What Skills Do You Need To Be An Animator?
As animation becomes a ripe industry, the list of skills needed to be an animator expands beyond just a firm foundation in digital graphics programs. As demands for professional and skilled animators who can create animation sequences for commercial advertising, home explainer videos, feature films and whiteboard videos increase, the paying scale for animators is also getting an upturn.
Let’s review what skills you need to be an animator:
The very first thing that you will do when creating animations is to devise a plan and construct a story line. And for this, you will need to have an excellent command over drawing pencil sketches. It is not just only about drawing sketches but, animator needs to visualise the concept and draw according to the theme and idea. You should be mentally prepared to explain your drawings to the clients or your team.
Remember animation skills are not only about a single character. There will be many side characters, background objects, movements and details. The skills required for animation course include designing subtle backgrounds to present realistic scenes for film or clip. The animator should be particular about object and subject sizes and make them in realistic proportions, if the client requires so. The animator’s Graphic skills must make him distinguish 2D and 3D animation jobs and their corresponding software requirements.
If you want to be an animator, you must be prepared to communicate with clients or members of your design team. You will have to conduct an initial meeting to understand what the client wants and what are his budget restrictions or software requirements. And, this is not a onetime communication. You must be in constant contact with external and internal members throughout the course of the project and keep everyone updates, especially when updates affect budget and deadlines. To be precise, an animator must be able to work alone and in teams as well.
Math, Computer Software and Physics Skills:
How long does it take to become an animator who is professional and expert? This is exactly how long you take to understand your maths and Physics courses. Calculating shadow lines, using angles so that light is properly projected, using gravity laws to show objects dropping in animation sequences are just some basic examples where you will benefit from maths and Physics. You will also have to ‘stay-in’ the animation fashion; meaning that you will have to stay updated with latest software, Computer knowledge, operating systems improvements and updates and new trends in the market.