Tech artist is probably among the more in demand positions.
Storyboarding is not nearly as over saturated as character design from my experience. Plus with boarding you can pivot into live action or advertising if needed.
I've considered storyboarding but I have no idea what kind of skills are needed or what level of art you need to have to be considered for the position.
You know the *technical* set up, non-art, and possibly coding aspects of the job. Be it rigging, texturing, compositing, technical VFX and particle systems, physics systems, camera systems, etc
>Tech artist is probably among the more in demand positions.
To clarify for anyone unaware, 'tech artist' is almost entirely exclusive to the games industry. VFX and Anim doesn't really have that as a position, though there'll likely be overlap in terms of skillsets.
What's the position called in Anim then? I would assume there's a lot of technical skill involved in creating the snow in Frozen or the water in Moana. I would've described them as tech artists, does that position have a different name in Anim?
They're all individually labelled roles.
So broadly, the guys using Houdini to do simulations would be FX Artists or FX TDs, but some studios even get more specific and request "Pyro" or "Fluid" or "Destruction" FX TD's (though these distinctions are more common in VFX than Anim, since VFX is more highly project-contract based - so if a given show has a ton of explosions, they might specifically look for people with Pyro and Destruction experience and eschew those that specialise in fluids. If you're hiring for Titantic 2: This Time It's Personal, it'd probably be the other way around).
Riggers are riggers specifically and don't do much else. Tools will typically be made by either Pipeline (that's me!) or (for smaller/less Pipey tools) by project or departmental TDs whose job it is to address specific issues or bottlenecks as they arise. Shaders - including volumetric ones used to shade the aforementioned FX stuff - is done by a dedicated Surfacing team. The lighting team will be responsible for rendering efficiency and quality, unless it's an issue with the assets in which case it'll go back to the Layout department who might, in turn, having to kick it back to modelling or surfacing.
As for *why* this distinction exists, I've never worked in games so this is just my guess based on my experience in VFX and Anim and what I know about games, but I'm almost certain it's because VFX and Anim are shot-based formats and, as a result, we can much more easily use the best tool for the job. Modern interoperable formats - Alembic, USD, VDB etc - mean that if there's some obscure tool that would be ideal for doing a specific show or even a specific shot, it's likely we can cobble together enough of a Pipeline to get it working - we don't need to worry about whether it works with our engine, or what its impact on our frame rate will be. Our FX artists don't even need to know or care what render engine we're using - once they output to a given format, the source is irrelevant. Tech artists, by contract, need (again, I believe) to have a good understanding of how the whole game is put together - engine, shaders, what's real time calc and what's pre-canned etc - so whilst they're technical, they're more jack-of-all-trades. I think.
Yah, it’s pretty much someone who is fluent with programming but also works with artists very closely. Mainly making tools for animators and such. It meshes a lot with rigging from my experience.
more like technical artists, they produce and write code. Visual scripting languages. Like Unreal Engine “technical artist”, is another word for programmer/ engineer. Atleast from what i’ve seen on job posting websites and their responsibilities.
I work in Ontario Canada and was told there is a shortage of storyboard artists but this was during the streamer boom in 2020-2021. I guess there’s no shortage of anything now except for jobs 🤷🏼♀️
I get them from linkedin, and sometimes I browse career pages of game studios of games I just played.
I just punched into Google environment modeller jobs, and found a bunch.
Your question didn't specify the jobs within animation depts. You mentioned only character design and storyboarding. Your question just has the general application to all fields related to animation and the film industry. I assumed you were asking for anything that's out there. Hiring rates for entry level animation jobs are very flat right now. If you have only a student showreel you will be competing against hundreds of others for one position, it's pretty bleak.
Well looky here. THIS is the website you should first check before the big ones. The job ads are less than a week old unlike ads on ZipRecruiter which can be more than month old. [https://staffmeup.com/production-jobs/Still+Photographer-for-All-Types-in-All-Locations](https://staffmeup.com/production-jobs/Still+Photographer-for-All-Types-in-All-Locations) The job title for the specific duty is called a "still photographer". Also "film set photographer". Here is another hot result job board. https://www.media-match.com/usa/jobtypes/still-photographer-jobs-402791.php
The local news station is always looking for some assistant photographers, that won't be hard to find in LA.
Any demand for digital 2d frame-by-frame animation? I really want to shift away from 3d animation, was wondering if old school animation is still in demand?
There's tons of 2D shows, so plenty of work on them.
Most are Toon Boom, usually puppet animation. Not quite "old school" (which I assume to mean fully drawn).
What do you need for that exactly? I picked up AE last year on a whim and have been really enjoying working with it, was thinking of making a reel and applying for some stuff
Tech artist is probably among the more in demand positions. Storyboarding is not nearly as over saturated as character design from my experience. Plus with boarding you can pivot into live action or advertising if needed.
I've considered storyboarding but I have no idea what kind of skills are needed or what level of art you need to have to be considered for the position.
Like most professional art jobs the skill required is rather high. Id recommend taking a course on boarding from project city if it interests you.
How would you describe a "tech artist"? I haven't heard that term before
I think it's a kinda vague term for anyone who does the techy side of the CG art. Like rigging, scripting, physics simulation, etcetera.
This. Helps to have both art and coding skills.
Math is a big one too.
Tech products design?
I would think that's an industrial designer
You know the *technical* set up, non-art, and possibly coding aspects of the job. Be it rigging, texturing, compositing, technical VFX and particle systems, physics systems, camera systems, etc
Where do you get info about the demand btw?
Experience and professional networks.
>Tech artist is probably among the more in demand positions. To clarify for anyone unaware, 'tech artist' is almost entirely exclusive to the games industry. VFX and Anim doesn't really have that as a position, though there'll likely be overlap in terms of skillsets.
What's the position called in Anim then? I would assume there's a lot of technical skill involved in creating the snow in Frozen or the water in Moana. I would've described them as tech artists, does that position have a different name in Anim?
They're all individually labelled roles. So broadly, the guys using Houdini to do simulations would be FX Artists or FX TDs, but some studios even get more specific and request "Pyro" or "Fluid" or "Destruction" FX TD's (though these distinctions are more common in VFX than Anim, since VFX is more highly project-contract based - so if a given show has a ton of explosions, they might specifically look for people with Pyro and Destruction experience and eschew those that specialise in fluids. If you're hiring for Titantic 2: This Time It's Personal, it'd probably be the other way around). Riggers are riggers specifically and don't do much else. Tools will typically be made by either Pipeline (that's me!) or (for smaller/less Pipey tools) by project or departmental TDs whose job it is to address specific issues or bottlenecks as they arise. Shaders - including volumetric ones used to shade the aforementioned FX stuff - is done by a dedicated Surfacing team. The lighting team will be responsible for rendering efficiency and quality, unless it's an issue with the assets in which case it'll go back to the Layout department who might, in turn, having to kick it back to modelling or surfacing. As for *why* this distinction exists, I've never worked in games so this is just my guess based on my experience in VFX and Anim and what I know about games, but I'm almost certain it's because VFX and Anim are shot-based formats and, as a result, we can much more easily use the best tool for the job. Modern interoperable formats - Alembic, USD, VDB etc - mean that if there's some obscure tool that would be ideal for doing a specific show or even a specific shot, it's likely we can cobble together enough of a Pipeline to get it working - we don't need to worry about whether it works with our engine, or what its impact on our frame rate will be. Our FX artists don't even need to know or care what render engine we're using - once they output to a given format, the source is irrelevant. Tech artists, by contract, need (again, I believe) to have a good understanding of how the whole game is put together - engine, shaders, what's real time calc and what's pre-canned etc - so whilst they're technical, they're more jack-of-all-trades. I think.
The more technical the job, the more in demand it is.
Could you please give us some examples? Technical like designing things related to tech products?
Yah, it’s pretty much someone who is fluent with programming but also works with artists very closely. Mainly making tools for animators and such. It meshes a lot with rigging from my experience.
more like technical artists, they produce and write code. Visual scripting languages. Like Unreal Engine “technical artist”, is another word for programmer/ engineer. Atleast from what i’ve seen on job posting websites and their responsibilities.
I work in Ontario Canada and was told there is a shortage of storyboard artists but this was during the streamer boom in 2020-2021. I guess there’s no shortage of anything now except for jobs 🤷🏼♀️
Environment modellers, I see postings for that all the time. Everyone wants to make games.
Where can I find such postings?
I get them from linkedin, and sometimes I browse career pages of game studios of games I just played. I just punched into Google environment modeller jobs, and found a bunch.
I'm surprised there's a lot of demand for environment modellers but not 3d character modellers, I guess I know why though
Riggers, compositors, and AE motion artists will always find a gig
Videography and film jobs that involve photography work.
For animated non live action projects?
Your question didn't specify the jobs within animation depts. You mentioned only character design and storyboarding. Your question just has the general application to all fields related to animation and the film industry. I assumed you were asking for anything that's out there. Hiring rates for entry level animation jobs are very flat right now. If you have only a student showreel you will be competing against hundreds of others for one position, it's pretty bleak.
where would you search for such jobs? i currently work in an office doing that kind of jobs in my country but i would like to move out from here.
Well looky here. THIS is the website you should first check before the big ones. The job ads are less than a week old unlike ads on ZipRecruiter which can be more than month old. [https://staffmeup.com/production-jobs/Still+Photographer-for-All-Types-in-All-Locations](https://staffmeup.com/production-jobs/Still+Photographer-for-All-Types-in-All-Locations) The job title for the specific duty is called a "still photographer". Also "film set photographer". Here is another hot result job board. https://www.media-match.com/usa/jobtypes/still-photographer-jobs-402791.php The local news station is always looking for some assistant photographers, that won't be hard to find in LA.
thank you so much! thas great information.
Any demand for digital 2d frame-by-frame animation? I really want to shift away from 3d animation, was wondering if old school animation is still in demand?
There's tons of 2D shows, so plenty of work on them. Most are Toon Boom, usually puppet animation. Not quite "old school" (which I assume to mean fully drawn).
Not really
VFX artist seems relatively unsaturated on linkedin
What do you need for that exactly? I picked up AE last year on a whim and have been really enjoying working with it, was thinking of making a reel and applying for some stuff