Starting An Animation Career, What Do You Need and What to Expect?


The animation industry is a multi-billion dollar business. It has a proud and long history of innovating computer-generated imagery. People are still learning and growing in the industry and there is always room for new talent. With more growth, comes career opportunities. An animation career can open many doors for a creative mind. 

It is also a career that does not require any special skills other than basic technical proficiency. Anyone can do it, with the right attitude and work ethic, as long as they have the desire to learn more. Animation is one of the most common jobs for those who want to get into the tech industry. The industry is projected to be worth $100 billion by 2020 and has been growing at a rate of 10-15% each year.

With the success of all types of media, including movies and TV, an animation career has become one of the hottest trends in the business. Animated content is growing at an amazing rate, and it’s hard not to be a part of it.

But it can be very challenging to get started. There’s a lot of brand recognition from people who know you do this (like celebrities or games), but there’s also a lot more competition for your time and resources.

It’s important to realize that animation needs to be a part of the creative process. It’s about the creative process; it’s about getting ideas and constructing them into something that moves people with an emotional response. It’s a craft — it takes time, practice, and patience.

First Step Towards An Animation Career and Business is Always Critical


Animation is one of the most popular and growing industries in the world. It is said that it has been around since the 1950s. The report states that global revenue for animation companies increased more than five times from $24 billion in 2010 to $76 billion in 2014, with a whopping 75% of revenue coming from North America (United States), Europe, and Asia Pacific (China and India), and Latin America (South America).

Animation is not a “hobby” as many people think. It is a very competitive industry. There are so many people out there vying for your attention, and if you don’t get started, you won’t make it.

                                                 

The 50% rule suggests that if you are involved with the animation industry on a daily basis (including production, distribution, marketing, and intellectual property) then you have to be involved at least 50% of the time. However, if you only make films once or twice a year then you aren’t necessarily missing out.

Developing your animation career and business can be done from home to save on costs— but being prepared for the studio life can cost more depending on the budget and location of course. It’s important to understand which setup suits you more and make sure you acknowledge the need for team members as well.

Investing time into yourself is also a huge factor before actually considering the idea of an animation career. When it comes time to invest in others, they will be taken care of and have an opportunity to make their own way in the industry. This will take some effort; but if done correctly, success will follow — even if that success is just another job title on your resume!

Animation can take many different forms — for example:

  • CGI (Computer Generated Images) — the 3D computer graphics used in films and computer games like The Sims 2

  • Group of animations called “movies”— which are short films produced by the same company or director but directed by a different person

  • 2D Original animation — a new type of animation where the artist creates a story using only their imagination using 2D animations.

Many people get into animation because they want to put their ideas on film. Don’t be afraid to pursue this career path! It will be worth it in the end. Animation is fun, it’s creative, it’s fun! And there are lots of great opportunities out there if you stay motivated and keep trying to make your ideas come to life on camera.

Important Factors to Consider Before Considering A Career in Animation

                     

There is so much to do when starting an animation career (and so little time, too). Luckily, there’s also a ton of advice out there to help you get started. Here are a few essential things that you should consider when setting out on your animation business journey.

What is the area of interest? 

This is your first big decision, and it has a huge impact on how you choose to start your business. You can do full-time animation for other agencies or studios or you can work as an animated video freelancer for those who strive for more freedom. Whatever area of interest you choose, make sure it’s apparent and visible to other people in order to be approached accordingly. 

How does it fit into the existing content creation landscape? 

There are so many ways for animation studios and agencies to make money and work on quality material. If you don’t want to do everything from short films and ads to feature-length movies then think about what projects they have in mind that would be perfect for you and their team, then find out whether they have any current clients looking for work like yours (you could use this as a competitive advantage).

What are the key parameters of success? 

By working with other people’s creative assets (e.g., images, music, text), creating well-targeted products that deliver value, growing a customer base (via social media), finding new clients (via referrals) and more…you need to know what success looks like for your studio or agency in order to keep pitching them new projects (which will keep them happy).

How much does it cost?

Some people may be able to make a living making videos with no additional costs except maybe the occasional odd project fee if they need it. However, this only depends on everything from where the production studio is located in relation to how long they can spend on each project compared with others’ budgets, and how long it takes them before reaching profitability. 

There are lots of other factors involved which can vary from one company or studio to another as well as from one project type or budget cycle to another at any given time. Therefore, all these scenarios should be discussed within the team before working on any animation career plans. 

What sort of approach do you want for your business? 

Do you prefer working with traditional production companies that offer fixed pricing structures where there is no profit margin? Or do you want more creative freedom so that you can manage your projects yourself while keeping expenses low? Smaller animation career examples could be cheaper than larger ones, but if they can charge lower rates then bigger outfits will usually have better service standards and deliver higher quality work.

Tips For a Successful Animation Career Launch

1) Believe in yourself

As much as this may sounds cliché, you can’t succeed in anything without believing in your potential first. Some of the aspects to help people believe in themselves when embarking on the animation career path is to take as many classes in all aspects that can help in the business. 

You should also be able to take constructive criticism into consideration and try to work out how you can provide immediate solutions. Being open to all possibilities upon animation career launch will definitely help set the ground for what’s to come, both good and bad. 

2) Approach Animation professionally

Many people have been animating for fun or as part of their hobby during leisure time yet they always find themselves not skilled enough to approach it professionally.

The first step is figuring out what you want to do. Animation has a lot of different meanings and isn’t necessarily tied to the same career path. The most common profession in the world is “animator” and all animators have different needs. 

What may be an advantage for one person isn’t something another person can do as well or at all. Some people need more hands-on experience than others, some can only draw something with their eyes closed, some are good at specific technical skills so don’t need that much hand-holding, etc. Having this background will certainly help you make your first steps into the professional world soon. 

3) Be Mindful of New Technologies

Animations are cool. They’re worth your attention. Everyone says that. But how do you get to where you need to be?

You can’t be a great animator, or even a very good one unless you stay on top of technology and keep up with the latest changes in software and hardware. To start a business in animation or an animation career, it is often advised to keep learning as much as possible about software so work can be done within the chosen field.