Issue 9: 4 Aug 2014

Like a good many Thai companies, design and animation studio Imagimax really does live up to its name by using its imagination to the max.

Imagimax’s example of 3D artwork

“We want to create something beyond our imagination,” explains Imagimax’s managing director Saksiri Koshpasharin. The motto applies as much to the company as its possible commercial applications.

At the moment, Imagimax is preparing to storm international markets with Toontell –www.toontell.com – which will allow users to send personalised graphic messages simply by touching various icons. Much more sophisticated than emoticons and a great deal more fun, it allows people “to create animations for their communications,” claims Koshpasharin.

The digital design studio’s expertise ranges from developing Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) in films, to 3D and traditional 2D animation for films, digital games, graphic design, mobile content and internet games. “We were the first to do a Thai film with CGI,” says Koshpasharin. “We have done 50 to 60 Thai films already.”

The company’s portfolio also includes an extensive array of cable TV projects, including work for MTV. Although Hollywood hasn’t come a calling yet, it’s probably only a matter of time as Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong and a number of Japanese film companies already have been in touch with Imagimax.

Nor does it end there, Imagimax has created “a few hundred” digital games, including the extremely popular Ninja Gaiden. Between major projects the eighty or so staff are kept busy with advertising clients including work on major campaigns for Nexus and Toyota Camry.

All this comes about not just because Japanese companies are outsourcing to Thailand due to lower labour costs, but because Imagimax is a Thai company based in Thailand – albeit one that is looking to go global. Koshpasharin is quick to mention the cost of living and human resources, as key advantages for operating in Thailand.

“Every student wants to be a games designer,” he says, adding that an increasing number of Thailand’s universities and higher education institutions are training a generation of people skilled in CGI. Then there is the advantage of being cost effective in terms of outsourcing and reliability.

Not that everything is perfect. According to Koshpasharin, software is expensive and not everyone speaks English.“There is broken English on both sides but we do communicate,” he says. And communicate very well too, given the success of Imagimax to date.

For further information, visit http://www.imagimaxstudio.com

Words by Michael Mackey