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What kind of problems do animators face in their jobs?
It could be struggles with mental health, overwork, low pay or anything in general to give me a vague idea to things I need to keep an eye on before entering the industry. [some advice on what is expected of me while I work would also be helpful] #animation #artist #art
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Gloria’s Answer
Hi Jesua,
I know some people who have worked in animation, some in movies and others who work in my Learning and Development department. You have general concerns that can vary depending on how you want to apply your talent. For example, pay can be relative. It depends on the industry. And first of all, pay may be low initially simply because you are a beginner and have to show your skill. Of the animators that I know, the challenges related to their work are twofold.
1) Making sure that your knowledge of tools to create animation is constantly up to date. That can be challenging. Tools are always changing. You also need to be knowledgable in industry standard tools. The animators I know use a combination of tools found in the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. Adobe tools are challenging, in part of them being hard to learn.
2) The demands of the job can require you to do your job in very tight timeframes. That can lead to long hours in front of a computer. Mental and physical burnout can create problems if you do not have strategies to take care of yourself. You need to make sure to take breaks rather than giving into the desire to work straight for hours on end. Also, you need to make sure to take vacation days, avoid working weekends, and have outside hobbies beyond your artistic talent.
Gloria
I know some people who have worked in animation, some in movies and others who work in my Learning and Development department. You have general concerns that can vary depending on how you want to apply your talent. For example, pay can be relative. It depends on the industry. And first of all, pay may be low initially simply because you are a beginner and have to show your skill. Of the animators that I know, the challenges related to their work are twofold.
1) Making sure that your knowledge of tools to create animation is constantly up to date. That can be challenging. Tools are always changing. You also need to be knowledgable in industry standard tools. The animators I know use a combination of tools found in the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. Adobe tools are challenging, in part of them being hard to learn.
2) The demands of the job can require you to do your job in very tight timeframes. That can lead to long hours in front of a computer. Mental and physical burnout can create problems if you do not have strategies to take care of yourself. You need to make sure to take breaks rather than giving into the desire to work straight for hours on end. Also, you need to make sure to take vacation days, avoid working weekends, and have outside hobbies beyond your artistic talent.
Gloria
Thank you for giving me advice.
Jesua
Updated
Mike’s Answer
Hi, Jesua! At this point, I'm sure you understand that animation takes a long time to do; You can take hours, or even days to create seconds of footage. The points made by Gloria and R I are excellent; that it's really important to manage your clients' expectations about how long the work will take (and what the work is worth) and that it's critical to be up-to-speed on the software tools you'll be using—they all operate on similar principles based on traditional camera animation, but they also have small but fundamental differences, which can trip you up and eat more of your time.
I also find that it's critical to think through your project, and do the work beforehand to come up with ways to save yourself time. This means making sure that your subjects are simplified, and that they're constructed in a way that allows for the range of motion you'll need for the project. My team and I typically work in 2D, and we find that the work done up front setting up character puppets with well-concealed joints and a library of body parts and hand and mouth positions can save a lot of time in the long run. What this means, though, is that our work is often broken up into drawing and setup; and animation/puppeting. And setup is really where the bulk of your time is spent.
You may be looking to work in 3D or 2D, and your process may vary, but even my friends who work in traditional hand-drawn animation often talk about how much time they spend in setup—and that sometimes it doesn't feel very "artistic". I've grown to love the process of setup, because I know how much time it saves down the road, and it exercises the more practical parts of my brain; but it's very different from the process of animating. So that's something to be aware of. That said, working in animation has expanded my understanding of what creative work is, and the end result—as well as the process—can be incredibly fulfilling! Best of luck, Jesua!
I also find that it's critical to think through your project, and do the work beforehand to come up with ways to save yourself time. This means making sure that your subjects are simplified, and that they're constructed in a way that allows for the range of motion you'll need for the project. My team and I typically work in 2D, and we find that the work done up front setting up character puppets with well-concealed joints and a library of body parts and hand and mouth positions can save a lot of time in the long run. What this means, though, is that our work is often broken up into drawing and setup; and animation/puppeting. And setup is really where the bulk of your time is spent.
You may be looking to work in 3D or 2D, and your process may vary, but even my friends who work in traditional hand-drawn animation often talk about how much time they spend in setup—and that sometimes it doesn't feel very "artistic". I've grown to love the process of setup, because I know how much time it saves down the road, and it exercises the more practical parts of my brain; but it's very different from the process of animating. So that's something to be aware of. That said, working in animation has expanded my understanding of what creative work is, and the end result—as well as the process—can be incredibly fulfilling! Best of luck, Jesua!
Updated
Ryan’s Answer
Hey Jesua! As you may be aware, animation is very time consuming profession. Which can lead to other obstacles if you’re not prepared. Such as tight deadlines or mental/creative fatigue. It’s important to convey how long an animation will take to whoever you’re working with. Especially if it’s a client that isn’t familiar with the process. Communicating where you are in a project can be very beneficial not only for the client, but for you as well. Having a concise idea of where a project is and what needs to be done will allow you to set mini deadlines throughout the process and can help a lot over the course of the project.
As Gloria mentioned below, it’s also very practical to familiarize yourself with whatever process or program you’re using, whether that be traditional animation or using computer animation programs like Adobe Animate, Toon Boom, etc. Certain jobs will require you to use specific programs that you may not have a lot of experience with. You may need to take the extra time to learn these tools. Luckily there’s a plethora of tutorials and threads all over youtube and the internet that really help. I’ve found that making short 5 second simple animations is a great exercise to learning new programs. More importantly, have fun with it! Because even though animation is time consuming, it’s also a really awesome and rewarding profession.
As Gloria mentioned below, it’s also very practical to familiarize yourself with whatever process or program you’re using, whether that be traditional animation or using computer animation programs like Adobe Animate, Toon Boom, etc. Certain jobs will require you to use specific programs that you may not have a lot of experience with. You may need to take the extra time to learn these tools. Luckily there’s a plethora of tutorials and threads all over youtube and the internet that really help. I’ve found that making short 5 second simple animations is a great exercise to learning new programs. More importantly, have fun with it! Because even though animation is time consuming, it’s also a really awesome and rewarding profession.