Being an Animator in the games industry is demanding. The big payoff is that you often get incredible amounts of creative control in your work and at times you may even get to animate principle characters. Animation is a vital part of the process and as with all art has the potential to make or break a game. There is pressure and great responsibility, but there are also massive creative rewards for those who can step up to the plate and deliver!

Here are just a few of the things you’ll be asked to do at one time or another: -

• Character / Scenic Animation – Primarily concerned with animating the game characters, character animation specialises in the portrayal of ‘character’ and emotion through movement.
• Cut-Scene Animation – A more specialised, cinematography-like role, cut-scene animation is particularly concerned with the setting up and animation of shots. As this involves the animation and sequencing of cameras, the cut-scene animator must have good directorial / cinematography skills.
• Complex Rigging – As the animation of characters and objects becomes ever more complex, the underlying skeleton and skinning used to facilitate the animation process becomes more multifarious. The rigger is someone who is highly skilled in the design and deployment of skeletal rigging systems, animation constraints and manipulators. This work usually entails close communication with programmers to enable the animators to achieve what they need.
• Motion Capture – Mo-cap animation is focused on the directing, recording and integration of motion capture data into the project. The secret of success here is the ability to understand the characterisation requirements of the game and being able to communicate and direct the motion capture process.

GUIDANCE & ADVICE

Getting into the game industry can be very difficult, even with good skills. The guidance and advice section will give you more direct advice on what you’ll need to be good at and which areas to concentrate on in order to significantly improve your chances. Click on the link below to get the skinny on how to be a game animator: -

Skills Required
At the base level, a game Animator must have a good working knowledge of at least one of the leading 3D animation packages. If you have good animation skills and you are able to operate the software effectively, then you will be able to fulfil your role as a game Animator. Look to one or more of the major packages like Maya, 3DS Max or Xsi.

Motion – Perhaps the most important skill is an acute understanding of the principles of motion. The ability to accurately and creatively envision movement before drawing and subsequently animating movement are core skills. Being able to achieve this within the technical and creative guidelines will form the path of long-term progression and development.

Drawing Skills – As with all other artistic disciplines, the ability to draw well is vitally important. This is especially important for Animators, as being able to convey your ideas or pre-visualise the characterisation of an animation is essential. It’s far quicker to draw the movement on paper to test an idea or communicate it to others before committing to expensive development time.

Anatomy – As Animators are usually the key contributors in the creation, animation and characterisation of characters, a very sound grounding in the fundamentals of anatomy is essential.

Tips

• As animation is concerned with how things move, that should be the focus of your life. The key to success in being an Animator is to get into the habit of studying how everything moves in the world.
• Study the classic animation principles. Animation isn’t only concerned with the re-creation of real movement, it’s about imparting character to a movement, especially when you are animating fictitious characters or objects that wouldn’t normally animate – after all, getting reference of a car walking on its back wheels is going to be more than impossible! This is where you as an Animator are expected to step in and do your magic!
• Practise creating character and movement sheets. Draw objects and characters as sequences of key frames on paper in order to develop a better understanding of what you need to do on the computer later on. It’s all too easy to accept the default solutions of a digital animation system – you are the Animator, you tell the software what you want, not the other way around.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
All artist submissions have many common requirements: -

Applicants for all artistic areas in the game industry must be proficient in the basic components of art. The ability to draw and communicate your ideas visually is especially important, as well as other core skills such as understanding colour theory, anatomy, proportion and an overall appreciation of good visual aesthetics.

Applications should consist of a covering letter, an up-to-date copy of your current CV / resume along with a portfolio of your BEST work and any application form if required. Artwork should either be supplied printed on good quality paper or preferably on a CD-ROM or DVD. For CD-ROM or DVD submissions bear in mind the following: -

• Images should be correctly labelled and supplied in either JPEG or BMP formats.
• Turntable and fly-through animations should be supplied in AVI or Quicktime format and should be encoded with an easily available generic codec.
• Make sure any materials you supply have your name and contact details clearly and legibly marked on them.
• Include your cover letter, CV and work on the same disc.
• Don’t compress or zip the work on the disc.

It’s simple: show your work in a very accessible, immediate way. If the employer has any trouble seeing your work for whatever reason at all, you are already going to be in trouble or worse still your application will be discarded!

Other things to remember: -

• If the work has been a collaborative effort between yourself and others, please clearly specify your involvement in the work.
• Only include work you are sure represents you and your best efforts.
• Keep your CV to a maximum of 2-3 pages in length and be sure to have other people proof-read it for you to remove mistakes and pass back feedback to you in order to improve it.
• Be clear on what the job role you are applying for involves and make sure that your portfolio of work is relevant!
• Lastly, if you are an artist, don’t refer to yourself as a designer! A designer is a different role in the game industry, in that a designer designs the mechanics of the game – nothing like a graphic designer. Failure to appreciate this casts doubt on your knowledge and desire to enter the industry.
• Enjoy the application process! It’s a great industry – induction will come to those whom have the skills, drive and positivity to succeed

Role Specific Requirements
As an Animator applicant you are clearly stating that you know how to impart meaningful character based motion to objects and character. Therefore make sure that is exactly what your folio / show reel of work showcases.

• Include character sheets and drawn motion studies to show that you have thought through your animation sequences and have a good working knowledge of the underlying principles of animation.
• Several good examples of character animation. Avoid camera ‘fly thru’ style clips as these don’t show any of your flare for animation and make sure that all of the animation you include in your folio is the best you can achieve.
• For all of your animated sequences, try to include the same animation as both a shaded rendered sequence and also a ‘transparent’ sequence showing the underlying skeleton. Good preparation of the skeleton with elegant rigging and skinning are hugely important.
• Include any support artwork especially life drawing and anatomical studies.