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What Careers Can You Pursue with Animation Training?

By Sarah Clark
Sarah.clark@careertrainingdirectory.com
Career Training Directory Columnist

Careers in animation are found in a variety of fields, from marketing and advertising to Hollywood and Xbox video games. For those with an interest in animation, the right training can help you get closer to landing a job in computer, hand drawn, Flash, or stop-motion animation.

Everyone is aware of the most well know and probably most desirable job of an animator: working for Pixar or some other hugely successful animation studio that produces blockbuster films. Those jobs are hard to land; fortunately, there are other avenues through which you can pursue a career in animation.

Video Games

The video game industry, for example, is growing at a fast rate. Animators work for large and small video game companies, creating characters and the environments in which they move. Animators in these fields need to have an advanced ability to draw by hand and to use computer-generated imagery technology.

The Internet

The explosion of content and dynamic web sites on the Internet has created a number of jobs for animators. Flash animation, the tool created by software company Macromedia, is used to create animated images on web sites. To be well versed in Flash, you can probably take a class in Flash and complete some coursework in web design and graphic design. You might also benefit from a degree in graphic arts, or some formal animation or graphic arts training program at a college or university.

Advertising

Animators also work in the advertising industry. They create commercials for television and ads for websites. You might recall the series of animated commercials made for United Airlines which feature a series of hand-drawn stories rendering the experiences of United Airlines' customers. Animators in advertising may have training in traditional hand-drawn methods of animation, computer generated animation, and stop-motion animation.

A good way to get a head start on a career in animation is to pursue an internship doing the sort of animation you're interested in. Many animation students complete internships during the latter part of a formal animation training program, which can be pursued at an animation school, art institute, college, or university.

With the right planning, training, and talent, you could soon be on your way to a life long career of storytelling.

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