Overview

In an increasingly visual culture, animation is no longer just for Saturday morning cartoons or the occasional Pixar film. While there is still a demand for animators in these areas, animation extends into many other fields today, including web design, video game development and advertising, just to name a few. From the flashing web banners on our Internet pages to our office PowerPoint presentations, the work of animators is all around us. If you are artistically inclined and detail-oriented, and if you have an eye for motion, you might be well-suited for a career in animation.

In its most basic form, animation is an art that uses a series of still images in sequence to create the effect of motion. This art form began as the simple, repetitive hand-drawing of characters and images, but animation has evolved to include stop-action and computer generated images (CGI) as well–both two-dimensional and three-dimensional. You’ll still do hand-drawings as an animator, but you’ll likely also be well-versed in the latest computer technology to assist in your work. If you get inspired by the idea of watching your artwork come to life, get ready for an exciting and fulfilling career!

Related

School Website Length to Graduate: 6 Months Location: Most Major Cities in US and Canada Students per Class: 1 Tuition to Graduate: $7,750 Subject: Screenwriting

DESCRIPTION
Film Connection offers courses in Directing, Producing, Writing, Editing and General Production for the film and television industries. Accredited by the National Private School Alliance, Film Connection is not a Title IV School. There is a curriculum that is followed so that all students learn how movies and TV shows are really made. Business skills are part of the curriculum.

Film Connection features the mentor apprentice method of teaching students the necessary skills by having them work one-on-one with their mentor on real world projects. Film Connection enjoys working relationships with mentors in film and television directing, producing, writing, editing and general production in most major U.S. and Canadian cities. Read More...

A storyboard artist works closely with directors, heads of a story and producers, working from a script to create a sequential visual drawing of that story. These storyboard drawings provide the initial vision and concepts of commercials, movies, video productions (corporate or entertainment), video games and any other place where animation or moving images will be produced.

The storyboards provide the concepts of the production’s storyline, the characters and the tone to be created when produced. Typically, a storyboard artist works collaboratively with the production leads making required revisions until completed. He/she may also be required to pitch storyboards. These sequences can then be edited into a story reel to provide an initial feel of how the production will appear. Read More...

Responsibilities may include:

• Sophisticated shape creation and editing.
• Shape animation (by hand and with trackers).
• Shape compositing, fill modes, opacity settings.
• Correcting work as may be required and/or directed.
• Paint based on layer information and customer requirements as defined by the Stereographer and Shot Producer.
• Paint and edge fill to meet the highest quality standards.
• Perform conversion activities using manual and tool related techniques within each task based on layer information and customer requirements as defined by the Executive Producer and Shot Producer.
• Provide conversion to meet the highest quality standards.

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An effects animator is responsible for creating and rendering two and three dimensional animate organic characters and non-organic objects, such as scenery, text and particle effects. He/she will be completely versed in the main 2D and 3D computer applications in order to create these objects, such as Light wave, Electronic image, Wavefront or other high end 3D applications. Artists typically receive source art from other teammates from which to create and render the effects, and must be willing to take broad conceptual guidance from requesters, and use their expertise and judgment to develop proposed products. Read More...

A compositor creates photorealistic final composites for film, video or digital projects.

He/she is ultimately responsible for the aesthetic integrity and technical quality of the final image delivered to the client. Compositing combines live action and computer generated elements into visual effects shots, bringing the vision of the creative direction to life.

The position requires extensive skills using creative and high-end three dimensional software. A compositor must be able to perform all the creative and technical tasks, such as 2 dimensional tracking, matte extraction, layering of elements, digital matte painting, texture painting or paint, lighting, and color grading. A compositor will work closely with producers and visual effects supervisors, so the ability to work collaboratively is a must. Read More...

An animatic designer creates animates a storyboard to create the next step in a production so concepts can be tested. Anamatics are used for a variety of purposes, such as testing advertisements, previewing scenes of live-action films before they are shot, in the pre-production stages of animation and in the video game industry.

The position requires excellent computer skills in creative and two and three dimensional software applications, such as Photoshop, Illustrator and AfterEffects. An anamatic designer must be capable of carrying a conceptual thought through from the story boards to production using Photoshop or After Effects. Read More...