Career in Animation: How to be an Animator?
Animation is one of the most popular career fields today. The growing popularity of animated films and the use of visual effects in blockbuster films have made Career in Animation a popular choice among students. But despite the rising interest in the field, not many students are aware about what animation is and how they can build their career in Animation? So, let’s try and find out!
What is Animation?
Animation can be defined as the illusion of movement that is created by showcasing a series of still images in rapid succession. The effect is achieved by projecting images at a very high speed like for example 25-30 frames per second which is faster than that of a usual film.
Why Study Animation?
Do you remember your favorite childhood cartoons or movies like Tom and Jerry, Mickey Mouse, Scooby Doo, Lion King or video games character like Mario? A lot of these old animated cartoons and movies were designed with the help of traditional animation techniques. However, in recent years the field of animation has taken a giant leap. Today animation is more lifelike and more interesting. The field of animation offers great career opportunities to students.
A skilled animator has good career opportunities in fields such as television shows, movies, and video games. The services of an animator today are required everywhere from commercials to motion graphics, to special effects, animated videos, visual effects in movies etc. Not to mention the field offers great opportunities in terms of salary packages and career growth.
Career Prospects for Animators
Animation is a booming industry. India has around 300 animation studios that offer great career opportunities across a wide range of creative profiles such as visual-effects supervisors, 3D modelers and character animators to technological jobs such as scanning, compositing, digital ink and paint, and game designing. The major employers of animators are in film, television industry and gaming industry. Skilled animators can also take up freelancing projects or branch into other fields such as website design graphics designing and three-dimensional product modeling.
Some popular job profiles for animators are:
- 2D Animator – 2D animators create characters, backgrounds, and scene transitions, bringing creative ideas and concepts to life. Their images are flat; they have width and height but no depth.
- 3D Animator – 3D animators create visual effects and animated characters for television, video games, and other electronic media. Their images are more realistic than 2D animations as they have depth.
- Compositing Artist – They are responsible for the final appearance of an animation and work in close quarters with SFX specialists, lighting and texture directors etc to ensure the entire project looks consistent.
- 3D Modeler – 3D modeler’s works from the scratch to bring fully rendered models and environments to life. There are plenty of job opportunities for them not just in films and video games but also in engineering, advertising, manufacturing, architecture and many other fields.
- Character Animator – Character animators create and design characters using animation software, 3D modeling, 2D animations, and even puppetry. They develop moving characters; tell a story, whether it’s for film, television, video games or mobile applications.
- Texturing Artist – Texture is one of the most crucial aspects of animation. A texture artist concerns him or herself with the finish of any models (and sometimes terrain) to be featured in the animation. They use their skills to create not just lifelike effects but also the ones that are not found in nature.
- Forensic Animator – A forensic animator utilizes his or her unique skills to help investigators piece together crime scenes and collate evidence for presentation to a jury. They often find work in areas of insurance and/or liability claims; their work requires them to recreate real life locations and scenarios using animation.
- Flash Animators – Flash animators combine skills in illustration, graphic design and composition in order to create compelling 2D and 3D animation in Adobe Flash. Their skills are useful in almost all areas of animation but they mostly find work in areas of advertising and web applications.
The field of Animation offers exciting career opportunities. So, if you think you are passionate about animation and determined to express your creativity then career as an animator might just be your calling.