CG Overdrive: Asia, an outsourcing avenue?

When it comes to animation outsourcing, Asian studios have always strived to serve the Hollywood market to the best price performance and at the same time, managing to maintain the class of quality. Both mid-level and larger studios have performed according to their capabilities.

But what are the strength and weakness of the Asian animation market? Where is the talent coming from? These and more crucial questions were discussed in a panel discussion at CG Overdrive, Singapore, chaired by Shuzo Shiota, President of Tokyo-based Polygon Pictures. Other panelists included Crest Animations' AK Madhavan, Castle Productions' Ardian Elkana, Mediafreaks' Aldric Chang and Tiny Island Productions' David Kwok. Excerpts...

Aldric Chang

''I have observed that somewhere Asia lacks in creativity. Artists need to have a good grounding in pre-production, so that they can give their creative inputs on any project. Philippines is good in 2D animation and China is evolving in the 3D CGI space, while their 2D is still mostly flash based. Korea is creative and the kind of value that they are adding is commendable.''

David Kwok

''In Asia, people always say that we can provide you the content at the cheapest rates, but one should never consider only the price alone, but, should also take the quality of output into consideration. There are a lot of studios that make commitments about delivering the best (quality) at cheap rates, but, there are times, when they fail to accomplish that. Some may also reduce the quality of output or stop production midway due to budget constrains.''

AK Madhavan

''As animation is still in its nascent stages in India, it hasn't got any support from the government and it is still not perceived as an 'industry'. Indian animation is mostly driven by the passion of people in India. There is a lack of quality education, yet the industry is growing. What has kept it alive so far is the passion of the entrepreneurs and animators, and the spawn of skilled talents in animation.''