Is Animation the Right Career Option for you?
I came across this piece of information from http://www.bestofmultiplex.com/animation/2009/Post/8/is-animation-right-career-option-for-you.html and found it informative to help some potential animators to make informed decisions about their careers.
Animation the most glamorous career of today: Animation is becoming most demanding career option for today’s youngsters and why it shouldn’t be? It has everything which every young professional wants to have. It has glamour, it has fame, it has money I mean it has everything which a young mind dream to have but the big question is-is animation rightcareer option for you?
Don’t follow anything blindly because of just shiny advertisement or suggestions by your neighbor or friends. Before moving anywhere or choosing anycareer option do study about yourself and find out the things that are you really eligible for that career or not? Do you comply the requirements of that career? Note down the things in which you are good and in which you are bad? What affectionate you most and what scares you lot.
Here are few guidelines which every fresher or new animation students must read before going to choose animation as a career.
HOW TO BECOME AN ANIMATOR
Research about schools, colleges, universities or animation institutes and interview them about their curriculum, their faculty, their teachers, their students, the work that they create and what type of placement assistance they provide to animation students looking for jobs.
Find out what is the job placement rate of that animation institute or animation school or animation college.
Clarify your professional and personal goals that what types of projects would you like to be working on? What type of work would give you the most satisfaction? Are you interested in developing your artistic skill or technical skills are just fine for you.
Animation is a strong and rapidly developing sector. You can make your career in animation by working in various fields such as…
- Electronic Entertainment (Gaming)
- Broadcast or Film Industry and
- Professional Visualizations
In detail you can make your career in animation as
3D Animator
Character Animator
Character FX Artist (Hair/Cloth/Fur)
Lighting Artist or Lighting Supervisors
Matte Painters
3D Modelers
Renderers
Roto Artist
Storyboard Artist
Art Director
Animation Director
Animator
CG Supervisor
Character Designer
Hair and Cloth Simulation Artist
Compositor
Concept Artist
Creative Director
Effects Director or Supervisor
Environment Designer
Fur / VFX Artist
Layout Artists
Technical Director
Modeling Supervisors
Modeling Technical Directors
Producer
Rigging Artists
Rigging Supervisor
Rigging TD (Technical Directors)
Shading TD
Texture Artist
Texture Supervisors
Game Programmer
Video Game Technical Director
Video Game Producer
Video Game Engineer
Designer
Game Artist
Visual Effects Supervisor
Visual Effects Artist
Water/Flame/Smoke Artists
But the important factor is you have to decide yourself that what you want to do and which one is right career for you? You can do it or not? Do art affectionate you or just it is fine for you. Seriously if you are not an art lover, you are not interested in art or you don’t like team work or you are not a good team player then forget about all these things animation is not acareer option for you, but if you like art, you love to do it, you love artists or artist work then definitely animation is right career for you.
Now if you have made your mind to choose animation as your career then create plan for your career specialization, research schools and institutes to find the best fit for you.
Understand the types of jobs available in the animation industry and what skills are necessary to get them. Find the type of job that is the best match for your interest and talents.
Nowadays there are many software being used in animation industry such as
Autodesk Maya, 3D Studio Max, Adobe Photoshop, After Effects,Renderman, Softimage XSI, Fusion etc.
There are many great websites and publications available nowadays to learn about art of animation and animation industry. Some suggested reading and references are…
1. Animators survival kit by Richard Williams
2. The complete Animation Course: The Principles, Practice and Techniques of successful animation by Chris Patmore.
3. The Illusion of life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston
4. Treasures of Disney Animation Art by John Canemaker
5. Character Animation Crash Course by Eric Goldberg
6. The Artist’s Complete Guide to Facial Expression by Gary Faigin
7. Atlas of Human Anatomy of the Artist by Stephen Rogers Peck
8. An Atlas of Animal Anatomy for Artists by W. Ellenberger, H. Baum, Lewis S. Brown and H. Dittrich
9. The Male and Female figure in motion: 60 Classic Photographic Sequences by Eadweard Muybridge
10. Animal in Motion by Eadweard Muybridge.
11. Acting for Animators: A Complete Guide to Performance Animation by Ed Hooks
12. Digital Compositing for Film and Video, Second Edition by Steve Wright
13. 3D Human Modeling and Animation by Peter Ratner
14. The Art of Maya by Alias Wavefront
15. Maya Character Animation by Jae-iin Choi
16. Visual Effects in a Digital World: A Comprehensive Glossary of over 7,000 Visual Effects Term by Karen Goulekas
17. Techniques of Special Effects of Cinematography by Raymond Fielding
18. Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 most powerful film conventions every film maker must know by Jennifer Van Sijll
19. On Directing Film by David Mamet.
Except all these there are many useful websites and blog available nowadays providing information regarding art of animation and animation industry. Which you can find easily by using your common sense even such of them are providing completely free animation tutorials, Visual Effects Techniques, Special Effects Techniques, News and lot more stuff. But the condition is how much you apply your skills to find out all of them.
Great…Looking forward to our discussions.
April 3, 2012 at 8:05 am
Yup i have discussed with the university people! They are teaching me from the basic 2D to 3D! So i have got admission in the university! So most probably the course starts in next month! The people in the university are also pretty interesting! Will stay in touch with you further!
Regards
Partha
March 31, 2012 at 7:31 am
Hi,
I have checked put the website and cant see anything to do with 2D. Have you contacted them to discuss that?
I myself went into 3D and haven’t sketched anything in a long time…so I’d advice you discuss with the University.
March 30, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Hey
I partha from india . i am about to complete my graduation in Information technology! Right from childhood i m interested in sketching and painting and basically in art works! More than that i would like to make my career in the art field which i love to do! So now i have a little confusion here! I have many diploma courses here at my place! i have got an opportunity from an university to do diploma in character animation! I m good at sketching and found 2D animation was best course to do it! But i have a little confusion about the course they offered from the university! http://www.creativementors.in/institution.html
You have spl in character animation! can you suggest the best course almost related to 2D animation!
March 26, 2012 at 7:25 pm
Apologies for the late reply…
what you have gone through is hard…but I have no easy answer for you. I haven’t achieved what I want to do in life yet myself. One day I want to own my own animation studio or at least be part of the team that creates an animation or animations that shatter world’s box office. But I am not yet there. Currently I am a Video editor, I am not doing animation full time as I would have wanted but I am heading there albeit slowly but I learn a lot along the way and like you have said you learn a lot of information concerning VFX. There’s no easy answer to struggling to make it except the dream of finally seeing it come true.
All I can say although it’s a cliche is just don’t to give up.
March 14, 2012 at 4:12 pm
What your write about making it in animation, love of art, hanging around groups of people are like describing my core self. I am an architect by profession, but decided to learn animation as a masters course. my idea at the time was to get into University cause looking at the industry and where i was coming from at the time – sub-saharan Africa, it would have been looked upon as being a waste of ability, resources etc. so i entered into the surrey institute of arts and design for an MA in animation, the course though great in terms of theortical knowledge and understanding of avant garde film-making processes and the like gave me almost little knowledge of my hunger area Vfx and computer animation, i stumbled upon escape studios towards the end of my time in the UK and desparetely wanted to get in but due to my Visa time ending and lack of financial aid didnt manage.
I am lousy at self taught courses and though i have numerous tutorials have hardly been able to get to the level i desire with Vfx, the escape studios has become more unreachable with fees shooting through the ceiling and means and ways of living in the UK tightening, so i m left to wonder if my dream to make it in this field will ever be realised. I know i would be awesome as a VFx artist as my mind has amazing ideas but the need for taught knowledge and the lack financial capacity or institutes that can afford this knowledge nearby is really damaging to my dreams. But i keep trying to get in somehow and always reading and learning more about the industry and wont give up as easily, my heart just goes crazy when i think of working on a VFx team and making crazy effects. what kinda advice can you give me…
March 7, 2012 at 4:57 pm
i m totaaly confused………… software engineering or animation???? i m interested in both and i want to go on fiel with gud income as well and easy and fun job…….. i m good at drawing too
March 6, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Hey,
Go for it. Doing Animations is mainly driven by love for it. By being an E student doesn’t necessarily mean you wont be successful.There are many successful people out there who were not A students. You can do it if you really want to do it.
February 28, 2012 at 4:46 pm
I am very much confused that I should this line beacuse I am not so much talented but I have interest in this line the main problem I am a EEE student that doesnot mean I donot know about COMPUTER i know is the right path i should choose for my carrier
February 27, 2012 at 9:56 pm
Hey Austin,
When choosing think long term. How relevant will the subject you want to choose be to your choice of career.
If it’s animation then it’s quite a wide area as you have read. For one there’s 2D and 3D, so ask yourself what do you want to specialize on? And within them there’ s more areas of specialization.
Art and Computer Science are definitely a plus for an animation career. Under languages there’s creative writing which will be helpful. But all in all. You can take the initiative yourself and learn these things early on your own, there are animation softwares out there which you can have a go at as you figure out which area you are comfortable with.
The earlier the better.
Thanks checking out my blog.
February 15, 2012 at 4:52 pm
Hi,
Wanted to say I have found your page here most informative .
I am in the same situation as one of the others on here.
I am 13 years old and at my Uk school I am now expected to choose which three subjects I wish to focus the final 2 years of high school on.
English/Maths/a science/PE/a language/Religious Ed/Personal Development are all compulsory.
However we get to choose three subject of our choice. My bess=t subject is Art so that is an obvious one.
I had wondered about product design or would I be better with computer science which is about designing and programing. There is also a resistant materials course.
The options include many other subjects: History (which I love but is it a wasted subject when I wish to study animation after leaving school) Theres Geography/Betec PE/Music/extra science/sociology/buisness study/many languages and others.
Can you please advise what will set me in good sted for a career in animation.
Thanks,
AJS
February 12, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Animation Industry has a lot of money.That’s for sure.It’s a lot of work though, a hell lot of work and that’s why you must be sure it’s what you want to do.If it is, then you will love it.Animation is fun.
You can do it as a freelancer, many animation jobs on the internet and they pay well, so you won’t just have to depend on the Industry in your own country for income.
Thanks for taking the time.
January 17, 2012 at 11:25 am
hey thanks for share all the stuff. This is very useful. And i wanna know about sculpting,texturing and lighting,what kind of future in these fields and also money as compared to other fields of animation.
Money means : i don’t want that when i got a job and then i found i am in wrong field and other guys earning big money etc.
You said that ,”Understand the types of jobs available in the animation industry and what skills are necessary to get them. Find the type of job that is the best match for your interest and talents,
i am an art lover. and i just wanna know about my secured future in this line,
thanks
September 28, 2011 at 1:18 am
Ok thanks
January 26, 2011 at 12:25 am
Hey,
Sorry for the late reply…I’m sorry but i don’t quite understand unless you mean courses or subjects to take to become an animator.
If it so,according to my understanding…depending on whether you are starting out in animation, you would otherwise start on a broad basis and as you improve your skills you will get to know in what field you are best suited and focus on it.As you know animation is wide.
January 20, 2011 at 6:59 pm
What year 9 options do you take to become an animator? I’ve looked all over the web but I cant find anything! Please answer!!!
January 11, 2011 at 11:29 pm
i’m intrested in setting up a digital animation studio for out sourcing projects and skilled manminds
October 23, 2010 at 8:19 pm
What is Animation ? what will you learn? And Where will you learn?
Animation is not software or Hardware. Animation is a storytelling. Animation is a filmmaking. Animation is a people who make it.
Learning just animation software is not a learning animation. Animation is a craft and software is a tool which helps you to make an animation.
What we watch Tom & Jerry, that is made in the decades of 40s. That time technology was not avail so the tool was Paper and Pencil. Still animation was there. Today’s era is of Technology (Computer and Software ) but animation is still same
What to be learn in Animation?
If you want to be a good animation artist then learn 3 basic skills for animation.
OBSERVATION : Observe the whole world. Observe the small things and big things.
Observation will help you to make your animation strong with the performance.
PERFORMANCE : Understand the situation of the scene and the animation requirement. First perform the action by yourself, once you are happy with the motion then its very easy to implement to the character. It helps to understand animation very easily.
Principles of Animation : Animation principles are the backbone of professional quality character animation. How you use the principles and apply them is just as important.
Where will you learn?
Graphiti School of Animation (GSA) was set up with a mission to carry this vision forward. Our first batch of students graduated in June 2007, acquiring knowledge in animation film making, specializing in one area of animation production that suited their own goals as well as inherent talent and working together to make a short film for a complete experience of a typical studio operation
Graphiti, we decided to define how students should learn to become animation professionals. This was shaped by Ram Mohan’s vision on animation education. He, as Father of Indian animation, has trained so many animation professionals; most of whom occupy senior positions heading creative work today.
Since our training is intense, our selection procedure is based on evaluations on the aptitude of an individual student. Through entrance test which we call aptitude counseling we evaluate the student visualization skills, imagination power and aptitude for animation.
Graphiti School of Animation has wide range of full time courses which caters in Animation, VFX, Multimedia and Gaming. Duration for this courses are from 10 months to 2 years. The fees for the courses are in the range of Rs.1,20,000/- to Rs.3,00,000/- without service tax. Students can avail a bank loan with our help, as we have tie ups with some leading banks.
For more information you can visit http://www.graphitischool.com or call us on 022-24440107 / 9833841580 or mail us training@graphiti.net
September 21, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Good to know you benefited from it.Thanks for commenting.
September 8, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Thanks this post and link really helped me out
I’ve really had a fascination with animation for a long time! All thanks Miyazaki!
September 7, 2010 at 9:10 pm
Thank you for your response to this post.I myself have a lot to learn about the gaming industry and will refer to your site tom learn more about it.
February 15, 2010 at 1:37 am
At a high level, you need to create that connection between player and game that stimulates the brain to a level of total immersion into the storyline and characters that are developed throughout the online experience
Here are a few ideas that can get you started:
1. Character development – your online game will need to have a multitude of character personalities to choose from. How you develop the character and their approach to the story is critical in helping them become the extension of the player. Once the characteristics and personalities are established, the designer needs to continue the personality throughout the entire game.
2. Compelling Storyline – Fantasy, Historical Battle situations or Medieval conflicts are among the many areas that can serve as the basis for the tale and premise the game is based on. Whether the situation is an interplanetary invasion or a journey to the center of the earth, your story must hold the interest of the player and the mission they are signing up for.
3. Environment simulation – Once the characters and storyline is developed, the simulated locations must be tied into the areas to complete the vision. Players insert themselves into the characters, the mission and will visualize the specifics of the locations in their minds before picking up the controller. Your graphical environment must deliver on that promise and expectation to make the final link to the online game enthusiast.
Gravity Gardener
http://gravitygarden.com/video-games-for-money
February 15, 2010 at 12:26 am