Mumbai based Whistling Woods International Limited, the upcoming film, television, animation and media arts institute, In order to enhance the learning experience of its students, recently announced tie ups with leading technology companies.
These include Nvidia, Apple, Sony, AMD, Digidesign, Seneca, Avid, Sennheiser, Loud Technologies – EAW & Mackie, Rode, Recreate Solutions, Nortel, Recording Architecture and Belden.
Speaking at the occasion, WWIL Chairman Subhash Ghai commented, “We are very happy to have partnered with these technology companies and be a part of the revolution that is taking place in the world of entertainment with them. Technology is taking over the world and we at Whistling Woods want to make this technology available to our students so that they can create a niche for themselves in the global market”
“Technology is needed so that even the technicians get the opportunity to be creative and vice versa. There now has to be a direct relationship between technology, technicians and the artists in the Indian entertainment industry. Technology is available to us but we are unable to use it to the fullest for the purpose of expression and creativity. Our dream is to produce film makers who will be amongst the world’s best” he added.
In his presentation titled Technology=Magic, Neelesh Bhatia, Chief Technology Officer stated,”This is the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship. Almost all of us at some point while watching movies, many a times think that they’ve been made magically and this is possible only because of technology. My main aim as CTO is to make Whistling Woods technologically advanced and provide students first hand knowledge in audio, video and film production. The idea is to plan technical infrastructure in a way that makes equipment upgrades affordable and eaily possible in the future”
In India Bollywood has long been ingrained in popular culture. The representatives from WWIL’s technology partners were all very enthusiastic about associating with the institute.
Besides entering into a Research & Development partnership as well as commiting to workshops and seminars to be held at WWIL, leading global provider of innovative microprocessor solutions AMD has also contributed in terms of Microprocessors & Render Farm Servers and preferential pricing on AMD processor based hardware.
AMD’s Deepanshu Sharma stated,â€?AMD has always been a partner of choice for leading-edge technology solutions for the best-of-breed postproduction and animation professionals worldwide. Whistling Woods International has the rare distinction ofsetting up a world-class institution in the heart of Indian film industry, which offers world-class tutors and cutting-edge tools. We are proud to be associated with WWI in providing the most innovative tools which will help sharpen the skills of film makers and animators of tomorrowâ€?.
Whistling Woods International has entered into an agreement with Seneca College pf Applied Arts and Technology, Canada for diploma courses in animation which will be for a period of two years. Students will be taught by faculty members from Seneca College and have the option of going there for a third year specialization in gaming and visual effects. The credits obtained at Whistling Woods International are also transferable to Seneca College, Canada.
Speaking on behalf Seneca Annie Dube from the Canadian Consulate said ” Through this tie up with Whistling Woods International we wish to provide the students at this institution an education of good quality.”
Sony Broadcast Products Professional Division India Head, Yoshitaka Shibasaki commented, �Sony with its latitude of technologies partners Whistling Woods International that would serve interests ofboth industry and education. Sony would provide high-quality, comprehensive broadcast equipments, whichwould empower students to be equipped to work with industry professionals with ease on finishing thecourse. Technology workshops & seminars for students and staff of WWIL from Sony would form a part of thispartnership to assist in thorough understanding and usage of the products or technologies. Students would beexposed to new products and technologies through these interactions and would be granted �Participation Certificate�. Sony’s advanced IPELA range of videoconferencing products would support WWIL for distance learning purposes.�
Later on speaking to Animation ‘xpress WWIL CTO Neelesh Bhatia added,”We have collaborated with Toon Boom and will use their software for 2D animation. NVidia has contributed towards the establishment of a research and development department which will come up in a few months and are also helping develop new technology on campus. AMD render farm service will be utilized for 3D animation which will be running on AMD processors. Students will also be working on products by Auotodesk such as Maya. We are looking forward to developing technology along with content.”
Animation Department head Ashish Kulkarni shared, “We have carefully designed the curriculum. This is the first campus based fully integrated animation program with film making and storytelling as a foundation coupled with traditional and digital ways of production. We have ensured that all students are trained on the latest technology with adequate spent on campus, learning technology to encourage ready skills.”
At Whistling Woods International students will learn techniques of animation in an environment which will have the best of both worlds, that is, traditional and the digital. With an experienced faculty, a thorough currciuclum created in collaboration with Canadian College Seneca and with technology partners such as Apple and AMD one can only imagine the standard and quality of education that will be available to the students at the institution. Students have a lot to look forward to in animation at Whistling Woods.
As a final word, Showman Subhash Ghai shared with Animation ‘xpress,”I would like to emphasise that today the trend in Indian entertainment is to imitate the west in terms of packaging as well as the themes. What sticks out like a sore thumb is the lack of great screen writers and story tellers. There was a time when writer duo Salim Javed credits came before the directors and actors’. The future I believe will belong to the writers and I would urge students whether they are from live action or from animation, to take writing seriously because that’s the crux of the content”
Complete details of what the WWIL tech tie ups translate into (as per the official release)
Seneca
– Curriculum Affiliation
– Faculty exchanges
– Faculty training
– Curriculum credits for students having done the Animation program at WWIL for the Masters degree
at Seneca, Toronto
NVidia
– Graphic Cards & Gelato rendering software
– US$ 1 million worth hardware and software free-of-cost
– Research & Development Partnership
– Technical Workshops / Seminars
AMD
– Hardware – Microprocessors & Render farm servers
– Preferential Pricing on AMD processor based hardware
– Research & Development Partnership
– Technical Workshops / Seminars
Apple
– Educational Discounts on software and hardware
– WWIL to offer joint Apple Certification courses in Final Cut Pro (Editing), Logic (Sound), Shake
(Animation)
– WWIL Is a reference site for Apple in India
– Technical Workshops / Seminars
Avid
– Free Software licenses for AVID
– Student Award for Editing & Animation
– Technical Workshops / Seminars
Sony
– CineAlta High-Definition Video Cameras, Digital Video Cameras & Recorders
– Educational discounts on software & hardware
– Joint certification with WWIL for Cinematography students
– Research & Development Partnership
– Technical Workshops / Seminars
Recreate Solutions
– Audio / Video streaming software to 600 nodes from a single a/v server at speeds of over 200 MBPS
– Educational Discounts on software
– WWIL Is a reference site for Recreate in India
Belden
– All Cabling within the institute
– Educational Discounts on hardware
– WWIL Is a reference site for Belden in India
– Technical Workshops / Seminars
Digidesign
– The Only Digidesign certified training school in South Asia and the largest in South East Asia
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– Educational Discounts Software and Hardware
– Joint Certification courses for Sound Recording & Design students in Pro-Tools
– A Student Award for the best student in the Sound Recording & Design specialization in each batch.
– Technical Workshops / Seminars
Nortel
– Switches, Routers capable of handling speeds upto 512 GBPS
– Educational Discounts on hardware
– WWIL Is a reference site for Nortel in India
Recording Architecture
– Educational discounts on acoustic design services
– Technical Workshops / Seminars
Loud Technologies – EAW & Mackie
– Mackie Speakers & Mixers and Control Surfaces for Pro-Tools & Final Cut Pro
– Educational Discounts on software and hardware.
Rode
– Free shotgun microphone and boom pole to all students of the Sound Recording program
– Educational Discounts on hardware
– Student award for most proficient sound recording student
Sennheiser
– Preferential pricing on headphones for every student from Sennheiser
– Educational Discounts on hardware to institute
– Technical Workshops / Seminars