Character Animator

Character Animation is a career choice I believe i would enjoy going into, I have done some research into being a character animator in Film and games.

This paragraph is from the Disney website about being a character animator.

'Character Animators bring characters to life. To be a successful candidate, Character Animators may have a background in any of the following animation disciplines: traditional, cg, stop motion or claymation. Prior training should cover anatomy, perspective and composition, including solving problems in weight, balance, movement, space, construction and proportion. Animators must be able to demonstrate their understanding of animation principles such as timing, clear staging, squash and stretch, anticipation and follow-through, and secondary action.'

After looking at the Rockstar games website under character animation, i've noticed that a traditional art background may be essential to be successful, and i don't have such a big background in that, but regardless, I will be trying hard.

This is the list of requirements Rockstar wants for a character animator;

• Minimum of 3-year degree with an emphasis in character animation or equivalent work experience.
• Outstanding demo reel demonstrating strong animation ability and good aesthetic eye.
• Exceptional skill in animating realistic human characters.
• Thorough understanding and application of classic animation principles (staging, timing, anticipation, follow through, etc.)
• The ability to collaborate and communicate effectively with a wide variety of project staff.
• Consistently meet project deadlines in a timely manner without compromising artistic integrity.
• Assist in the integration of animation with designers and engineers to create compelling in-game animation.
• Strong interest in video games.

On the Papaya Studio website, the games website behind a few Disney game titles, their job description for a character animator is as follows. Job Responsibilities: Responsible for creating various real-time character animations and cycles, including research, rigging, testing and revising. Work with Lead Animators on character animation including facial animation, lip sync and personality animation. Meet tight deadlines and milestones by staying on top of the schedule. Communicating with designers, producers, programmers, and fellow artists.

I believe with a lot of practice on 3DS max and MAYA, a lot of sketching, and gaining further knowledge of the human anatomy, i Could be successful in this career, if i do choose to go down this road.

Thats my bit of research into my possible future, enjoy.