What are the pros and cons of being an animator?

The pros and cons of being an animator relate to high earning potential, job growth, and repetitious work. Here are the top pros and cons of being an animator:

Pros:

• High earning potential

The field of animation can often lead animators to jobs with significant salaries. An animator in the United States earns an average salary of $77,700 per year. And some jobs in animation can pay considerably more than this average, like ones at premier animation studios, such as Disney or Pixar. The entertainment industry has the highest salary potential for this role.

• Job growth

The United States Bureau of Labor and Statistics predicts substantial growth for the field of animation with a growth rate of around 16% between the years 2020 and 2030. This growth rate equals about 8,000 new job openings in the field of animation each year. This growth rate is also higher than the average for all other jobs in the United States.

• Animation is a creative field

When you are an animator you get to be creative nearly every day you work. Many in the profession love to draw and have wanted to pursue this line of work since they were young. Meaning becoming an animator can make your creative dreams become a reality. There are also usually opportunities to learn different skills and tech, expanding your creativity.

• Seeing the finished product

Most animators feel a strong sense of pride when they get to see their work in a finished product. This could be a contribution to a film, TV show, advertisement, or even a video game. Knowing that many people are enjoying your efforts is also fulfilling.

• Flexible hours and work environments

Animators can often build their own schedules to a degree and some have the ability to work remotely. Because part of the process of animation involves solitary work, they can choose to work outside of traditional business hours in some cases. Animators also have the choice of being freelance animators which adds a whole other level of flexibility to their careers.

Cons:

• Repetitious work

While animators can work on a variety of different projects, some in the field get pigeonholed into a specific type of animation, or have to work on projects that have little variance between them.

The work of an animator can often be stressful because they must produce a lot of drawings or artwork in a short amount of time. Deadlines can be tight in this industry and this can produce anxiety for the professionals working in it. Many animators work longer than the traditional work week of 40 hours.

• It can be a solitary field

As was mentioned earlier, the job of an animator can be solitary, leading some in the field to feel lonely and disconnected. While animators normally do have the chance to collaborate with other creatives, much of their work time is spent by themselves in front of a drawing table or computer screen.