastical projects, creating elements that could not be made during filming.

“A technical director mainly deals with creating elements that could not be made while filming… like creating a lava rain in a city, making rain freeze in air, or the moon melting – anything fantastical you can think of,” Vinay explains. “I love and enjoy what I am doing.”

The demand for visual effects in India is not limited to the domestic film industry. Companies from overseas, including streaming entertainment firms, animated TV and film producers, and the computer games industry, are all demanding more. For example, the dragons in the fifth season of Game of Thrones were created in Mumbai.

Namit Malhotra, founder of Prime Focus, a giant Indian media firm which owns DNEG, confirms the surge in the industry. “The VFX industry has surged due to an infusion of visual effects in almost all the entertainment sector,” he says. India’s relatively low costs and the adoption of cloud computing have made it an attractive destination for outsourcing visual effects work.

However, the industry’s growth has not been without challenges. The strikes in Hollywood, which shut down TV and film production for months last year, had a significant impact on the Indian market. There were layoffs and production houses downsized, with many projects getting delayed. Despite this, industry leaders are confident that the market will recover.

The next challenge for the Indian industry is finding enough staff to meet the growing demand. According to the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comic (AVGC) Task Force, around 250,000 people currently work in the VFX and animation industry in India. However, the task force estimates that by 2032, the number of workers in the sector will have ballooned to 2.2 million.

To help supply the necessary workers, the AVGC is working with universities and colleges to come up with courses and qualifications. Ashish Kulkarni, a member of the AVGC Task Force, believes that involving senior members of the industry in education is crucial. “The child who has taken up this course should be motivated by well-known people in the industry, so VFX and animation becomes popular, and parents are not reluctant to let children pick this field,” he says.

Kshitiz Sharma, from the School of Film Making at Whistling Woods International, agrees that there is a shortfall in courses that teach a deep understanding of film-making and the artistic side of visual effects. However, new VFX courses offered by universities and other institutions are helping to address this issue. “The future is promising for people who want to get into animation and VFX,” says Mr Sharma.

Despite the challenges, the cost factor remains a concern. VFX and animation courses and the expensive hardware and software needed for training are not easy on the pocket. To become the global hub for visual effects, India should pay attention to the cost factor, according to Mr Sharma. He suggests that big media and tech companies should shoulder more of the cost. “Software should be available to students for educational purposes,” he says.

Artificial intelligence (AI) may also help ease the staff shortage in the industry. AI has already changed the way films are made, according to Keitan Yadav, a VFX producer and chief operating officer at Mumbai-based Red Chillies Entertainment. “If I have to show a director a shot, I can create a scene with the help of AI – changes can be made without losing time,” he says. Complex VFX-heavy scenes are using AI to quickly generate low resolution CGI backgrounds, characters, effects simulations, and camera motion. Within hours, not months, the final product can be seen and changes can be decided.

While AI may lead to job losses in some areas, it also presents new opportunities. AI should be viewed as a powerful tool to enhance creativity, productivity, and quality rather than a threat, according to Yadav. “It’s simple – if 10 doors close, 100 will open.”

In conclusion, the visual effects industry in India is experiencing a significant boom, with both domestic and international demand for high-quality special effects. However, the industry is currently facing a major challenge: a staff shortage. To meet the growing demand, the industry is working with universities and colleges to come up with courses and qualifications. Artificial intelligence may also help ease the staff shortage and change the way films are made. Despite the challenges, the future is promising for people who want to get into animation and VFX.