8216;Conversion from 2D to 3D is big business8217;

The convergence of technologies will mean that we will have a lot to do. Blue-ray,3D phone,TV going 3D is good news for us.

After completing No One Killed Jessica,Prime Focus,the global visual entertainment services group,delivered Nikhil Advanis Akshay Kumar starrer Patiala House,with the entire VFX done out of its new one-stop-shop facility in Goregaon,Mumbai. The facility houses seven theatres and over 600 artist seats,along with a complete slate of visual effects,post and production services including VFX and film mix. We have worked on good 500 shots in a short span of one month for Patiala House and the VFX,though not evident in the movie,adds lot of life to the scenes. The movie also has a lot of scenes based on cricket where its very difficult to create a ball on computer graphics and match it with the focus of the actors eyes, says Merzin Tavaria,co-founder amp; chief creative director, India, Prime Focus.

Its two-film mix theatre is also ready,and Tavaria points out that the final mixing of UTVs Tees Mar Khan was done at this facility. Prime Focus has had a busy 2010,having worked on projects,including Guzaarish,The Chronicles of Narnia3,Tron,Anjaana Anjaani,Raavan,Housefull,My Name is Khan and Blue, among others. Tavaria talks on the growth of the VFX industry in India and why 2D to 3D conversion is big business. Excerpts:

Its been a difficult time for the VFX industry with recession and tight budgets. How have you coped at Prime Focus?
Recession was a good time for us. It made us understand our strengths. We had to struggle harder and as a result we are now getting more integrated with our facilities in the world,in the US,Canada,the UK and India. Last year,the big leap was in 2D to 3D conversion.

So,a whole new side of business has opened up
Yes. This has no borders,we can do it anywhere in the world. At the moment,we are doing most of the conversion in Mumbai and in our first phase that has been completed in Chandigarh. We are also starting work on Chandigarh phase 2,which should be completed by the middle of the year. Conversion from 2D to 3D is big business and almost 1,500-2,000 people are working on it. Most of the work from 2D to 3D is technically challenging and with some of Hollywoods biggest movies going to be out there in 3D,we should have a lot of work.

You worked on Narnia last year,do you have some Hollywood projects this year?
Our biggest film was Narnia last year. We are working on a couple of other projects this year. The convergence of technologies will mean that we will have a lot to do. Blue-ray,3D phone,TV going 3D is good news for us.

But your main focus area continues to be visual effects.
Yes,we have visual effects facilities all over the world working on cutting edge films. We did Warner Bros Tron,UTVs Guzaarish and so forth. In Guzaarish,the exterior of the home that Hrithik Roshan lives in Goa is all computer-generated. The scene where he is dancing with the ball is also CGthe ball going all over his face looks lovely,but it is a lot of hard work.

Bollywood is still shy of VFX. Is that changing?
No,Bollywood is still not into VFX that much. Last year,Bollywood had fewer releases too and so our focus was on Hollywood.

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Does India have the skill sets to be a truly global player in the VFX industry?
There are institutes that provide basic training,but once we get the people,we train them ourselves. We are a global organisation and thats helping each one of us.