Cartoon animators create animations for various mediums, including cartoons, films, advertising, and video games. They may work independently or as part of a team, using hand-drawn or computer animation techniques. A lead animator manages the animation process, while animators on the team translate drawings into animation. A formal art education and extensive knowledge of animation software are usually required. Animators often work long, irregular hours and may work for major studios or as freelancers.
A cartoon animator creates animation for cartoons, animated feature films, advertising or video games. There are many different jobs in animation. An animator for a web cartoon may be the only person working on that cartoon, while an animator for a large studio resource may be one of dozens. What a cartoon animator does depends on what job he or she has.
A lead animator is essentially the project manager of the animation process. This person oversees a team of animators and artists and ensures the project is on track and consistent. The lead animator is responsible for ensuring that the project follows the established storyboard and can have some influence on staging and acting. A large-scale animation project might have multiple animation units, each led by its own lead animator.
Animators on the team translate drawings into two-dimensional or three-dimensional animation, manually or using computer animation software. In hand-drawn or computer-drawn animations, animators often use sketches that translate into animated figures. In hand-drawn animation, a “key” animator draws the key frames of each character, and other artists called “middles” fill in the frames between them to provide the illusion of movement. Cleanup artists come in and make sure the transitions between frames are smooth and fluid. In computer animation, animators create keyframes in software, which fills in the frames in between.
A cartoon animator in the television or film industry must have a lot of artistic ability and usually formal art education. Most cartoon animators hold at least a bachelor’s degree with a minor in animation. They have extensive knowledge of animation software. They often work as part of a creative team; therefore, animators must work well in collaboration and be willing to take directions and make changes.
These professionals often work long, irregular hours; few computer animators work a nine-to-five. Many television and film animators work for major animation studios, but a growing number work independently. Web animators, game animators, and some computer animators are likely to work as freelancers or independent contractors. It takes a lot of people to put together a large project, so there are usually plenty of opportunities for a budding cartoon animator to start out in the field. The traditional entry-level job for someone wanting to be a cartoon animator is among them, but many now start out in computer animation, especially for the web.
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