AttitudePOST

SKILLS or What skills do you need to be a good animator?

Hi everybody,
Who has not wondered what could he improve to meet the industry expectations?

Based on my experience as a recruiter and on different offers, I have decided to create the profile of what would be the perfect animator.

Here you have the checklist of that profile:

RESPONSIBILITIES
When you enter in a studio, you'll have to be provide to different team members what they expect from you:
The director : You must be able to provide him credible performances which match to his project and vision.
The animation director : You'll have to respect the style and quality of the animation to ensure that everything works in continuity.
The production manager : Be responsible for your work and organize yourselves enough in order to respect the quotas and deadlines.
The pipeline : Be able to face any technical problem, coming from the software, the pipeline or from the animation.
The team : Generally, whether your colleagues, supervisors or other departments, you'll have to communicate clearly and be open enough to understand the objectives, strategies and changes. Often you'll have retakes and you must communicate yourself perfectly to speed up your work.
The environment : We spent eight hours a day alongside our companions. You must create a good environment to encourage motivation, productivity and above all creation.

KNOWLEDGE
It is essential to have basic knowledge:
Basic Foundations : You have to know perfectly the principles of animation and have a great sense of timing and posing.
Body Mechanics : You have to fully understand the biomechanics to generate credible movements.
Acting : You will need knowledges in acting and storytelling to offer entertaining animations.
Drawing : Knowing how to draw is always welcome. It is not essential to draw perfectly to be a good animator but, you must have a good sense of posing to create appealing poses.
Management : You have to know how organize your work to respect deadlines.
Communication : Learn how to communicate as clearly as possible and understand what you are asking for to be as effective as possible.

EXPERIENCE
Education : Generally, studios ask for an art school degree or an animation master but I have been working with self-taught people who have nothing to prove in terms of artistic sensibility.
Experience : It is often asked if you worked in the industry several years and to know the production environment.
Management : You must your own workflow and have some weapons and tools that speed up your process.
Technique : Often studios will ask if you know how to use their programs and tools…From my point of view it is easier to adapt a program instead of learn to how to animate. In any case, try to expand your knowledge panel in order to reduce your adaptation periods.

QUALITIES
In summary, here goes a list of qualities they are looking for when they search a good animator:
Professionalism : Be serious, concentrated and rigorous with your work.
Autonomy : You must have adaptability, bring innovations and know how to solve diferent technical problems and challenges that you are going to have during production.
Organization : Know how to plan your tasks and manage your time in order to fulfill your deliveries.
Communication : You must have great relational and communication skills in order to resolve any conflicts.
Flexibility : You must have synthetic and analytical skills and be flexible when interpreting changes.
Respect : It is very important that you know how to work in a team. You have to be humble and respect your fellow.
Creative : Obviously we work in a creative environment. Be passionate and get inspire with what surrounds you to boost your creativity and train your eye.
Autodidact : An artist who stops learning is an artist creatively dead! Try to learn every day and improve your level.
Positive : Finally, and probably the most importantly point : You have to be motivated! We often work under pressure and is very important to maintain high morale and create a good working environment (See Motivation)

Characters courtesy of boutique23.com

I hope that was usefull…
Keep animating!!!

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