Hi everyone!

So I know we're all constantly hearing that the animation industry (at least here in the west) is kind of in shambles right now or at least extremely inconsistent and unpredictable. I've read in other posts of this subreddit and have heard from my professors and other people in the industry that it's often now looking like even senior/mid level professionals are competing for the same junior roles. In addition to everyone competing for the entry-level roles now, most of our animation is outsourced to South Korea or Japan anyways.
One thing I specifically heard was that most of the time to become an animator in the west now is to start out as a storyboard artist and then work your way up. Not even in-betweener entry roles anymore which I haven't seen ever while job searching in school.

How true is this? And are there other ways to break into animation specifically? I feel like the pool for competing now is near impossible as there are now all levels of storyboard artists who mainly actually storyboard, and then the animators who have to try and take on storyboarding jobs in order to work up to animating in the west.

I'm not sure if I just tough out pursuing my bachelor's in animation here in the US and hope I get in somewhere or move out of the country to actually get an animation role.

Hi there!

I’m trying to put together a portfolio of background art that I was working on while laid off. BG art was an area I was always interested in but I’m not sure what a studio wants to see from a portfolio!

I suppose I’d like to know:

• how many polished pieces is good for a junior position?

• are there certain kinds of backgrounds they’d like to see in terms of camera angles etc?

• would it be worthwhile making a few backgrounds in the same ‘show’ style? Like an establishing shot, a mid shot somewhere inside that scene, a close-up of a prop, etc?

• should I be aiming for a broad show of different styles/moods?

• does it make sense to try to whip up something in the style of the show / studio I’m intending to apply for?

I would really love to get into this area of animation so I’m super curious to know what I’m up against compared to where my portfolio currently stands.

Thanks!

Hello! I am currently a university student that is not pursuing art as my main career but I know that that is for a fact what I want to pursue. I want to be a storyboard artist and want to create a portfolio in my spare time, but I really need advice on where to begin. I was thinking of adapting short plays as my top three works and asking for advice along the way, but before I start are is there anything that I should have in mind before dedicating my time to my work? Maybe things that experienced artists would recommend or what people in the industry are looking for. I know the job market is currently really bad, but I am willing to put all of my effort into anything even if I just have temporary jobs at small studios.

Also, I forgot to add, I have experience in character design and animation though my university as a minor because it is unavailable as a major. I know my skills would be significantly better if it was my major or if I went to art school, but I truly truly still am willing to do anything to work to sharpen my skills and make it into the industry even if it takes 5+ years.

I live in Botswana, there is practically no animation industry here whatsoever, there are no animation schools or studios. Most people here that want to pursue animation (very few) do it on the side of their day job and plan to move to South Africa and I've been asking South Africans how the industry is there, but they tell me that even though sure it's better than Botswana's industry it's still very small and that South African animators complain about the small size of the industry and that you're better off overseas (which they emphasize is still tough but a 1% chance is better than a 0.5% chance).

This being said is it possible for studios in countries with a more mature animation industry, i.e Japan, USA, Canada and Europe to hire AN INDIVIDUAL from Botswana whilst they are stationed IN BOTSWANA and is this sustainable, one studio might but when you leave that studio will other's be open to it...or is it THAT RARE? Will she have to move to said countries to get hired?

I know this was a thing during covid, but apparently they've stopped, I keep getting conflicting answers from peers so I thought I'd ask here.

Or are you kind of doomed to freelancing? (Not a bad thing ofc).

If i come off as ignorant, I do apologize as I'm not well versed in the industry and I'm asking on behalf of a friend of mine who's been doing 2d animation for a while and is half way through college here and is deciding on the next step after her graduation.

I studied Digital Animation, and because the program covered a little bit of everything (2D, 3D, games, VFX…), I ended up falling in love with every part of the pipeline…. I like modeling, rigging, animation, storyboarding, programming… basically everything. The downside is that I never committed to one path, so I never built a really strong demo reel in any specific discipline.

Funny enough, I work in a completely unrelated field now…(data engineer)

Every now and then I think, “I should just pick one thing and specialize,” but it’s so hard, whenever I start focusing on one area, I get pulled toward another one. I genuinely enjoy being a generalist.
Animation is still my biggest passion, but I don’t actually want to make a career out of it. I like keeping it as something I do because I love it.

Does anyone else feel this way? How did you finally choose a specialty, or did you just embrace being a generalist?

If there one thing that often stops me from even applying from jobs is the imposter syndrome(another reason I needed to pay off my student loans wasn't sure how quick it would be 0 my art not good enough and i could be better. So i often had issues of and still do waiting for the right time. I am working on my portfolio but the biggest issue is still when would i do before sending it off

I see a lot of people on here seemingly spinning their wheels. So maybe we can learn from the few of us that were successful in their attempts. If you found a job recently, can you let us know what and how it happened?

Recently, I've been seeing a ton of people crossing my LinkedIn feed getting hired for 2D animation work, and some from not-small studios! I am absolutely baffled though, because a good chunk of these, I follow very closely, and haven't seen animation positions opened up for them in....months? Years? I thought I had pretty carefully refined my LinkedIn/Twitter/Instagram feeds, connected with a bunch of recruiters etc., to show me these, but damn.

I feel like I know the answer at this point, but are all these jobs really just never being shared publicly anymore?

I understand there must be swarms of applicants every time they're shared, and they're trying to find a way to circumvent that, but I am starting to feel like I'm on a very complex treasure hunt to find a posting nowadays, even though things are clearly getting made, because once-removed connections are getting hired?

(Note, very genuine and hearty congratulations to all those people, good for you!! I'm just looking for your metaphorical GPS)

Am managing a hard pivot to sth entirely different that I dont have much interest in but seems to be the only path to stability.

Does anyone resonate with these cons of working for studios?

1. Drawing for work left me w very little energy for my own work

2. Commercial styles are uninteresting, but unique and experimental styles dont rly get stable jobs. It seems that those who make it with unique styles put a ton of time into building their own brand, which I somehow could never muster…

3. Pressure to create for others distorted my relationship with art… dont know what I’d draw for myself anymore.

4. Contract-based industry offers v little stability (even more obvious now thanks to the industry crash)

5. Lack of balance. Art careers seem all-consuming in a way that non-art careers arent. I see certain people balance studio work with personal work and a social life and I have 0 idea how they do it! For me I could only ever pick 2 out of the 3.

Financial pressures have somehow killed all creative desire. I used to be filled with ideas constantly, but now Im overwhelmed with things I need to do to survive, the art-obsessed person I used to be seems gone…
I can see myself not drawing again for 4-5 years, as long as it will take for me to be settled into my second career. But I wonder, does the desire to create come back after a good break, or is it harder to return to the longer you’ve let go of creating?

Feeling lost and anxious but also tired.

Hello! I’ll be going into the animation program at ACCD this year (really excited, and very nervous!) I wanted to ask some questions in case anyone has went there, or has any experience with animation in Art schools overall!

I’ve heard that the workload there is VERY hefty, but how many assignments do they roughly assign? Are they very strict with their deadlines? Alongside other classes, how manageable is all the work? Is it leaning more to ‘realistic as long as you manage your time well and don’t procrastinate’, or ‘you can only focus on your assignments at every waking moment of your day to get everything finished’?

Is there a lot of ANIMATION assignments? I LOVE animating and it’s the thing I’m looking forward to the most! Specifically doing the actual animating, if that’s alright makes sense! Inbetweens, keyframes, clean up, all that stuff! I know the school is very visdev focused, but do they teach a lot about animation itself as well?

Are the teachers there constructive and nice? Sorry if this is a silly question! The school seems really serious and really intense, so I was just wondering if the teachers are just as intense! I heard some people talking about how their experience with teachers was bad and that they ended up being really rude, but other people say it led to a lot of opportunities and that they were very supportive.

I heard making friends and having a social life is very difficult at Art center, is there a reason as to why? I understand it partly has to do with the heavy workload, but is there any opportunity to meet other people at all?

I can’t help but be very nervous as it seems like a lot of people say a lot of different things about the school. Some people say it’s REALLY not a good idea to go into, but some people say that it was an amazing experience that did a lot for them! I know it’s very subjective but there’s so many different things said about the school. One look at the ‘rate my professor’ score of the school made me have goosebumps because eeyikes.. it’s the lowest score I’ve seen for an animation school so far. I’ve already paid the application fee, and I’ve already found roommates and we’ve found a place, but all of this is making me incredibly anxious. Just thought I’d ask for some thoughts from people who may have went there, or have been in art school in general! Sorry if any of these questions are silly at all!

I'm fairly new to this part of animation. I'm learning as I go along and picking up what I need to know to get to the next step. I know the absolute basics of rigging, but the finer details elude me, and the internet has so far disappointed me with a lack of details on the more complex parts of rigging. Like fixing the deformations around the knees, elbows, hips, butt, etc. I've seen suggestions for additional bones, scaling bones, shape keys, and more, most of which only work on the knees and elbows. None of those things work on omnidirectional joints like the hips and shoulders. I want to make a rig I'm proud of in game engines, but right now I only feel "happy" with it in my modeling software (blender), where I can rely on dual quaternion skinning. Unless I'm just getting unlucky with my searches, finding answers for these questions seems impossible, with only the basics actually being shown. Anything more complex than that is described vaguely in articles, or alluded to in videos, without actually showing how. I'm getting frustrated trying to understand this topic. Any suggestions?

TLDR: I need help finding resources that explain more advanced rigging technics, to effectively create realistic deformations.

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking for honest feedback from people in the industry because I genuinely don't know what I'm doing wrong.

I'm a 3D Artist with around 4.5 years of professional experience. Throughout my career, I've worked in full-time jobs and switched between companies as I grew. However, I've never done freelancing—my experience is entirely from studio/company work.

This is my portfolio:

https://aqaribdanial9.artstation.com/

My goal is to get international remote

** jobs**, but despite applying to many positions, I never get noticed or receive interview invitations.

I'm wondering:

• Is my portfolio not strong enough?
• Does my work look too general instead of specialized?
• Is 4.5 years of experience still considered too little?
• Are my projects not at an international quality level?
• Is there something recruiters expect that I'm missing?
• Would specializing in one area (hard-surface, environment, props, product visualization, etc.) help more than being a generalist?

I'm not looking for compliments—I would really appreciate brutally honest feedback. If there are weaknesses in my portfolio, presentation, workflow, or career strategy, please point them out. I'd rather hear the truth and improve than keep making the same mistakes.

Thank you to anyone willing to take the time to review my work and guide me.

Bonjour, question a visé des riggeurs/animateur français, lors de vos déclarations pour devenir freelance, c'est au près de la Chambre de Métiers et de l’Artisanat (qui prend les photographes) ou de l'URSAFF (qui prend les devs par exemple)?

Firstly I just want to become a Japan animator like I dream of mappa Animator....I give in up and face so many self dought abt myself to become a animator...the questions are am I want mappa Id card or animator who enjoy the job, after that I believe in myself and never dought wht am I doing...then after I know abt tech animation,as a CS std I think it's suits me well,so the process of becoming a tech animator and learning Japanese,prepare for JLPT N5

Is this all worth it.

Today me loves to become a animator not a MAPPA's identity card...I love the process of tdy me to become a tech animator to live in Japan

I learn 3D modelling

I teach myself python

I learn blender python

And my future plans are

Rigging and pipeline

Am I on the right track with what I'm doing?

Hi everyone.. I’m 17 and it’s the time of the year where I have to start thinking about where I’m applying. I love art and I really want to study animation. However I’m terrified of the stories that people tell about dropping out halfway through, or being in tons of debt after. I live in household where there have been no creative careers at all, it was either business or medicine, never art. I feel im not good enough academically and im terrified of disappointing my parents by dropping out after spending so much money even on the first few years I go. Is it really worth the risk? I have started my portfolio already but I still have doubts in my head if I’m making the right choice…

Hello guys,

I'm a Rigging Artist, and I have applied for the Technical Animator (Rigging) position at Lakshya Digital. I have 3 years of experience in animation and gaming industry combined

However, after doing some research about the work environment, I came across many reviews mentioning excessive overtime and low salary increments. I also spoke with one of my seniors who works in the same position at Lakshya. He told me that he usually gets home around 10–11 PM, even though his login time is 8 AM, which is really horrible—around 12–14 hours of work a day.

I want to know whether this is the case with all gaming studios or if it's specific to Lakshya. I was actually planning to switch my career to IT (Data Scientist) because of the low pay and poor work-life balance in the animation and gaming industry. However, I really want to continue working in the gaming industry.

If this is the reality across all gaming, animation, and VFX studios, what would you suggest I do?

I just graduated from college and my portfolio is pretty lack luster, I want to be a character animator but have no idea where to start or what to put in my portfolio or how many pieces I should have

I was thinking of thinking of maybe animating scenes from movies or video games I liked but I wasn’t sure, any advice for how to get started with my portfolio?

I need advice on how to improve rapidly before the admissions for the animation workshop open applications on february 1st. I also would really love the discord server link for the taw hopefuls if anyone has it i cant find it anywhere 😭.

Also apparently i cant submit photos here but ive posted some of my drawings. I'd prefer if someone can dm though. Id appreciate any advice at all!

As the title says, has anyone moved from the animation (or adjacent) industry to working in remote field camps out in the bush? Im contemplating pivoting myself and the career im interested in is very likely going to lead me down this path, so curious to hear from experiences of anyone whos done something similar and how its been going.

For a bit more specific info about myself. I was a CG Lookdev Artist working on Children's TV for 4 years. Closing in on a year of being unemployed and not finding a new contract, and the more I thought about the state of the industry, idk if I even want to return to it. Have quite the passion for aviation and thinking of going to flight school and getting a helicopter pilots license. However helicopter industry up here in Canada is primarily bush pilot jobs in northern remote camps like so. The catch is im not much of an outdoorsy person, and this is quite the drastic pivot from a WFH animation job lol. So trying to decide for myself if its the right move or not.

Hi everyone, I'm 19 and currently studying at a university in Vietnam.

So as the topic, I'm not good at drawing or painting, and want to become an anime producer or producer assistant. So I wonder is there any chance for me if I don't know about animation stuff?

Hello guyz Iam in 12 science pcm and I was researching some fields to do after 12 in which I found this vfx artist just researching more can any guide me like whether it is good or not , whether there is job stability, how's the salary there, it is good if done in India or need to go abroad and more on . So anyone has knowledge or experience of this field please guide me .

Hey everyone,

I'm 17, about to turn 18, and currently working. It's made me realize that I really want to figure out what career I should be working toward.

I know for a fact that I dream of working in the video game or animation industry. The thought of spending my days helping create characters, worlds, and stories that people connect with genuinely excites me more than anything else I can imagine doing.

The problem is that I don't have one specific role that I feel completely certain about.

I'm not someone who's always dreamed of being an animator, programmer, writer, or character artist. What draws me in is being part of the creative process itself and helping bring these worlds to life. Games and animated shows have been the biggest passion in my life for as long as I can remember, and the idea of being surrounded by people who are creating those kinds of experiences every day feels like where I would belong.

Out of all the different disciplines, animation is the one I keep coming back to. I find myself paying a lot of attention to how characters move, how they act, their body language, how cinematics are put together, and how animation can completely change the feeling of a scene or make a character feel alive.

At the same time, I'm unsure if I love animation itself enough to spend thousands of hours mastering it without knowing whether it's the right path for me. I love the results of great animation, but I'm still trying to figure out how much I enjoy the actual process of creating it.

I also find storytelling and cinematic direction incredibly interesting, but those feel even more intimidating, and I'm not really sure what those career paths look like or how people get into them.

I guess what I'm asking is:

What made you realize animation was the right path for you?

How did you figure out if you loved the craft itself and not just the final product?

Does my interest sound like something that could translate well into animation as a career, or does it sound like I might be more interested in the worlds and stories being created rather than animation itself?

I'm not expecting to end up at some of the biggest studios in the world. Those are dream studios for a reason. I'm just trying to figure out what direction is worth dedicating years of learning to and how people found the role that made them excited to work every day.

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences or any advice you have.

Hi there! I recently got the wonderful opportunity to meet with the leadership team at a studio for a final round of interviews. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to prepare? So far, I've had a wonderful time with the few interviews as it's just been me and another person but I'm not sure how to divide my attention when it comes to several people/ a panel! Any advice is welcomed!