Memorable highlights from the recently concluded 3 days Bengaluru GAFX 2019
Asia’s Largest Event in Gaming, Animation, Visual Effects, Bengaluru GAFX conference was held from 21 to 23 June.
Bengaluru, 21 June 2019:
Asia's largest animation, visual effects, gaming and comics (AVGC) event, was inaugurated by Biren Ghose, President, ABAI and committee members today at The Lalit Ashok.
Inaugurating the event, Mr. Ghose welcomed the enthusiasts who have gathered from all over the world and invited them to join the unique three-day experience that is Bengaluru GAFX 2019. Bengaluru GAFX 2019 is organised by Government of Karnataka and Association of Bangalore Animation Industry (ABAI) and intends to identify and provide a global platform to talents. It also attracts industry veterans, professionals, students, academia, technology partners, animation, VFX and games studios and production houses and generate jobs.
The inauguration was followed by session ‘Around the World of GAFX,’ where experts from all over the world took the audience through the AVGC industry internationally. Avrill Stark, the CEO/Executive Producer and creative leader of A Stark Production (ASP) based in Sydney, who joined the session through video conference, Angela Salt, CEO of Salt Content Ltd. from UK, Sheila de Courcy, Creative Specialist from Ireland, President and Executive Producer of Branscome International LLC, Catherine Branscome, Cristian Jezdic, Producer, VFX/CGI supervisor and IP specialist from Italy and President and CEO of Unlimited Media Inc. Neil Chakravarthi, offered insights into the world of animation, gaming, VFX or motion graphics in their respective countries and worldwide. The session was followed by a panel discussion, where the students and professionals from the AVGC sector interacted with the above mentioned experts.
The panel discussion on ‘Changing CG production in India Centre of Excellence: Disrupting Traditional Production’ saw industry biggies talk about the future of motion graphics and how it is disrupting the sphere of animation, gaming and visual effects.
Moderated by PC Vikram, the ‘Comics and Beyond: Presentation and Panel’ saw the coming together of graphic novelist and animation film director Somnath Pal, illustrator and animation film designer Saumin Suresh Patil and Anand Radhakrishnan, graphic novelist and art director. Kirini Rambhatla also presented on ‘Chitrakatha’- the future of graphic novels.
Session on ‘Indian IP - A Pictorial Journey & Future Pathways,’ moderated by Ashish Kulkarni, witnessed the homegrown experts explaining the inception and growth of various Indian animated tv series and films.
At the session, ‘Take your 3D assets and environments from first draft to final frames,’ the audience was hooked onto Autodesk’s integration of groundbreaking technology for the design, production and rendering. The day also saw a video conference with Arielle Martin, Creative Specialist at Foundry from UK, who introduced Katana and explained its significance and usage.
The other sessions included ‘Mentor 360 - Connecting Students and Studios,’ moderated by Ganesh Papanna of ABAI and attended by Anand Baid, Vishal T.M, and three principals from ABAI and Karnataka Government’s Digital Art Centers, ‘Deals with Wheels - Global Productions Looking for Indian Partners,’ attended by Angela Salt, Sheila de Courcy, Neil Chakravathy, Avrill Stark and Catherine Branscome, and GAFX exclusive that revolved around the making of Chota Bheem Kung Fu Dhamaka.
As a part of Bengaluru GAFX 2019, Asia’s largest event on animation, VFX & Games, an exclusive panel session was held on: Changing Landscape of Sandalwood - A Technology Perspective. This session threw light on the Journey of Kannada Films from a technology perspective from the views of a leading producer, director, choreographer & visual effects supervisor. The first look poster of the first ever 100 crores VFX loaded Kannada film “Gandugali Madakari Nayaka” produced by Rockline Venkatesh & directed by Rajendra Singh Babu was shown to the audience present & was discussed.
Speaking about Bengaluru GAFX, Co-chair of Bengaluru GAFX 2019 and Secretary, ABAI, B.S. Srinivas, said that the turnout at the GAFX 2019 has been massive as animation and visual effects, gaming and comics enthusiasts and professionals, industry veterans, academia, technology partners, animation, VFX & games studios and production houses have been taking part with great passion. This defines the future of the city and the state as the leading leader in AVGC sector, he added.
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The occasion was graced with the presence of Biren Ghose (President ABAI & Country Head, Technicolor), Cindy Armstrong (Activision - Mutant Arm), Axel Bonami (VFX Supervisor, MPC Films, Canada), Cyrus Mistry (Executive Committee Member, ABAI), B S Srinivas (Secretary, ABAI)
GAFX Conference is India's most prominent and largest annual event for games, animation and visual effects industry. Arena is proud to be associated with GAFX 2019.
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What is Bengaluru GAFX 2019?
‘GAFX 2019,’ Asia’s most prominent and largest AVGC conference, organised by Government of Karnataka and ABAI, intends to attract experts, studios, production houses, game developers from all over the world. This one-of-kind-platform for artists of Games, Animation & Visual Effects Industry will bring together industry veterans, professionals, students, academia, technology partners, animation, VFX & games studios and production houses under one roof to provide exposure to talents as well as subject matter expertise to professionals, artists and students.
More than 8,000 students & professionals from all over Karnataka & country took part in the conference.
The conference played host to a number of activities including “GAFX Art Animathon” - Asia’s biggest art & animation competition. The competition had 8 categories to compete for, enabling professionals & students to try for the INR 8 Lakhs+ cash prize & premium goodies. This time it was even bigger with the introduction and indulgence of new emerging technologies like AR/VR & MOCAP.
For the first time, GAFX conducted ‘Kalayodha-2019,’ a contest exclusively for all digital art centres across Karnataka. Apart from this, a special session called ‘Sketchbook,’ was held where artists from various platforms — independent creators of content, independent animation film makers, illustrators, art directors and principal artists from top studios and gaming companies came together to talk about the process of sketchbook where ideas are born.
The event comprised of talks and presentations, film screenings, panel discussions and competitions. The eight categories of competition were as follows: Traditional painting, digital painting, clay sculpting, 3D modelling, 3D character animation, 3D game art, story boarding and story writing.
The three-day event concluded on 23 June 2019.
