The Higher Education Review

The animation industry in India is not a child play anymore. With the production of films like the Lord of the Rings, the Harry Potter series, the Chronicles of Narnia and many more that have taken place in the country during the last few years, India’s animation industry is expected to grow at a faster pace than even before. Today, the country hosts numerous animation, visual effects and game development studios with over 80,000 professionals working for them, and these cater to not just the movie world but also to small screen content for children and regional platforms.

While, the many global players in the industry are looking at India as a quality place to outsource their animation works, it is perhaps the ripest time in the recent years for students who are interested in dabbling in the virtual world. Started as a small unit in Koramangala, Bangalore, Wings Creations College of Art, Media and Design (WCCAMD) is one of the few animation colleges in the country that has witnessed the past and present of this industry.

Established in 2008, a time when animation was considered as kids’ affair, Wings Creations College has emerged as a leader among animation institutes in India by offering best in class education that will prepare the students to excel in the industry.

“We do realize that every human is creative, but the right efforts to bring out the potential ends in the birth of quality professionals,” says Sowmya Devaraj, Chairman, Wings Creations College. Today, this nine-year-old institute caters to courses in animation & multimedia, filmmaking, game design, visual effects and 3D visualization.The learning experience provided by Wings Creations College stands ahead of the other institutes in many ways. It is the individual attention given to each student, which makes the learning from Wings Creations College worthy. “In a creative space, each student is unique with different areas of interest. Here, we give personalized attention to their output and the expertise of the faculty further helps in bringing out their real potential to limelight,” opines Sowmya.

Realizing that animation is a field of mass appeal, the institute updates the curriculum in order to make the students ready for the market. “We provide the students with the latest tools and technologies used by the design industry. Rapid prototyping machine, Wacom tablets, Green room studio, clay-modelling tools, paint booth, light box, are made available to the students,” claims Sowmya. At Wings Creations College, students will get an opportunity to work in a studio like environment, allowing them to use their skills and ideas effectively.

Along with the infrastructural facilities, training imparted by the industry experts and the interactive sessions with the experts become the nexus points in student lives. “40 hours of dedicated master class sessions delivered by industry experts on specific topics like design, story-writing, rigging and role-playing games conducted for at least 2 to 4 times in an academic year and the live projects from 3rd year helps them in better learning and self assessments,” says Sowmya. The right molding of students has helped the institute in reaching 100 percent placements.

“Learning software is just a part of the course, but as a creative field, the utmost requirement is an opportunity to work on it and the internship given to each and every student increases their sale value,” opines Sowmya. Wings Creations College as an educational institute reminds the society about the value of creativity and welcomes all those who think they are creative. Hence, the institute extends its helping hand to the aspiring animators who are qualified in non-creative fields to explore the hidden talents.

“Here, the aspirants come with a variety of educational backgrounds, but they have strong passion to become creative professionals. Therefore, we refer individuals to the companies for interviews after rating their performance on the basis of their works,” says Sowmya. Now, it is the lack of awareness in the society, which is creating a lack of availability of talents in this creative sector. “We impart counseling for parents in order to increase the awareness among them so that students are not forcefully made to take up the professional courses, which will take them to nowhere in the future,” pinpoints Sowmya. Wings Creations College is now in a move to extend their services all over the country, especially to the rural areas, which is always a goldmine of hidden cerebrals.

“If anyone is having talent and if they do think that they are creative enough, they need to get into wings and explore themselves. We are here to bring in more talented ones into this field, so that we can bridge the gap between the opportunities and availabilities,” concludes Sowmya.