Animation Jobs and Schools: Where Art and Education Make Magic and Money
From Disney's 1940 classic Fantasia, to Pixar's wildly successful Toy Story, to James Cameron's Oscar-Winning epic Avatar, animation and special effects continue to dominate the motion picture industry. Indeed, the International Movie Database's (IMDb) list of highest grossing films worldwide suggests that 28 of the top 30 films relied heavily or completely on animation, 3D-imaging, and special effects.
Still, not every one can pack their bags, head for Hollywood, and hope to land a gig at Dreamworks or DisneyToon Studios. If the City of Angels isn't in the cards for you--or even if it is--there are plenty of animation jobs that can lead you to a fulfilling, high-paying career.
Animator Salary: Talent and Time Can Take You to the Top
Computer and video game development, mobile technology applications, music and training videos are just a few animation jobs outside the major movie studios. Kansas City, Missouri, Bend, Oregon, Austin and Atlanta are some locations, where you'll find jobs in animation.
For May 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the median animator salary was $58,250. Earnings for animators at the bottom 10% of the pay spectrum averaged $32,360, while animators in the top 10% earned about $99,130. While animator salary varies by region and market, education, experience, and leadership tend to increase earnings and advance careers.
Animation Jobs: What It Takes To Get Them Right
Modeling, texturing, rigging, and rendering are some of the processes you'll need to learn. Understanding how to story board, design user interfaces, work in Flash and Photoshop are other essential skills. As an animator, you'll need to apply technical knowledge to a creative vision that may be your own, your client's, a director's or producer's--probably one of the latter, when you're first starting out.
Entering a Bachelor of Arts or Master of Fine Arts degree program at an animation school can help you assemble these pieces, develop an animation portfolio, make contacts in the industry, and prove your commitment in this competitive industry.
From university halls to feature film studios to video game production companies, animators experience creative careers unlike any other. Animators get paid to convince people that the imaginary world they've created is a place worth visiting. If you believe you have the talent and vision to succeed, animation school could be the higher education choice for you.
