The New Age of Animation Employment

Animation employment has drastically transformed over the years. The obvious reason for this stems from advances in technology. However, it is not just the tools that are different between Steamboat Willie and the Toy Story series. The earlier days saw limited opportunities for animation employment. The only real option was to get hired by a large studio. Now freelance animator jobs can be found in just about every industry.

These days, animators can find work creating  storyboards, designing backgrounds, doing character design or working out the timing of movements for films, television shows, video games and even corporate projects. To do this, the artist needs to be comfortable with new technologies like Fireworks, Illustrator, Flash, Maya and Lightwave. But understanding computer graphics programs is only part of the job. To be successful, an animator also has to be able to work well with clients, meet deadlines and be a team player, as no production comes to completion on the shoulders of just one person.

The hours that freelance animators work can be grueling at times. When production falls behind or changes are required, the artists need to compensate to bring things back on track. The average salary for animation jobs also varies as much as $40,000 to over $75,000 per year depending on experience levels, education, training, location and of course who you work for.

Job prospects for this kind of work are promising, and more and more companies are looking to hire multimedia artists. With impressive software knowledge, natural talent and the help of a reputable talent agency to help you find work, freelance animator jobs are well within your reach.

Tags: animation, creative freelancers, freelance animator, Industry Trends, job search

This entry was posted on Friday, July 15th, 2011 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Career Resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.