In-Demand Job Opportunities in Animation

Photo by Sid Balachandran on Unsplash

In recent times, consumer demands for animated movies have skyrocketed worldwide. In India, there has been a substantial rise in the use of visual effects especially due to the huge successes of period movies like Bahubali which witnessed massive popularity nationwide and shifted the goalpost for the Indian entertainment industry.

However, the use of animation is not limited to movies anymore. In rapidly-evolving industries like cartoons, digital designing & marketing, web & graphics, online learning, gaming, AR-VR, broadcast, etc. there’s an exponential rise in the demand for skilled animation professionals.

If you’re creative and wish to build a successful & stable career in animation, it is highly recommended that you acquire job-oriented skills and seek training & guidance from experienced professionals so that your skillset is perfectly aligned with the industry standards. Joining a top animation training institute would be the first step towards building a career in your chosen domain.

Let’s explore which rewarding job opportunities await you in this dynamic field:

Animator

Animators are those who animate the narrative sequences. It’s one of the most lucrative jobs in this field. You can expect a competitive pay scale and opportunities to climb up the corporate ladder to take on more responsibilities and lead teams. Subcategories of this profile include 2D, 3D and Keyframe Animator.

Compositor

Compositing is primarily a post-production process. Compositors are responsible for reuniting pieces from rendered footage or different layers of the same shot and blending them as one. Though rotoscoping and matte creation is the two primary tasks in compositing, a sound knowledge of lighting is necessary to excel in this profile.

Concept artist

Often under the supervision of an Art Director, Concept Artists provide various iterations of a component that is to be used in the animation. These iterations provide the groundwork for other artists to work upon. For example, they sketch different styles for the same character or landscape. The finalised sketch is then handed over to 3D Modelers.

Designer/Illustrator

The work of a designer is to visually present an idea. They are in charge of creating visual elements that would set the uniqueness of the product like logos, typefaces etc. An Illustrator is required to have a great drawing, design and colour sense.

3D Modeler

The physical dimensions of all the elements in a shot are determined by a Modeler. Their work includes the creation of an environment, props, surfaces and characters along the 3 axes. It is arguably the most time-consuming process in the workflow.

Storyboard Artist

Storyboarding is essentially breaking down the entire script into a rough sketch format that shows the placing of components (character, landscapes, etc.). This avoids unnecessary animation of a sequence and thus saves a lot of time and effort.

Layout Artist

Templates provided by Graphic Designers are modified by Layout Artists. So, in a way, they provide the ultimate design. They also decide the position of characters, camera angle and movement of each keyframe. These tasks are the basics of cinematography in filmmaking.

Other in-demand job profiles in Animation include Character Rigger, Texture Artist and Technical Artist. Since these are niche skills, they require experience of a year or two under a supervisor. It’s therefore advised for a fresh graduate to be a ‘3D Generalist’ as there’s always a requirement to switch between roles.

Enrolling in a reputed and globally recognized animation training institute like Arena Animation for your career training would be the first step ahead towards acquiring the right skills. There are plenty of animation courses available to choose from as per your creative inclination and career goals. With hard work and continuous upskilling, you would be able to contribute to stunning animations that are technically sound and visually appealing. Remember that every animated piece that has ever inspired you to choose this career once started with a cube in the middle.