Plan A

~Animator!~

Animators use the technique of playing a set of images in sequential order to make it appear as though the image is moving. Depending on how fast, slow, or smoothly you want the animation to run, animators change the frame rate, or amount of images played in a certain amount of time. With this image, if you seperated each character position into a different frame and played them all sequentially, it would appear as if the character was realy jumping with a running start. The artist drawing the frames also included elasticity in the character, adding more movement and making it seem as though there are joints and weight and gravity.

Framerate

Depending on what the frame rate is on an animation, it can take 24 frames for One second of film!

Inbetweeners

While the use of inbetweeners used to be popular, it is less prominent in recent years. "Inbetweeners" are animators that deal with every frame between the "key" frames done by the Key Animators. In other words, inbetweeners are left with all of the difficult, tedious work that is linking frames together, dealing with frame rate, and making sure the frames are neat and tidy for the finished animation. This practice became less popular due to the differing art styles of the key and in between artists.

3D Models

When digitally animating a 3D model, the animating artists need, well, a 3D model to animate. Modelers and riggers work together to create this model - the modelers crafting the look, and the riggers adding a skeleton with certain points of flexibility where joints would be. After this point, it's up to the animators to create the movement of the character or object that is being animated.

Knowledge Gain

When it comes to animating, the subject in question can be anything an artist can think of. It could be the most everyday object, like an apple falling from a tree, or it can be something fantastic, like a giant, fire-breathing dragon. In order to animate these things, the animators need to have knowledge on the movement and behavior of these subjects. This means that with every new project, an animator must learn about new things - the way gravity effects certain objects or animals, or the basic skeletal and muscular anatomy of a person.

References

If you have ever tried drawing a person, or even animating one, you'll know it's next to impossible. Even professional artists have difficulty animating people sometimes - so they just use themselves as models! Sometimes animators will take a video of themselves performing a certain action, like jumping, to get a better look at how everything interacts, and the way the character should move.

Animator GIF :)

What Do They Do?

Animators use many different techniques, resources, and mediums to create the illusion that an image is moving, or that characters or objects are interacting with each other. Animators can focus on many different fields - it isn't limited to drawing each frame by hand on paper. Animators can animate using this technique, but animators can create their work by using computer programs, editing pre-existing videos, or even using code to animate sprites. Animators can also use physical models in animating processes like stop motion. Animation isn't used in just movie production either; animators are needed in a wide range of projects - television, music videos, video games, and even marketing like advertisements. People in this profession commonly put their work on the internet, where the public can see it, to get recognition and maybe even additional employment.

What's the Work Environment?

Many animators work in offices, and others work in the comfort of their home. Typically, animators work the usual 9-to-5 Monday through Friday, but of course when additional work must be done on a project with a looming deadline, they will stay late some nights or work weekends. Animators have many positions, like advertising, public relations, computer systems design, software publisher, motion picture and video industries. Most, however - 62% according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook - are actually slf- employed.

So How Do You Become One?

Animators typically need a bachelor's degree in computer graphics, art, or a related field. Having this education allows people to develop the skills and the porfolio that is needed to boost their chances of being employed. You also need a certain skillset to be a good animator. Like any good artist, Animators need to have artistic ability and creativity, as well as good communication skills, and even computer skills. Excellent time management is also a very good skill to have as an animator due to strict deadlines. Animators may also be able to be promoted to supervisory, leadership, or directoral positions.

How Much Do They Get Paid?

As with all occupations, animators get different wages based on what kind of animation they specialize in. Overall, the median annual wage for animators in 2024 was $99,800. The medial wage for some animators, like people who work in advertisement and public relations, earned less - around $90,520. The median wage for others, like software publishers, was higher - around $130,450. In May of 2024, the 10 percent of animators with the highest pay earned over $174,630.

What Are Some Similar Occupations?

If animating isn't quite your cup of tea, there are plenty of different occupations that are similar to animating. Professions like art directors, craft and fine artists, graphic designers, web developers, digital designers, film and video editors, camera operators, and even computer programmers are some similar alternatives.

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