Career in Animation

Aspiring animators have a passion for doing animation and proceed to do further studies of 3D animation to land up to the ultimate industry. They want to develop such acclaimed characters like those that took place in Finding Nemo or Shrek 2. Thus, if one is going to enter into a career then it is a wise move to learn everything about the industry they are about to enter. What you soon will discover is that being as you have chosen 3D you are going to be technically a computer graphics artist. This signifies that you may end up spending more time on lighting, modeling, texturing or perhaps rendering rather than developing characters. So in reality what should be the appropriate job title suitable for you among one of these categories? Let’s consider that you have already become one of the following.
1. You predominantly set up lighting that pertains to a particular scene for a 3D piece. It will be your job to ensure it is the way it is suppose to look and has the right feel about it. You are then technically a lighting artist.
2. Your job is to make the 3D models that are going to be in the 3D scene. This is a technical assignment where you will have to first design the character in mesh then it proceeds through stages to end up as the finished character. You have now become a 3D Modeler.
3. You spend your days painting and creating the textures that are going to be encasement for the characters. In essence, you are creating the skin so it ends up looking as it was designed to look. You new position is now that of texturing artist.
4. Here is one you may find interesting. You are going to be the person looking after creating the bone system. This is what the animator will use to make the model work as it was meant to. Therefore, you have now become a rigger.
5. You may find being in charge of a rendering farm a little more enlightening as here you will have the responsibility of ensuring each 3D frame image is produced properly by the rendering software.
6. Last but not least how about the duties of the animator. Do not think that it is going to be a cartoon character. In reality, you may be animating anything that moves like a mechanical action of a motor for example or some movement in the human body such as the heart beating.
Now you will be able to say that you know all the different aspects of 3D animation industry.
There is and will be a growing need for animators in the film industry; no other artistic career carries the sheer opportunity that animation will provide for years to come. The profession of being an animator has proved to be the saving grace of many starving artist.