In recent times, the consumer demand for animated movies has skyrocketed worldwide.
The scene in India, however, is pretty much lagging behind. There has been a decent rise in use of visual effects in Indian cinema, especially due to the huge success of period movies like Bahubali and Red chillies’ recent daring project Zero. A rise in the demand for visual effects and animation in Indian cinema has resulted in a significant spike in jobs in animation. Fresh talents are entering the industry almost every day and fresh ideas are getting shapes like never before. A creative mind, technical knowledge, and the willingness to work under strict deadlines and dynamic work environment, are the basic pre-requisites to join the animation industry. Here are the top job opportunities for freshers in the animation industry.
Animator
Animators are those who animate the narrative sequences. It’s the most lucrative job in this field. One could expect an excellent pay scale and promotions in the role of an animator. Some of the major animator jobs are 2D Animator, 3D Animator, and keyframe animator. You can either work as a freelance animator and take up small projects, or get a full time animation job in a studio or production house.
Compositor
Compositing is mostly a post production process. Compositors are responsible for reuniting pieces from rendered footage or different layers of same shot and blend it into one scene. Though Rotoscoping and matte creation is one of the primary works in compositing, a sound knowledge of lighting is necessary.
Concept artist
Often under the supervision of the art director, concept artists provide various iterations of a component that is to be used in animation. These iterations provides the ground work for other artists to work upon. For example they sketch out a number of different styles for the same character or landscape. The finalised sketch is then handed over to 3D modellers.
Designer/Illustrator
The work of a designer is to visually present the idea. They are in charge of creating visual elements that would set the uniqueness of the product like logos, typefaces etc. An illustrator thus is required to have a great drawing, design and a colour sense. Job opportunities are more for this role than the others mentioned.
3D modeller
Physical dimensions of everything in a shot are determined by a modeller. Their work details in creation of environment, props, surfaces and characters along the 3 axis. It is perhaps the most time consuming process in the workflow. Opportunities are more in Gaming sector than in others.
Storyboard artist
Storyboarding is basically breaking down the entire script into a rough sketch format that shows the placing of components (character, landscapes etc). This avoids unnecessary animation of a sequence and thus saves a lot of time and effort. Only a storyboard artist can perform this task with perfection
Layout artist
Templates provided by graphic designers are modified by these artists so in a way they provide the ultimate design. They also decide the position of characters, camera angle and movement of each key frame. These tasks are the basics of cinematography in filmmaking.
Other animation job openings include Character rigging artist, texture artist and technical artist. Since these are specific works, they require an experience of a year or two under a supervisor. It’s therefore advised to for a fresh graduate to be a ‘3D Generalist’ as there’s always a requirement to switch between roles.
A specialised degree in 3D animation, computer graphics or other related fields is the first qualification for any of the above mentioned animation jobs. It has increasingly become a necessity than a preference. But fear not! Starting as a freelancer animator is always an alternative as long as you get a full-time animator job.
To become a successful animator, it takes a lot of patience and stressful hours to reach new heights. Remember that every animated piece that has ever inspired you to choose this career once started with a cube in the middle.