AIGA - Asian Institute of Gaming and Animation

Located in Bangalore, India, Asian Institute of Gaming and Animation (AIGA), offers international quality training, aiming to develop raw talent into inter-disciplinary holistic professionals with the necessary skills and expertise to meet the demands of the Gaming industry.

AIGA’s strengths are its experienced faculty from the Games Industry, its Industry relevant courseware developed in academic partnership with the University of Wolverhampton (UK), Middle East College of Information Technology, MECIT (Oman) and professionals from the Industry. Students have access to state of the art systems, game consoles, games, library of books and e-learning material.

PROGRAMMES
Game design, Game Art, Game Programming all being separate streams within Games, we have started with Game Art and Game Programming. At a later point they intend to introduce more streams and sub streams like Casual Online Game development, Mobile Game development, Game design. The Game Art courses at AIGA are being carefully planned and structured to cater to the Industry needs. The aim is to take potential raw talent and mould them into trained professionals on par with international quality benchmarks, who could be plugged into Game studios.

FACULTY & TEAM
AIGA’s strength lies in its people and their experience. The team is distinguished by their functional and technical expertise combined with their hands-on industry experience, thereby ensuring that learners receive the most effective and professional service. The learners shall also be engaged during their training by international experts and industry leaders on a continuous basis. The programme also ensures that the learners are professionally trained to work in groups as well as in teams that actually develop games. (See details at the bottom of the article)

WHO CAN JOIN?
AIGA’s learners would comprise of fresh talent and sponsored candidates from the industry. Students applying need to exhibit expected levels of art skills, aptitude and passion for games. The Game Art Professional Diploma is being offered to graduates and 12+ students with exceptional art skills.

FACILITIES
Situated on Airport road, AIGA is nestled in the heart of Bangalore, just 5 km from MG Road. Located in an area which is home to many IT companies, AIGA has a great social network with Cafes, Restaurants, Supermarket, ATMS, Hospitals and various other amenities within walking distance. AIGA is well connected by all modes of public transport, with the HAL Airport just 5 mins away.

* State of the art Labs and classrooms.
* Industry grade systems with Dual monitors and Wacom tablets.
* Fine Art studio
* Gaming area with multiple Game consoles
* Extensive Library of training DVDs, Books and Games
* 100% authentic software
* Mini-cafeteria

BATCH SIZE
To ensure individual attention each batch has been restricted to 25 students. New batches are taken in thrice a year.

COURSE DETAILS, DURATION & FEES
Foundation introduces students to software and tools in relevance to Game development. Traditional Fine art subjects are being taught to strengthen fundamental art skills.
*Foundation is free, subject to the candidate successfully qualifying for the Game Art Course.
(DURATION - Full Time: 3 months, Part Time: 3 months)

Game Art Core is a certificate program which exposes and teaches students various aspects within Game Art development. It consists of modules that are essential for any Game artist.
(FEES: 1.35 Lakhs. DURATION - Full Time: 6 months, Part Time: 9 months)

Game Art Professional is a full Diploma program which takes each artist beyond the essentials. Further to the core modules it allows students to specialize in subjects of their interest and strength. It enriches each student with complimentary subjects thereby creating a more wholesome game artist on par with International Industry expectations. (Fees: 2.53 Lakhs) (Full Time: 12 months, Part Time: 18 months)

Game Art Focus and Focus Advanced are top-up programmes available to students who have successfully completed the Game Art Core modules. It allows the students to selectively choose subjects that he or she would like to specialize in. For example, through Art Focus one could specialize as a Game Character artist or as a Game Texture artist and so on.
(FEES: 1.91 Lakhs. DURATION - Full Time: 8 months, Part Time: 12 months)
The Game Art Focus Advanced programme enables students to pick additional subjects from the pool of modules available.
(FEES: 2.42 Lakhs. DURATION - Full Time: 10 months, Part Time: 15 months)

Total Fee is inclusive of 12.36% tax.

All courses are being offered in full time and part time modes. Full time courses would require 40 effort hours per week from each student. Part time courses would require 25 effort hours per week from each student.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
AIGA offers scholarships to deserving applicants. To know more, visit the AIGA website - Scholarship and Financial Assistance sections. check the Scholarship section within Admissions. Additionally AIGA assists students in procuring Bank loans. To know more check the financial assistance section within Admissions.

TEAM AIGA

Kiran G. R. - CEO
Kiran G. R. is the CEO of AIGA. He is an Electronics and Communication Engineer and a University topper in MBA. He has done his M.Phil (Applied Economics) from Jawaharlal Nehru University and is currently in an advanced stage of his PhD at the London School of Economics. He was earlier the Mission Coordinator in the IT Mission, Government of Kerala in charge of e-governance and has headed projects like FRIENDS, Akshaya and State Wide Area Network. He also heads the Centre for Post Graduate Studies & Continuing Education at MECIT.

Hanif Mohammed - Director Biz Dev
Hanif is Director Business Development and Operations at AIGA. He is a post graduate in Management from the University of Glasgow, UK, specialising in International Finance. Hanif has a strong background in Business development and prior to moving to AIGA worked with Integral Solutions and MECIT, Oman. Hanif has been a part of the core team at MECIT, since its inception. Hanif continues to be a Director at eVolution Consulting Pvt Ltd, India.

Shailesh Watsa and Joshi Mark Premnath

Joshi Mark Premnath - Art Director and Erol Shailesh Watsa - Technical Director
Joshi and Shailesh were among the first to get into game development in India and have been in CG since 1993. Joshi, a fine arts graduate with strong creative skills has been pivotal to successful completion of many Art intensive International game projects. Shailesh’s strength lies in his ability to blend between Art and Technical, an unrelenting eye for quality and vast experience in managing International game projects and teams.

Their individual experience in Game development spans nearly a decade each having worked with older consoles like N64 to current gen XBox 360 and PS3. Joshi and Shailesh have been part of Dhruva Interactive, one of India’s leading game company, almost since its inception and together lead the PC Console Art division as Creative Lead and Head of the Studio respectively.

Over the years have successfully worked with leading International game companies and contributed at various levels to AAA games like Grand Prix 4, Toca Race Driver, Mission Impossible 2, Terminator 3, Toca Race Driver 2, Forza Motorsport, TRD3, Asterix and Obelix XXL2, Project Gotham Racing 3, Battle Field 2 Modern Combat, Forza Motorsport 2 and Colin McRae Dirt.

Sensing the overwhelming need for quality game professionals in the Indian market, decided to move into training after having worked in CG for over 14 years. Drawing from their rich blend of experience and strengthened by the University of Wolverhampton, have designed the Industry specific course to help aspiring students understand and reflect international quality expectations.

Niranjan Shivling Mhamane - Faculty Fine Arts
Niranjan Shivling Mhamane heads the Fine arts department at AIGA, bringing with him a rich background in fine arts, having graduated from the renowned art institution in Pune, Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalaya. He has Studied the art of illustration from legendary Mr. Pratap Mulick and has developed his fine arts skills with guidance from Mr. Ravi Paranjape and Mr. Milind Mulick, specializing in figure drawing, watercolour, acrylic painting and composition.

Niranjan loves working on story illustration and comics  and for the last seven years worked with almost all the major publications in Maharashtra including Sakal Papers, Baalbharati. His works for Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver’s Travels won critical acclaim. Niranjan is the winner of many state level and national awards in painting, including the prestigious travelling scholarship by Camel Art Foundation. He visited many museums in Europe through this scholarship and had the opportunity to study original works by old masters. He is a winner of the international drawing competition organized by North Light Books, USA. Niranjan’s drawings are included in the international publication “Strokes of Genius: the Best of Drawing”.

Milind Mulick - Fine Art Advisor www.milindmulick.com
Milind is a renowned painter, who divides his time between painting and teaching. He has authored 4 art books and written many articles in various art-related magazines. He is a visiting faculty member for the India Art foundation. He has won awards in International artist magazine competitions and has been selected for the annual show of American watercolor society for last 3 years consecutively. Milind has been part of many group shows throughout India, and has conducted several one-man shows in Mumbai, Pune and Stockholm and Sweden. His paintings are in the collection of many private individuals and a few Corporate houses in India, USA, Europe, as well as Japan and Singapore.

Mr. Arun Shankarappa - Academic Consultant
Mr. Arun heads the Department of Computing at MECIT. He is an M.Tech in Computer Engineering from VTU with over 12 years of extensive experience (10 years in Teaching and 2+ years in the IT Industry). Earlier worked for SLK software services and Ampersand software applications limited Bangalore as project lead and was responsible for Analyzing, Designing, Developing and Implementing Enterprise wide web based applications using J2EE for US clients. He is also pursuing his PhD in computer science and engineering from UK.

Previously Featured Institute: Graphiti School of Animation

RAM MOHAN’S VISION : GRAPHITI SCHOOL OF ANIMATION

After years of training artists to become animation professionals in the studio environment, Mr. Ram Mohan or Sirjee as he is lovingly known, had a vision about how animation should be taught. Graphiti School of Animation (GSA) was set up to implement this vision- to cultivate the unique qualities of each student through an interesting curriculum in an inspiring environment, under the guidance of committed trainers and industry experts.

“The school has successfully completed one year and the first batch of students has graduated in July 2007, all of them having been placed with various leading studios.”

FACULTY
The faculty comprises of a group of professionals with passion for teaching, experience in animation training and exposure to working in a studio environment. They have re-oriented themselves to the training model set up by the institute and developed detailed class-room deliverables, before getting into the training activity at GSA.

The faculty does a substantial amount of experimentation for concepts, techniques and new tools. Each assignment taken by student teams is tried out by the faculty beforehand. They constantly innovate in their approach to impart their knowledge to their students, within the framework of the courseware. At the foundation level, faculty is rotated among the different batches. This is an advantage for students as it exposes them to different styles of teaching and the faculty is able to compare their own observations.

The faculty profiles students on the basis of their strengths, interests and leanings which helps in the continuous counseling process of the students.

At the specialization level, each faculty member’s core specialization is defined by his or her prior experience as primary and/or support faculty. The trainers do not just teach, they also provide support in the management activities of the school. This helps them understand student issues and participate in solving them with a common perspective.

COURSE
The courseware is designed in such a way so as to standardize the faculty-student interaction at session level. Individual faculty members have the flexibility to innovate within this framework in each session to ensure learning by the entire class. The learning objectives are defined at every level and provide the benchmark for the pace and the detailing needs. The individual faculty member discusses these issues with other faculty and arrives at specific plans for the class.

COURSE DETAILS

G-CAT: Graphiti Certificate in Animation Technology

The courses are spread across various time periods starting from a short term course of 2 months to an Advance course of 2 to 3 years. These courses cater to different learning needs of people from students, hobbyists and freelancers, to those wanting to become industry ready professionals.

There are 4 course options:
G - CAT Primer

G - CAT Swift

G - CAT Expert

G - CAT Pro

G - CAT Primer: A two month compact animation course to introduce students to the art of making animation and help them gain sufficient skills to make simple animation shots.

Eligibility: 14 yrs and above. For those who want to learn the basics of animation.

Duration: 2 Months (6 days a week, 2 hrs class)

G - CAT Swift: A six month animation course to train students on the complete tools of animation and take them through the life cycle of animation production. At the end of the course, the graduate will be a ‘generalist’ who can work in any animation production house at an entry level.

Eligibility: 18 years and above. For those who want to get a break in the animation industry as trainees.

Duration: 6 Months (6 days a week, 2 hrs class)

Placement: Industry will be invited for Campus Placements

G - CAT Expert: A six month course to acquire expert level of training, to enhance the core skills of any practicing animation professional. Emphasis on one animation production specialization – ‘Modeling’, ‘Texturing’, ‘Rigging’, ‘Animation’ and ‘Lighting & Compositing’.

Duration: 6 Months (4m specialization + 2m production) (6 days a week, 3 hrs class – 3 hr lab).

Eligibility: 18 years and above. Anyone who has prior animation experience or has trained in animation institutes.

Entry Test: Portfolio & Personal Interview

Placement: Industry will be invited for Campus Placements

G - CAT Pro: A twelve month course which includes Foundation, Specialization as well as Production. At the end of this course, the certificate holders will be ready to work directly in their chosen area of specialization.

FACILITIES
Students have access to the lab for practice, to complete individual projects and team assignments. They plan their needs, coordinate among themselves and use resources optimally. All work has to be completed within the school premises, within budgeted time deadlines. Each student has access to individual machines and password controlled individual work space, along with access to common work areas where files can be shared over a network. On an average, a student spends about 6-8 hours per day in the premises. Along the way, they gain exposure to working under pressure due to deadlines, unanticipated needs etc.

STUDENT PROFILING
Profiling of the students is done from the time the application is accepted. It is continuous and process driven. At every stage, each individual student is observed for progress vis-a-vis the specific learning goals. Where required, individual feedback and counseling is given to ensure that the student is in sync with the training process.

At the Foundation stage, the emphasis is on natural orientation e.g. leadership, artistic experience, communication skills etc. Towards the close of Foundation, the profiling captures both knowledge levels and other traits that the students were exposed to, for example- working in teams, effect of acting and drawing workshops on work etc. During Specialization, the emphasis shifts to skill development and perseverance. Senior industry specialists interact with the students in each specialization and review their work, simulating interaction with the head of a production studio.

Students receive 360 degree feedback from the faculty, the experts interacting with them and their own peer group.

CONTACT
Graphiti School of Animation
404, Udyog Mandir No. 2, Mogul Lane, Mahim (West), Mumbai - 400016
Email: training@graphiti.net
Telephone: +91 22 24440107 / +91 22 32448544

Previously Featured Institute: Takshaa

BACKGROUND
Takshaa is a sister concern of the Ittina Group of Companies, well known for their impact on the architecture of Bangalore. Having made a niche for themselves in the business world; the group has moved a step forward by establishing Takshaa in the year 2006, thus entering the world of edupreneurs. Located in the suburbs of Bangalore at Hope Farm Circle, near ITPL on the Whitefield Main Road, Takshaa is set across 18,000 sq. ft of area housing state-of-the-art facilities for students from all over the country and the world.

In the ancient world, Takshashila or Taxila, was a renowned centre for learning. Takshashila held a pivotal position in the world of the erudite, be it art or humanities or any other logical and other form of learning. In the modern scenario, the founders of Takshaa are channelizing all their efforts into making it a centre for learning for all professional animators, modelers, lighters and visual effects artists.

The philosophy of Takshaa is that it is not technology that drives creation, but the power of the human mind and with this as the core belief effort is being directed at bringing computer animation back to art.

FACULTY
The USP of this institution is its immensely talented and industry-experienced faculty. For the first time ever in India, Takshaa has proved to be an academy with exclusive Hollywood experience. The teaching talent, namely Manu Ittina, Bill Miller, Aaraty Mehta, Ruturaj Arolkar and Anuj Anand, have worked in studios like Dreamworks, Disney and Weta for major animation blockbusters like Shrek 2, Madagascar and Hercules. Academic staff teaching on the programme come with a vast experience in the industry and have established credentials as practicing designers. A Course Director heads each programme and is responsible for the design, evaluation and other assistance for the programme.

TRAINING
The School offers a flexible, modular program that enables students to specialize in character animation, modeling, light and shade, game asset creation and visual effects. Along with this, students are taught art history, drawing, and sculpting as well. The various programmes of study aim to develop in the student a number of skills be it technical competence, computer skills, critical skills, visual, verbal and written communication.

The approach to teaching is holistic with many supplementary classes like theatre arts, puppetry, voice modulation, acting and photography being taught as well. Learning is carried out through a combination of individual and group studio projects run by one or more tutors, formal lectures, workshops, seminars, peer learning and self directed learning. The course offers a healthy combination of practical and theoretical work and is designed to give students a complete understanding of design. The environment within the School is conducive to group and individual learning.

Students at Takshaa are not only afforded the best of the world of academia and the industry, but also gain hands on experience in each of the modules that they would work on. From high end workstations to screening rooms, auditorium, studios, library and media centre to the best in the software world; students are provided with the best in terms of amenities.

DURATION
Foundation: 1 year

Specialization: 1 year (Animation / Modelling / Visual Effects / Lighting and Shading / Game Asset Creation

Students who have just completed their 12th grade (10 + 2) must go through the 1 year Foundation Studies Programme before going through one year of Specialization.

Graduates can take a faster route, with a 6 month Foundation followed by the one year specialization.

Professionals or those who have a CG background, may directly enroll for the Specialization Course of one year.

INTAKE
Thrice a year: June, September and February

INTERNSHIP & CAREER OPTIONS
Apart from becoming world-class animators, some of the other career paths that students of Takshaa can take include careers in the field of entertainment, interactive multimedia and web content development, animation, gaming special effects, education and advertising. Takshaa offers assured placements at Ittina Studios and has initiated dialogues with several other reputed animation studios in Bangalore and outside like DQ Entertainment, Digital Juice, Pixeltek, St. John’s Academy, Reva and the like for placements.

CONTACT

Takshaa

Ittina Anu, Hope Farm Circle, Near ITPL, Whitefield Main Road, Bangalore 560 066
Email: admissions@takshaa.com
Telephone: +91 9945137770 / +91 9945277700