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Careers
in Animation Can Take a Nontraditional Route
Most young artists considering a career in animation look at Disney and anime
as the direction to take. In the real world of animation, choices are much wider
and some say much more interesting.
When
two huge oil rigs slammed into each other during Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the
question was, Which owner would have to foot the expensive bill for repairs?
What could unraveling
what happened in an accident like this have to do with animation? Most
animation graduates wouldnt think that unraveling what happened in an accident
like this would be a challenge they might encounter in their chosen field. But
for some graduates of The Art Institutes animation programs, this is the kind
of intriguing, nontraditional animation work that is a great fit with their skills
and interests. Todays
animation graduates put their skills to work in the fields of aerospace, forensics,
architecture, healthcare, medicine and home design and construction. "Animation
used to be limited to 2D Art only," says Kevin Fraser, lead animation instructor
at The Art Institute of Toronto. These days animation is part of a multimedia,
including Flash, 3D, Stop, and Videogame Art." According
to Michael Edmonds, education manager for Discreet, a division of Autodesk, animation
careers in accident reconstruction, architectural design, health, aerospace and
construction fields are thriving. Animation is very much an art, and yet
work in nontraditional animation careers involves such important professional
skills as critical thinking and research abilities, says Edmonds. Nontraditional
animation areas now offer opportunities to graduates. Says Bill Foster, animation
instructor at The Art Institute of Vancouver-Burnaby, Eight years ago I
created my own digital art company and Ive been busy ever since doing nontraditional
animation for a wide variety of companies. These companies include a childrens
CD ROM game maker, a furniture designer, and a company that produces CDs for soccer
coaches. Art
Institute of Atlanta graduate Ty Michelfelder creates short animations for the
Matrix Board and the Video Board at Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves professional
baseball team. The purpose of the animations vary from "let's get the crowd
going" to advertisement. Says Michelfelder, Some animations are conceived
and created as a team and others are individual animations. We are given a great
deal of creative latitude and encouraged to explore new ideas. Like
other animation graduates, Michelfelder never would have guessed she would be
creating animation for a major league baseball team. Although my degree
is in animation, I never would have imagined doing what I am doing now,
says Michelfelder.
Working at home, shes able to enjoy a flexible schedule, and pursue hobbies
outside of work. She sees a long career in animation, saying I plan on staying
in this area of animation because I enjoy the variety of assignments and the medium.
Creating animations that I am able to watch people respond to is very gratifying
work. Gone
are the days in which animation was portrayed as Saturday morning cartoons. Today,
animation skills are needed in a myriad of industries, and this gives graduates
and animation professionals more career opportunities.
Animation is a powerful and effective tool for providing information as
it can communicate to every generation, says Fraser from The Art Institute
of Toronto. It is a diverse media that requires critical thinking. As animators
and story-tellers, we learn to entertain, and entertain to learn. The craft is
never without discovery. Courtesy
of ARA Content - The
Art Institutes
More
about animation jobs around the Web: Animation
Arena - Jobs Animation
Jobs - careers in 3D digital design Animation
World Network
also see in Commercial Art -> Science
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