As one of the fastest-growing sectors in entertainment, the gaming industry offers a lot of opportunities for talented animators. Increasing consumer demand for immersive experiences and advances in technology have fueled the industry's rapid growth. Game animators play a critical role in helping bring settings and characters to life in these games. As an animator, your job is to make the images gamers see visually appealing.
While animators are in high demand in the gaming industry, the competition for animator jobs is stiff. That means aspiring game animators must sell themselves in a way that makes them stand out from the crowd. From mastering fundamental animation skills to developing a unique style and staying updated with the industry's latest trends, there's a lot you can do to increase your chances of breaking into this rewarding field. In this article, we look at what it takes to make it as an animator in the gaming industry.
Understanding the Basics
As with any career field, with animation, you need to start with the basics. Before you can even think about becoming a professional game animator, you'll need to master fundamental animation principles, often called the 12 principles of animation. These principles include skills like timing, spacing, weight, and anticipation. Timing and spacing help create realistic motion by determining the speed and rhythm of movements, making animations feel natural and believable.
Weight gives characters and objects a sense of mass and gravity, while anticipation prepares the audience for an action, enhancing its impact. You can use books like The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams and online courses from platforms like Animation Mentor and Coursera to begin learning these basics in a structured way. Once you've mastered them, you'll be ready to move on to more advanced techniques.
Animation in Online Casinos
While there are many genres within the gaming industry for animators to choose from, one of the fastest-growing segments is online casinos, making it an attractive option for those looking to break into game animation. Your main job as an animator for online casinos is creating immersive and engaging games. The slot game Starburst is an example of the type of animation required to be successful in this niche. The title combines the old-school aesthetic and a retro-futuristic neon theme that transports gamers into a cosmic universe with interstellar theme music and eye-catching graphics. Although the graphics and animation aren't as complicated as what you'll find in AAA titles, animators need to be able to create visually appealing characters, visuals, and intuitive interfaces that immerse players in whatever titles they're playing.
Developing a Unique Style
Once you've learned the basics and decided what gaming segment you'd like to target, you need to work to set yourself apart from the crowd. The best way to do this is by developing a unique style that reflects your artistic voice. As with any skill, practice makes perfect, and you'll have to spend hours experimenting with different techniques and getting inspiration from those who came before you as you work to develop your style. Everything from nature to art can help you in this process, as well as applying techniques like exaggeration and secondary actions to your work. The best animators constantly push the boundaries of their creativity while staying true to fundamental animation principles to create memorable and timeless animations.
Building a Strong Portfolio
In some industries, your resume is everything, but in animation, it's all about your portfolio. That's because a resume doesn't show what you can do, but a portfolio does exactly that, acting as a visual representation of the work you've done, which allows gaming studios to determine whether or not you'd be a good fit. When building your portfolio, you should focus on including works that demonstrate a variety of styles and techniques.
You should only include your best work in your portfolio; too much can overwhelm prospective employers and prevent them from forming an opinion about your style and what you bring to the table. Be sure to insert examples including different types of animations, such as character animations, environmental animations, and interface animations, to showcase your versatility. Your portfolio will determine whether you get an interview, so you want to spend a lot of time getting it right.
