Computer animation is an immensely creative new field of artistry that is quite easy to get involved in and the career options are vast, even with just a bachelor’s degree. Courses at accredited institutions will involve cutting edge technology and software and provide new and improving old abilities as an artist and innovator. And the career options afterward include working on some of the most popular movies, video games and commercials.
The classes begin at a basic level, teaching the foundations of art including character design and creation, geometry, model creation, and 3D art fundamentals, while still completing collegiate requirements of basic knowledge, from English skills to mathematics. Other courses will blend science and art in contemporary styles, teaching anatomy, physics, color theory, all of which will form a strong basis in which you can build off of for later computer animation.
Later in the courses, skills are honed with much more complex technologies, which are currently used in real production studios. The skills will involve character rigging and animation, compositing and scene finishing, and animation pre-production skills. Students will follow the production process from pre-production, including the abilities to plan, coordinate and develop ideas and a process for the production, and will continue through the post-production steps. Techniques will be learned involved in developing skeletal structures to prepare a modeled character for motion without having to know character’s technical setup; students will also explore the methods used in creating character motion from the depths of their emotions and personality. Critiquing skills are also learned, for evaluation both personal and other’s work. Core principles of the post-production process and the integration of rendered artwork into the final elements of the video or film will also be learned. The technologies of node-based compositing systems and 3D camera tracking tools will accompany the scene finishing skills.
Once the degree has been earned, a huge array of options is available to the competent animator. Film, television, and video games studios all look for the most talented and artistic developers to turn their visions into reality. The demand for such artists is immense, as they all rely on computer animators to create their characters and effects. Because the abilities of animators are so diverse, incorporating both live action or fully animated features, they are in constant want by the film and television production studios and it gives a secure career to any such developer. Character animators, environment modelers and even 3D specialists work together to create the characters, landscapes, structures and objects that fulfill an animated feature film.
In live-action films, the need is just as great, because special effects and color-correction has to be perfectly blended with real life scenery and footage to make it seem as realistic as possible. So Visual Effects Artists and Compositors have even more need, and even more specialized careers involve matching animated characters motions with live actors, and specialized integration into the footage. Think of what the Harry Potter movies would be like, without the castle, ogres, and dragons. Not mention without the magic effects.
With the constant advancement in computer animation and digital art fields, the possibilities for an animator are positively endless. The ability to use cutting edge technology to create incredible works of moving art and turn dreams into reality, to be seen by millions of people worldwide, is just a degree away.