Special Effects Artists and Animators
Arts, Audio/Video Technology and CommunicationsO*NET 27-1014.00United States
Create special effects or animations using film, video, computers, or other electronic tools and media for use in products, such as computer games, movies, music videos, and commercials.
- Median annual earnings
- $74,050
- Projected change
- +4.3%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 32.72K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
52.8% of the workforce
Growing to 34.11K by 2035
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The work
What special effects artists and animators do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Design complex graphics and animation, using independent judgment, creativity, and computer equipment.
- Create basic designs, drawings, and illustrations for product labels, cartons, direct mail, or television.
- Participate in design and production of multimedia campaigns, handling budgeting and scheduling, and assisting with such responsibilities as production coordination, background design, and progress tracking.
- Create two-dimensional and three-dimensional images depicting objects in motion or illustrating a process, using computer animation or modeling programs.
- Make objects or characters appear lifelike by manipulating light, color, texture, shadow, and transparency, or manipulating static images to give the illusion of motion.
- Apply story development, directing, cinematography, and editing to animation to create storyboards that show the flow of the animation and map out key scenes and characters.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $36,889
- 25th percentile
- $50,810
- 50th percentile
- $74,050
- 75th percentile
- $109,664
- 90th percentile
- $161,044
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $74,050 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+4.3%average or slower
202532,715 jobs
2035 projected34,106 jobs
1,391 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 52.8%
- Some college
- 39.7%
- High school diploma or less
- 5.5%
- Associate degree
- 1.7%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 0.3%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Multimedia Designers395 postings
- 02Visual Designers238 postings
- 03Motion Designers190 postings
- 04Designers183 postings
- 05Environment Artists124 postings
- 06CMF Designers104 postings
- 07Creative Designers104 postings
- 08Multimedia Specialists99 postings
- 09Brand Designers86 postings
- 10Digital Designers75 postings
- 11Animators74 postings
- 123D Designers68 postings
- 13Experiential Designers62 postings
- 14Learning Experience Designers59 postings
- 15Presentation Designers57 postings
- 16VFX Artists47 postings
- 17Multimedia Graphic Designers46 postings
- 18Graphic Designers/Multimedia Specialists38 postings
- 193D Animators36 postings
- 20Production Designers36 postings
Top employers
- 01Cengage Learning107 postings
- 02Canteen Vending69 postings
- 03Evil Eye Pictures60 postings
- 04Huami60 postings
- 05Robert Half55 postings
- 06UKG53 postings
- 07Ford52 postings
- 08Crain Communications47 postings
- 09Electronic Arts34 postings
- 10Siemens34 postings
- 11Contact Government Services30 postings
- 12Jobgether25 postings
- 13Activate&Co24 postings
- 14Apple23 postings
- 15Amazon21 postings
- 16Skill21 postings
- 17Epic Games19 postings
- 18Cd Projekt Red17 postings
- 19Concorde Education17 postings
- 20Humana17 postings
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