HAVING explored India and studied its historical strengths in the arts, Patrick Dodson, director of the Swiss campus of the College of Communications, has almost become an evangelist of sorts for Indian creativity. He strongly believes that the time has come for India to unleash its creativity in multimedia, the same way it did in IT and telecomm.

He talks animatedly about the world of possibilities in the media to students of visual communication.

His only words of caution for them are, “If you don’t realise your strengths at the beginning, be it in designing a website or a software product, you will remain just an efficient and cost-effective media back-office. And the moment the Philippines or China catch up with you on the cost front, you will lose business.”

Referring to the local IT industry’s obsession over quality and service capability, Dodson advises, “Don’t be hell-bent on perfecting others’ inventions when you can become an innovator yourself.”

The fact is that as far as software is concerned, India is a back-bencher that happily develops backend codes while blissfully ignoring product development. But this may not hold true for multimedia, where Dodson feels the country can successfully productise its creative prowess for international markets. According to him, “India has developed and honed its artistic skills in architecture, painting, theatre, music and prose for thousands of years. I would call that a dynamic advantage in the market for front-end innovation. You also have an excellent understanding of English and international culture while maintaining your own strong identities.”

But something is surely missing in India’s educational system, Dodson reasons. “From what I understand, most of your primary and secondary education systems are math-logic oriented with little or no input in the areas of art, music and creative expressions. This combined with an inherited commonwealth ‘blending in’ attitude stifles the growth of an individual—and thus the nation.”

Dodson therefore advocates a reformation of the way young Indians are taught about art and creativity. This means institutes need to go beyond offering stand-alone courses—a certificate programme on Photoshop or 3D Max—and orient students towards the bigger picture of film or advertisements or animation.

Agrees Atul Vohra, national head of Arena Multimedia, “Institutes that do not have the necessary means to invest in research and developing industry-relevant curriculum offer just stand-alone courses.” He observes that traditionally, the training industry in general focused more on the creative side of a person; this aimed at bringing out latent talent and transforming it to perceptible reality. However, the industry insists that course curriculums should include fundamentals of animation, design aesthetics, story narration, performance skills, timing and staging. The training programmes should also deal with subjects related to art direction, scripting, art of animation and a good amount of real project experience. “On the whole, there should be harmony between technology and creativity.”

Vohra emphasises that institutes need to impart training on the process of multimedia development lifecycles, including project scheduling, resource allocation, quality processes and maintenance of the projects developed. This training, he believes, can help students plan, develop and implement multimedia projects on their own.

He proudly points out that recently two of his students crafted a documentary film titled Respiration—The Noble Truth, a silent film that uses voiceover to convey its theme, the Vipaasana concept that says breath is the only truth, and that there is a direct relationship between respiration and thoughts. This 19-minute, fully-animated documentary was digitally done on computer, minus props or any shooting equipment.

Rathi Babu, chief executive officer, SAE Technology College, adds that most institutes offer point courses in order to contain the cost of course and additional infrastructure required for conducting production-level courses. Also, since the institutes are not sure of enlisting the support of the required number of students, they tend to compromise on global requ-irements in manpower.

Babu also thinks that there is a lack of enthusiasm among students for technology-cum-creative courses in multimedia. He attributes this to the “conservative mindset in India on the multimedia industry.” He says, “There are plenty of opportunities, but we look at engineering, medicine, MCA or MBA with a lot of respect, so all other creative disciplines fall by the wayside. Also, the psychology of a person getting into the media hangs loosely on hype and self-made imagery, which results in a negative mindset.” Babu suggests making media education popular. “We should make people aware of the opportunities, and at the same time, put the demand-supply position factually.”

Typical to India is the trend of students giving up their long-term prospects in the media and choosing other streams in the job market. “They may be willing to sacrifice a more dynamic future in the media for a call centre job,” Dodson finds. The industry too proves myopic in its vision.

The Indian multimedia industry, which, in the mid-to-late nineties, was seemingly poised for scaling new heights, fell dramatically with the dotcom bust. The industry base itself may not be big enough, going by Dodson’s comparison of the animation industry in South Korea with that of India. “South Korea has nurtured its ancient aesthetic through business models in television, music, games, cell phone applications and the film industry. It presently runs over 400 animation studios compared to around 75 in India,” he says.

However, the recent revival of the IT sector is reportedly coinciding with that of the media industry. Babu says, “The industry did go through a massive fall, but is now restructuring. We have close to US $14 million worth of production contracts at the moment, and, according to a FICCI report, this year the industry’s growth rate is more than that of the economy.”

Vohra echoes the confidence: “The improvement in business is evident from the large overseas orders being bagged by Indian companies such as Toonz Animation, Crest Communications, Jadoo Works, and Color Chips.” He predicts, “The multimedia industry is slated to be among the top revenue earners in the days to come. A large number of multimedia and animation organisations are opening shops, and the existing ones are upping the number of personnel employed, signalling a great time ahead for the multimedia professional.”

Since multimedia is being used in varied fields including the entertainment industry, the Web and in education, the growth in these segments should lift the job market. According to Vohra, the entertainment industry, with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30 percent over the past few years, is poised to grow to Rs 28,600 crore by 2005.

The games development industry is fast acquiring a leading position in the multimedia industry. “Although only a recent phenomenon here, this multi-million dollar industry with a predicted billion-dollar future has gripped India. Last year itself around 10 gaming companies opened shop in India. Growing at the rate of 35 percent, it is now valued at Rs 40 crore,” Vohra says and assures, “Interactive entertainment has definitely arrived.”

As a consequence, the expectations of the industry from the institutes are becoming diversified and dynamic. Dodson feels that with the ease of use in today’s technologies, a fertile ground can be created for blending the excellent logic skills of Indian youth with their ancient aesthetic heritage. “This could be the framework for developing a creative vision for their futures, which, combined with access to technology, could create the next generation of Indian film, print, gaming and art.