In a tight and to the point speech, Jadooworks COO Ashish Kulkarni took the audience through the various stages of animation production and the role played by good infrastructure in ensuring smooth functioning of an animation studio.

Jadooworks CEO Ashish Kulkarni : "Pirated software leads to unhealthy competition."

"Understanding software is fine but to be an animator you need to understand the whole process from script to screen." began Kulkarni.

Kulkarni explained and elaborated on the various components essential to creating a good infrastructure.

Here's (some of) what Kulkarni had to say:-

Studio Space
The amount of space required for animation is huge. Cost of realty and climate are the factors that influence here. The day I decided to get into animation I sold my flat in Mumbai and shifted base to Bangalore

Application specific hardware and software
Each project has it's own look and feel, which demand different techniques and treatment. A studio has to own licenses for all of the major software and should also have high end hardware to support the software.

Give your people referencing materials,encourage them to try out various software so that they are not confined to one software and are reasonably comfortable with all. Also Constantly audit and analyze who uses what software at your studio.

IP security
Intellectual Property security is extremely critical
Your team has to be secretive about the work done at the studios. Most agreements have non disclosure clauses. Some of the measures include frisking at Exit and entry and Internet security.

Have data storage back up mechanisms, also maintain off-line backups.

- Internet bandwidth
Directors need not be present on location or at the studio, in case of being at a remote location, approvals are done via real time viewing over the net.

- Data transfer materials
It is essential to be able to convert your content into various formats like quicktime, mpeg, etc. and to be able to send it across the web using FTP. If you do not have all the facilities, be in touch with studios that can convert your content into all the formats.

-Leisure & Entertainment facilities
Being a creative business, animation involves passionate individuals who work odd hours, sometimes skipping meals, sometimes skipping even sleep. Taking care of Human talent is extremely critical to good output. Cafeterias, dormitories are a must.

- Precautionary Measures
Like Insurance, Fire prevention and Crisis Management.

Kulkarni then stated some of the challenges (objectives) faced by those setting up infrastructure

The challenges

- Faster rendering solutions

- High end graphics workstation

- High speed active and passive network

- Multiple storage

- Intellectual Property Protection.

Concluding his presentation Kulkarni enlisted the benefits of having a good infrastructure :-

The benefits
- Generates great animation content

- Ensures quality standards within deadline

- Provides ability to look beyond existing technology

- Ensures communication & data transfer

- Enables new trends in animation

- Ensures proprietary software