Crest Communications' work on Jakers! shows the quality of the animation coming out of Asia. Courtesy of Crest Communications. © Mike Young Prods.

In Asia, they say change is the only constant. And change is manifesting itself rapidly in the Asian 3D animation industry.

The period when Asian entities were deemed unreliable partners in 3D production now seems an epoch away. Such issues as inconsistencies in delivery and quality and Asians speaking little English are no longer valid.

But in the modern era of networked communications, it is not just electronic circuitry, but passion that is silently driving the force. Pure, raw passion that may soon shape modelers into sculptors, animators into actors and compositors into creators. A trend that started with outsourcing 2D work has now matured into the 3D arena over the entire continent.

As artistry taps computers to generate vivid imagery, Asian entities are out to etch their place on the global 3D animation map. We will track the roadmap of an industry that is all set to evolve as a premiere force in 3D animation production.

India Animated
India has traversed a long path from a time when 3D was limited to pack shots and animation bits in advertisements.

Last year, Crest Communications, an animation house based in Bollywood capital Mumbai, created history by becoming the first Indian animation studio to successfully deliver a high-end 3D animation series: Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks for its U.S. client, Mike Young Prods. Set in two different time periods, the show combines set design rich as oriental tapestry with spunky animation to discourse life’s values through entertaining tales of childhood high jinks. The success of the show is apparent by the fact that it was lapped up by different networks such as PBS Central in the U.S., ABC Australia, TVO Canada, TF1 France, RTE Ireland and SVT Sweden.

A.K. Madhavan, svp of Crest Communications. Courtesy of Crest Communications.

Other achievements that have done the studio proud include Kids Ten Commandments, a DTH production for the North American markets and Ollie that is set entirely underwater.

A.K. Madhavan, svp of Crest Communication, emphasized the challenge of creating underwater animation and lighting effects on the computer. But with every show, he believes Crest is raising the bar of 3D animation on television.

Down south in god’s own country of Kerala, animators at Toonz Animation are busy creating an animated dimension of the Indian mythical character Hanuman.

According to president Bill Dennis, “Combining 2D animation with 3D techniques has been a very interesting process. The 3D component, which comprises around a third of the series, is being used for spectacular effects, select backgrounds and crowd shots.”

Last year, Toonz completed and released its first-ever animated television series, Tenali Raman. It was a tremendous breakthrough for the entire Indian animation industry, since for the first time, a show with Indian content shot on an Indian budget resonated well in India, Asia and Europe.