MUMBAI: The biggest 40 hits in cinema all over the world of all time have been those with special visual effects or animation and, therefore, this is an industry that has a very bright future.

This was the general consensus during a panel on ‘Visual Effects: A Global Perspective’ at the ongoing FIicci Frames 2010, where participants who were mostly from the United States said they were open to collaboration with Indian entrepreneurs since this country had a vast trained resource.

Tim McGovern who is Co-chairman of the Visual Effects Society in the US listed some of the top hits of all time including ‘Titanic’ and ‘Avatar’ and said all these were visual effects-driven.

But he admitted that VFX was no use without a good story or good actors, which was why the films by James Cameroon had succeeded.

Noting that VFX techniques had proved that nothing was impossible in this field, he also said some of the films that had succeeded in 2009 had used a mix of technologies including animation and VFX.

Speaking about the Society, he said it was an educational forum with chapters in many countries. He said any country which could put up 50 or more members could open a chapter.

He said the VFX industry was growing and needed a lot of trained people, and so Hollywood was coming to India in search of talent.

Bruno Sargeant who is Film and TV Industry Manager (Media andEntertainment) in Autodesk Inc. said there was a huge market for VFX in India and the country was no longer just an outsourcing model. He said there had been a lot of consolidation in this industry and Indians were investing in US companies and vice versa. He also spoke of increasing convergence of games, films and TV.

Kerner CEO Eric Edmeades said the US was open to working with Indian partners in the field of VFX and animation.

EyeQube Creative Director and CEO Charles Darby who moderated the discussion agreed and said there was a huge market in this field.