3D Animation Jobs - Is Animation a Right Career Choice For You?

If one is going to enter into a career then it is a wise move to learn everything about the industry they are about to enter. All too often individuals will sign into an extensive training program and two things end up happening. The first is half way through the training they decide they do not like it or two they break into the job market and find out they are not doing what they were actually trained to do. Both of these disappointments may have been avoided with the proper research.

Apparently this is something that happens quite often in the animation industry. Aspiring animators have a love for doing animation and proceed to do in depth studies of 3D animation figuring it is the ultimate of the industry. They envision themselves developing such renowned characters like those that took place in Finding Nemo or Shrek 2. After becoming well exposed to the industry they soon find out that they are spending every hour of their working moments on animating characters yet this is what drew them to the industry. Therefore, in summary if this was or is your ultimate goal of getting into this line of work then you needs to determine what a career in 3D animation is.

What you soon will discover is that being as you have chosen 3D you are going to be technically a computer graphics artist. This means you may end up spending more time on lighting, modeling, texturing or perhaps rendering rather than developing characters. So in reality what should be your real job title should you be designated to one of these categories? Let us say you become one of the following...

1. You predominantly set up lighting that pertains to a particular scene for a 3D piece. It will be your job to ensure it is the way it is suppose to look and has the right feel about it. You are then technically a lighting artist.

2. Your job is to make the 3D models that are going to be in the 3D scene. This is a technical assignment where you will have to first design the character in mesh then it proceeds through stages to end up as the finished character. You have now become a 3D Modeler.

3. You spend your days painting and creating the textures that are going to be encasement for the characters. In essence, you are creating the skin so it ends up looking as it was designed to look. You new position is now that of texturing artist.

4. Here is one you may find interesting. You are going to be the person looking after creating the bone system. This is what the animator will use to make the model work as it was meant to. Therefore, you have now become a rigger.

5. You may find being in charge of a rendering farm a little more enlightening as here you will have the responsibility of ensuring each 3D frame image is produced properly by the