Playing big games from smaller pitch
It’s around 4.30 in the evening. Some 21-odd students are listening to a lecture on animation techniques at an institute in Agarpara, a Kolkata suburb. These students will leave in less than an hour, and the 1,500 sq ft classroom will be converted into a studio, where a group of designers and animators will begin work on gaming and animation applications for a roster of big-ticket clients, including cellphone major Nokia.
The training institute, which also doubles as a gaming and animation studio, is run by Virtual Infocom, a two-year-old start-up that is now setting its sights on creating animated games for the Indian consumer market.
Set up by Arijit Bhattacharya, the firm derives the bulk of its business from providing services to overseas clients. “About 70% of the business comes from overseas, and the rest comes from the domestic market,” says Mr Bhattacharya, who has a masters in computer applications. He first hit upon the idea of beginning a training institute for aspiring animators when he was still in college.
“I had a passion for painting from my childhood, and always wanted to be in a profession where I can nurture this passion,” he says. As a graduate student, he would tutor others for technical courses in engineering and computer science. Drawing from this experience, he set up an animation training institute that now has a franchise network across cities such as Jaipur and Allahabad. From a modest beginning with three students, the institute now has 160 pupils on its rolls.
Buoyed by the success in training, Mr Bhattacharya soon turned his attention to providing services for the big animation and gaming companies. He borrowed a starting capital of `70,000 from his father to start a studio in 2008. But the timing did not work in his favour, with the global economic recession setting in, drying up the order sheet.
“It was a tough time for me. There was hardly any work in the Kolkata market. I had to run to all over the country for getting orders. Sometimes, I got disappointed, but I never lost hope. My first work came from Delhi. This was a major moral booster to me,” says Mr Bhattacharya.
Even as local orders picked up, he found that the explosion of social networking sites could help him bag overseas orders at minimal cost. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter helped Virtual Infocom draw the attention of overseas clients.
“As the recession gradually withered away, orders started to pour in from the UK and Germany,” recounts Mr Bhattacharya. His suite of offerings also expanded as the firm began offering mobile applications such as gaming and advertisement promotions, commercials and short films. There were also corporate films, animated movies, music videos, visual and special effects on offer.
The training institute, which also doubles as a gaming and animation studio, is run by Virtual Infocom, a two-year-old start-up that is now setting its sights on creating animated games for the Indian consumer market.
Set up by Arijit Bhattacharya, the firm derives the bulk of its business from providing services to overseas clients. “About 70% of the business comes from overseas, and the rest comes from the domestic market,” says Mr Bhattacharya, who has a masters in computer applications. He first hit upon the idea of beginning a training institute for aspiring animators when he was still in college.
“I had a passion for painting from my childhood, and always wanted to be in a profession where I can nurture this passion,” he says. As a graduate student, he would tutor others for technical courses in engineering and computer science. Drawing from this experience, he set up an animation training institute that now has a franchise network across cities such as Jaipur and Allahabad. From a modest beginning with three students, the institute now has 160 pupils on its rolls.
Buoyed by the success in training, Mr Bhattacharya soon turned his attention to providing services for the big animation and gaming companies. He borrowed a starting capital of `70,000 from his father to start a studio in 2008. But the timing did not work in his favour, with the global economic recession setting in, drying up the order sheet.
“It was a tough time for me. There was hardly any work in the Kolkata market. I had to run to all over the country for getting orders. Sometimes, I got disappointed, but I never lost hope. My first work came from Delhi. This was a major moral booster to me,” says Mr Bhattacharya.
Even as local orders picked up, he found that the explosion of social networking sites could help him bag overseas orders at minimal cost. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter helped Virtual Infocom draw the attention of overseas clients.
“As the recession gradually withered away, orders started to pour in from the UK and Germany,” recounts Mr Bhattacharya. His suite of offerings also expanded as the firm began offering mobile applications such as gaming and advertisement promotions, commercials and short films. There were also corporate films, animated movies, music videos, visual and special effects on offer.
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