It's a world where reality meets imagination, where dinosaurs walk across silver screens, and where mind-blowing web sites greet the cyber voyager and take him on a journey of discovery.

It's a world of animation, special effects, unbelievable graphics and exotic technologies that mesh and converge to create unbelievable real and virtual experiences. It's a world that beckons creative minds to unleash their power and it's calling You!

Size of the industry

Multimedia, the hot growth global industry is all set to expand its presence in India. According to a study by Andersen Consulting, the Indian multimedia and graphics industry, currently pegged at $550 million, is slated to grow at 30 percent annually over the next three years and achieve revenues of US$ 15 billion by 2008.

Career options/Employment opportunities

Whether you are already employed as a multimedia professional, or simply hope to be one soon, the million-dollar question is whether there may be a good job "or a better one" out there with your name on it. What are the opportunities, and where can you find them?

Recent market studies show that the entertainment segment in India continues to be a significant user of multimedia. India has been quick to emulate markets such as the US, where postproduction and movie making (involving special effects and animation) heavily rest on a multimedia core.

The statistics also seem to support this trend. Consulting major Price Waterhouse Coopers in its Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2001-2005 had forecast that the Indian entertainment industry would be worth $1.2 trillion by 2005, growing at 7.2 percent compounded annually. Entertainment industry spends on animation and Visual Effects is expected to grow even further as this segment moves towards global benchmarking.

The concept of gaming (both on line and off line) is also catching up, giving an even broader meaning to multimedia in India.

According to the apex body of the information technology industry Nasscom, the country's animation and gaming sector would grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 35 percent and 78 percent respectively to reach $950 million and $300 million by 2009.

This reflects a ten-fold increase, although on a smaller base, from $30 million in 2005 to $300 million by 2009 for the gaming industry. In the case of the animation sector, it would grow from $285 million to $950 million. However, this could potentially be much higher given the advantages Indian professionals bring to companies abroad.

While still a slow mover in the corporate arena, multimedia has nevertheless managed to make headway in the education and training segment where concepts such as distance learning and on-line training are becoming the buzzwords of the day.

Multimedia is used for just not stunning visual effects, but has also made life easier in other fields. Multimedia has helped the automotive industry design and implement engineering principles, and innovate in a manner which was earlier done on the drawing boards and in a conventional manner so now it is possible to stay away from physically manufacturing a prototype and enhancing the same through the usage of multimedia. This has lead to reduction in both time and manpower and cost.

What do you need to become a multimedia professional?

An enthusiasm to create, capability to visualize and a desire to experiment and absorb technical aspects is what goes into making a good multimedia specialist. Be it an electronic book, an eye-grabbing web page, an interactive kiosk, an interactive game or educational product, multimedia professionals work within the field contributing content towards these products.

Where to study?

Here are the links to some of the schools/institutes where you can train yourself to become a multimedia professional.

Amity School of Fine Arts (www.amity.edu/asfa/default.htm)

School of Audio Engineering (SAE) (www.saeindia.net)

 NIIT (www.nitt.com)

Arena Multimedia (www.arena-multimedia.com)

Conclusion

One of the highest growth segments within the Information Technology industry, the multimedia market has witnessed myriad changes over the past two decades. Both in terms of the impressive revenues and statistics generated and its vast proliferation across the IT usage landscape, multimedia has managed to make its presence felt. A bit of crystal ball gazing also shows that this industry is poised to make a greater impact on the way people live and do business in the future.