First Indian Production Acquired by Nickelodeon
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., June 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc.
(Nasdaq: ADSK) today announced that one of India's leading animation studios -
BIG Animation, a Reliance ADAG Company - used Autodesk Maya software to
animate the magical worlds of the new "Little Krishna" animated series. The
company relied on the Autodesk Smoke and Autodesk Flame systems for finishing
and final output of the 13-episode program. "Little Krishna" is a joint
production between The India Heritage Foundation and BIG Animation, and marks
the first time that Nick International (Nickelodeon) has acquired a series
produced in India.
"The best animation talent in India has grown up using Autodesk Maya,"
explained Ashish SK, CEO of BIG Animation. "Since Maya is our 3D platform
we're able to recruit the industry's top artists. Maya is our lifeline for
production. As well, product interoperability and the excellent support we
receive from Autodesk are some of the main reasons we continue to rely on
Maya, Smoke and Flame."
A family-friendly entertainment series, "Little Krishna" unfolds the
chronicles of a beloved prankster and his metamorphosis into India's legendary
heritage character. More than 300 characters are featured in the series. BIG
Animation relied on its Maya-centric pipeline to efficiently build, animate
and manage the signature characters and detailed scenery that make this
program unique.
"Maya software's flexible architecture enabled us to overcome the
challenges posed by large amounts of facial animation, secondary cloth and
jewelry animation, and complex particle and environmental simulations such as
water, fire and tornadoes," continued Ashish SK. "We used Maya nCloth for
clothing and the new Maya Muscle system for character rigging. The Geometry
Point Cache system also helped reduce time and errors, and allowed lighting
artists to work with files that already had surface data incorporated into
animations. Python scripting opened up a new level of interactivity, letting
us script and develop our own crowd simulation tools."
For "Little Krishna", the design team at BIG Animation thoroughly
researched stylistic aspects of the land of 'Vraj' in Northern India, where
these stories were situated 5,000 years ago. The team researched backgrounds,
art direction, color keys and all other elements, in order to have countless
references from which to determine contemporary styling. It was essential to
convey not only the endearing nature of Krishna in the physical embodiment of
the animated character, but also the authentic colors, flora and fauna of the
Vraj region. Every time Krishna plays his flute, his surroundings react and
move to the music.
"Smoke and Flame were key finishing tools that allowed us to recreate the
vegetation and color palette unique to Vraj," Ashish SK said. "As well, the
seamless metadata exchange between Smoke and Final Cut Pro served us well in
post-production."
BIG Animation completed the series - from ideation to script to screen -
in three and a half years. In this time, the team grew from 45 to 280 people.
The series debuted on the Nick Channel in May 2009 and is currently one of the
two top-rated children's programs in India.
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc., is a world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the
manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets.
Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk has developed the
broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art Digital Prototyping solutions to help
customers experience their ideas before they are real. Fortune 1000 companies
rely on Autodesk for the tools to visualize, simulate and analyze real-world
performance early in the design process to save time and money, enhance
quality and foster innovation. For additional information about Autodesk,
visit www.autodesk.com.
About BIG Animation
BIG Animation (I) Pvt. Ltd., a Reliance Big Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Group
Company, has a 60,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility with the first
end-to-end quad core studio in Pune. It is on par with the world's leading
studios in terms of infrastructure and technology. The studio's objective is
to create world-class content catering to both domestic and international
markets as an outsourcing vendor; with ancillary emphasis on original content
creation. The studio's mantra is "Ideation to script to screen, under one
roof". With the right blend of expertise in traditional and modern technical
skills, as well as exceptional artistic and managerial abilities, the studio
is creating next-generation animation for feature films, DTH, television,
gaming and more. The studio has acquired multiple international and domestic
awards for its content creation. While setting up distribution strategies for
its 3D series "Little Krishna", BIG Animation has also successfully set up a
3D feature film pipeline.
Autodesk, AutoCAD, Flame, Maya and Smoke are registered trademarks or
trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates, in
the USA and/or other countries. Python is a registered trademark of Python
Software Foundation. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong
to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product
offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not
responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this
document.
(C) 2009 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
Contacts: Rama Dunayevich, 415.547.2472, rama.dunayevich@autodesk.com /
Roohi Saeed, 514.954.7296, roohi.saeed@autodesk.com / Karen Raz, 310.450.1482,
karen@razpr.com
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SOURCE Autodesk, Inc.
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