Jobs At Animation Studios
You can scan websites for anime studios to look for jobs. Major anime producers such as Funimation of North America have job opportunities listed on their websites. Other studios, such as Gonzo and Madhouse, are based in Japan their websites require translation software or knowledge of Japanese. If you cant get an animation job in North America and dont want to move to Japan, you can look for an internship or job with anime distributors such as Viz Media or Crunchyroll, where you can build connections that could lead to a job as an artist.
Animation Studio Gold Rush
Even if youre just getting into the animation scene, youll recognize some of these California-based studios from a consumer standpoint.
For example, everybody knows Pixar! They consistently release some of the most financially successful and critically acclaimed animated films .
Pixar is located in Emeryville, CA. Emeryville is located in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Not interested in working for Pixar? How about another VFX and animation studio powerhouse? Industrial Light and Magic call San Francisco home.
George Lucas founded this studio back in 1975. As such, the studio has worked on the effects for every Star Wars film. Its also responsible for the work on the new Warcraft film in production.
Not a San Fran fan? You could look into Walt Disney Animation Studios, located in Burbank, CA .
There might be some animation-origination confusion around the distinction between Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios since Disney acquired Pixar in 2006.
But they have remained separate entities. Walt Disney Animation Studios were responsible for movies like Frozen and Big Hero 6.
Cartoon Network Studios, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, AND Warner Bros Animation are all located in Burbank, CA as well.
There are many more, too. Thats just the tip of the CA iceberg. You can see how California would be a hotbed for animators, especially those interested in pursuing careers based around television or film animation.
Is It The Right Career For Me
If you have oodles of creativity, then yes, this is the right career option for you. For being a good animator you need to possess a great deal of zeal and imagination. You must be good at drawing and sketching. An understanding of human, bird and animal expressions and movement is very important part of animation as it will help you express the characters you create in the most appropriate way.Furthermore, you should have good visualisation skills and flair for using colours. Patience, hard work and dedication towards your work are also a must for this job profile. Animation is a multitasking job so for that you need to work as a team, therefore, you need to have good communication skills. So if you have the above skills and a keen interest to explore this creative art, this is the career for you.
You May Like: How To Draw An Animated Girl
What Qualities And Skills Do I Need To Work As A Game Artist
- Be communicative and a team player
Art is something you can always improve on but soft skills can also make a difference, and more so than an aspiring artist might think. Good communication and accepting criticism will go a long way for instance.
“You have to work with people in many other job roles in order to solve problems during development,” Azhar says. “You’ll have to communicate your ideas for what the visuals should look like to designers, producers and more technical developers. You’ll also have to give and receive feedback on your work.
“It can be scary to share your work when you’re just starting out, but it’s invaluable having professionals pick up on areas you’re weak at and identify the skills you need to develop to make you employable. If you don’t show others your work until you feel it’s ready you can miss out on correcting bad habits early.”
Lucy Kyriakidou is lead character designer on Dlala Studios’ Battletoads
While this applies to any art role, it’s particularly important in a small team such as Bunnyhug.
“Communication reception to feedback are vital when working at a team level,” Nascimento says. “If they’re the one artist I hire for the entirety of a project, that might come second, but in my current position as a small studio director, it matters so much more.”
- You need to be able to follow a brief and adapt to all art styles
Pixel art by Luciana Nascimento
- You need to understand the entire development process
Rule No 10 Build Connections
Personal connections count. If you know people who work in the creative industries, ask them about internships. Employers want to be comfortable with the person they are hiring, and if someone within their company can vouch for the applicant, then so much the better. Make a list of people you know in the business ex-students from your uni are a good place to start. Sending down the ladder to help give an opportunity to a newbie isnt as rare as you might think.
One of the best ways to build relationships is through networking. Festivus, in London, is a regular event where animators get together to drink, chat and swap cards
Read Also: How To Watch Free Anime On Roku
Pay Attention To Industry Influencers
Continuing on from my last point, when youre online its easy to pay attention to people who have influence in the anime
- Manufacturers.
- Distribution companies.
And a handful of others. This is much more difficult if youre not based in the US or Japan.
But in those cases, thats where websites come into play. Because of the internet theres an opportunity to work for anime companies online. Assuming they allow that and are looking to hire new people.
One thing I will say though is: this is something Id recommend IF youre serious.
Theres almost no better way to get into an industry by working for it. But the anime industry in particular is so much more difficult compared to a lot of industries.
Its the kind of thing you need to commit yourself to, and even be passionate about. Because its a long-term game.
Again, this is something Id recommend only if youre serious.
Working for the industry is one way to get through the door. But starting your own anime business is the BEST way to get into the industry.
And it makes sense why.
If you end up building your business into something worthwhile, youll be contributing to the industry in more ways than you believe.
And at the same time, youll be a part of the industry in the most literal way possible.
Other than starting your own anime website or blog, theres almost nothing that compares.
But this is the path only for the most serious, dedicated and committed.
What It All Means
Just because California has the highest annual mean pay and highest employment numbers for the industry, doesnt mean its the best place to go.
With numbers like that, the market could be heavily saturated with aspiring animators.
Meanwhile, there are hundreds of game developers and animation studios located outside of the California hotbed. Check out this 2014 list of 100 most influential game studios.
Thats just the top 100. See what were saying? Theres a lot of opportunities out there!
There are studios outside of the United States if youre interested in pursuing that route. France, England, Japan, etc. are all home to top global animation studios.
Start by doing some research into a handful of your favorite studios, whether theyre video game-based or animation-based.
Figure out where they are located and whether or not theyre hiring. Dont forget about the salary calculator tool. Of course, annual pay shouldnt be the only thing you consider.
If there is an opportunity out there to work on a project you really love, even if its for less money than another offer, you might find it more fulfilling.
There are plenty of resources out there, some of which we pointed you to with this article. By doing the research and getting informed now, youll have a leg up on your competition.
Don’t Miss: What Is The Most Powerful Anime Character
Different Roles Different Names
- Given below are the different roles of professionals in the animation industry:
- In-between animator This is a beginners position in the animation industry where you can learn almost all the basics of animation.
- Modeller A person having strong knowledge of form, volume and anatomy. They make models for animation.
Given below is the list of top companies in the field of Animation:1. Toonz Animation India
Rule No 1 Get Really Good At What You Do
Your first and most important task sounds obvious, but youd be surprised how many people focus on the end result of working in the animation industry rather than getting really good at animating! To get the top jobs you have to be on top of your craft. This takes time but thats what those three years are for at university. Use them to study hard, practice, and to learn from your tutors.
Don’t Miss: How To Draw Anime Weapons
How To Find Your First Job In The Animation Industry
How animation graduates find work in the animation industry? There is no simple answer to this question. Jobs in the entertainment industry have always been highly competitive, and the supply of trained graduates competing for the best entry-level positions has never been greater. Official jobs postings, word of mouth, rumours in the pub, personal contacts, even cold-calling – all of these can be effective ways to find work in the business. Below are the twelve key rules we think are vital for success.
Rule No 1 – Get really good at what you doYour first and most important task is to get really good at what you do. This is an obvious rule, but the industry is competitive, and you need to be very, very good. At university, the pace of life can move slowly. But your life as an employee or a freelancer is a world of perpetual deadlines any of which you will miss at your peril. You have to be on top of your craft, and be better than the rest. It takes a while to get really good, so you must use your time at uni to study hard and practice. Make your work entertaining and fun to watch.
| Your demo reel is your shopfront – make it enticing |
Rule No 2 – Have a great demo reel Students worry a lot about grades, but the most important thing that any student will have on graduation is not their class of degree, but their demo reel. A graduates demo reel is their shop front, their display of talent. Nowadays it will be online at a website or blog. A great demo reel brings in work.
Animes Slave Labor Problem
Anime is almost entirely drawn by hand. It takes skill to create hand-drawn animation and experience to do it quickly.
Shingo Adachi, an animator and character designer for Sword Art Online, a popular anime TV series, said the talent shortage is a serious ongoing problem with nearly 200 animated TV series alone made in Japan each year, there arent enough skilled animators to go around. Instead, studios rely on a large pool of essentially unpaid freelancers who are passionate about anime.
At the entry level are in-between animators, who are usually freelancers. Theyre the ones who make all the individual drawings after the top-level directors come up with the storyboards and the middle-tier key animators draw the important frames in each scene.
In-between animators earn around 200 yen per drawing less than $2. That wouldnt be so bad if each artist could crank out 200 drawings a day, but a single drawing can take more than an hour. Thats not to mention animes meticulous attention to details that are by and large ignored by animation in the West, like food, architecture, and landscape, which can take four or five times longer than average to draw.
Even if you move up the ladder and become a key-frame animator, you wont earn much, Adachi said. And even if your title is a huge hit, like Attack on Titan, you wont make any of it. Its a structural problem in the anime industry. Theres no dream .
NlSHII Terumi May 11, 2019
Recommended Reading: Dub Anime Kodi
How To Become An Anime Animator
Related
Introduced in Japan and increasingly popular in the West, anime describes a style of artwork with a unique aesthetic. This animation covers full-motion cartoons in television and video. The anime look defines itself not only by visual styles of on-screen characters, including movement and clothing, but also by the worlds these characters inhabit. Artists wishing to become anime animators must familiarize themselves with this unique style of cartoon as well as develop a comprehensive portfolio.
Advice For New And Aspiring Game Artists
- Know your worth
While you may be tempted to ‘work for exposure’ at the start of your career, you need to be very careful walking that line as it can ultimately devalue what you do.
“I think my biggest regret was accepting to work for free in indie projects when I had no financial security, and when the folks working with me didn’t see me as an equal team member,” Nascimento says. “It led to a lot of bad emotional experiences. To put it succinctly, prioritising my well-being and security before my impulsive passion would have been great.”
Kyriakidou’s first experience as a game artist was straight out of university. She got a freelance gig and says she did many things wrong.
“If I could go back I would tell myself to not make desperate decisions, like accepting projects for little money just because I had nothing else going, as that can hurt future opportunities,” she says. “When most of us are starting out we are just happy to be doing this on a professional level and our art being in a game that we maybe don’t always think things through — like if it is the right decision financially, or scheduling, and even how it would affect our mental health.”
- Speak to other freelance artists
If, like Kyriakidou, you decide that freelancing full-time is the right thing for you, then you should be aware that working as a freelancer can be quite isolating. Reach out to the rest of the game industry and other artists whenever possible.
- Take it slow
- Keep up to date with technology
Recommended Reading: How To Draw Eyelashes Anime
Can Americans Work In The Anime Industry
If your dream is to move to Japan and work in the anime industry, it is possible. But according to one accomplished American animator who has done it, theres a few things you need to know first. While Inoue-Harte is half-Japanese, she has still encountered quite a bit of culture clash in her work creating anime.
What Education Do I Need To Be A Game Artist
- Higher education offers various paths toward game art
Game art is taught at university, but it can also be learned completely independently — the path you take is really up to you. Higher education offers various degrees that can help you to become a game artist, and those degrees don’t need to be directly linked to games.
“For me it was very important since they hand you the tools you need, impose deadlines that force you to progress and it surrounded me with likeminded people who were all passionate about games, which definitely motivated me to become better,” says Hendrik Coppens, who studied 3D arts and is now principal character artist at Rare. “While I think the training is crucial, I wouldn’t say going to a specific school is an absolute necessity.”
Sea of Thieves’ character art by Hendrik Coppens
Freelance 2D artist Lucy Kyriakidou, most recently lead character designer on Dlala Studios’ Battletoads, studied computer animation.
“Formal training is highly beneficial as good courses will teach you why things are done certain ways and introduce you to the correct terminology and language,” she says. ” give you a strong foundation for discussing your work with others and becoming an expert in your field.
“That said, there are many poor courses out there that are expensive and won’t provide you with the right skills to get a job. It’s important to research courses to make sure you’ll be taught what you need to know.”
- Having a background in traditional art can be a plus
Read Also: Best Yuri Anime List
How Do You Get A Job In The Animation Industry
Hi, all!I want to become a professional animator, but at the moment it seems really difficult to get the opportunity and experience to work at a studio. If anyone has any advice on how to get my foot in the door of an animation studio, please let me know, I would greatly appreciate it!
Have you done any animation? If not. Make them. If yes, compile the best stuff you have in a 30 second reel with no intro and no outro. Just your name in the bottom corner barely visible.
To the above I would add, use all of the resources you can find on the internet. Tutorials on Blender and animation and just endless information. And again, just to point to the importance, practice a lot. And put together a great reel. You will have no issues getting work if you do that.
These are typically extremely low-paid, not-fun jobs, but they are meant to get your foot in the door. The benefit of those jobs is that you meet people in lots of different areas, because you have to process renders for every department. If you strike up a good working relationship you can leverage that into a production job. It doesnt just work for Render Wranglers, however. You can get a job in the Facilities department, or delivering packages, or working the front desk. Literally ANY job at a big studio will let you meet people who will help you into production roles if youre cool and can show some skills.