Many Schools Are Offering Science Bachelor Degree Programs!
If any industry can lay claim to a renaissance, it’s animation. Almost 30 years ago, the craft was absolutely moribund. Then in the late 80s, movies such as The Little Mermaid, TV shows such as The Simpsons, the video game industry and the World Wide Web created a demand for animators that was unparalleled. This growth is opening new doors and those who obtain a technology degree online may have the jump start on entering.
For instance, there once was a time when cartoon fans would literally wait years for an animated feature film. Last year, the U.S. had 20 animated feature films in theatrical circulation. TV now not only has its Saturday morning madness, but cable also sports over a half dozen networks devoted to the process. The video game industry is a billion dollar enterprise. And with no sign of slowing down for the foreseeable future, this has become very good news for animators.
Being an animator means more than just learning timing and “squash and stretch” these days. A good cartoon animator now must master a number of professional software packages a lot more demanding than Flash and Photoshop. As common as the drawing board, blue pencil and flip book used to be, is how computerized work station has now taken over.
While many new animators come from art schools such as Cal Art, NYU or any school that has comprehensive film and animation departments, they still happen to be few and far between. Online colleges have also become major targets for recruitment, particularly for those studying computer generated animation. As for financial aid, students are certainly eligible for standard grants such as the Pell and local state aid. It should also be noted that Hollywood studios, such as Disney and Dreamworks, have scholarship programs. Also, many a college’s general art grants include animators.
More than half the U.S. jobs are in California. Los Angeles employs 9,500 of the 21,000 in the field. New York City is a distant second with 3,500. From there, the field is extremely localized to San Francisco, greater Seattle, Austin, Chicago and Atlanta. As it happens, Canada also employs a number of animators, who tend to work in Toronto and Vancouver. On the plus side, other major sources for employment include video games, the toy industry, ad agencies and even schools.
A Hollywood animator averages $80,000. Outside there, animators are prone to make $52,000 to $75,000. Senior studio animators can earn over $100,000 with benefits. If they become supervisors, profit sharing, retirement programs and other perks are possible. It’s also quite common to open one’s own studio. Then there are Mike Judge, Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam, who started as animators before moving to live action films.
Many in the field call it the greatest temp job in the world. Their jobs tend to only be as long as the project they are working on. Once the movie is over or the TV series is canceled, it’s time to add the latest job to your list of qualifications and see what the next hot thing is. Choosing this fields put you in a very small group of individuals, so you probably won’t be taking too much time off. Also, if one doesn’t see employment in theater or TV, many then move on to the other previously mentioned fields. While the mediums may be different, the basic skill set needed are still the same.
As animation is becoming such a hot industry, many schools are opening up their own animation departments offering your science degrees online. You may even decide to specialize in another science area with your science bachelor degree. If Hollywood doesn’t seem to be a desirable destination, there is a crying need for animators when designing web sites. If this is an area that is of interest to you and you feel drawn to, there is an abundance of material about your science bachelor degree available on the internet.
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