An accomplished 3D animation studio should have a skilled and experienced team of artists, designers, scriptwriters, and other experts capable of delivering exceptional projects to the clients.
The majority of the small 3D animation studios are one-person operations when you first begin. You learn how to be resourceful and manage all the duties that come with owning an animation business. Working by yourself may help you learn essential business skills that animators need.
While there are advantages to working alone as an animator, it is inevitable that your demand for your animation services will rise after your business gains popularity.
Before You Start the Process of Hiring a Team for a 3D Animation Studio
Before you start hiring for your 3D animation studio, you need to keep certain things in mind while interviewing the employees:
1. Always prioritize quality over quantity when it comes to potential employees. Your small animation studio’s budget might not allow you to fill every position with a single employee. It is essential that you make an effort to select people who can handle a variety of tasks.
2. Consider your strengths and weaknesses in terms of the duties and responsibilities you feel most comfortable with and those you might not be the best at. In your animation studios, it is a good idea to appoint people who can strengthen your areas of expertise and compensate for your weaknesses.
3. When hiring a person, it is important to consider the culture you want to uphold in your animation studio. A candidate with all the qualifications, references and the desired skills may cross your path, but their personality may not match well with yours.
Types Of Roles In A 3D Animation Studio
Typically, there are various types of job roles required in an animation studio:
- Marketing and client service manager
- Accountant and HR
- Project manager
- Scriptwriter
- Character designer/ developer
- Storyboard artists and assistant
- 3D modeler
- Model rigger
- Animators
- Voiceover Artists
- Sound designer
- Compositor
- IT specialist
- Administrative/ virtual assistant
1. Marketing and Client Service Manager
This employee will be in charge of client relations and consider the needs of your animation clients first. A marketing manager will also be in charge of maintaining appearances by managing how clients perceive your animation studio and your animation services.
To keep your animation studio’s relations with clients strong, your marketing manager should be an expert at community management and promotion.
Without a professional handling of your client, you may lose your client and the reputation will be bad, so it is essential to hire the marketing and client service manager as soon as possible.
2. Accountant and HR
It is essential to have someone on your team who can manage the studio’s finances, because being an animator, you probably do not have any experience.
You can create a financial plan with the help of an accountant so you can control your cash flow and understand where your money is coming from and going.
When starting a new animation studio business, it is challenging to hire and manage people, and it is a time-consuming task. Along with managing the finances, your accountant can also play a role as an HR manager, this will simplify the task of hiring.
3. Project Manager
Along with the studio manager, the job role of project manager is also necessary. The role of a project manager is to keep track of everything.
The project manager will be in charge of initiating, organizing, planning, executing and monitoring the animation projects. This will efficiently optimize your production pipeline by ensuring that everyone completes their tasks and that everything is completed on schedule.
4. Scriptwriter
Script Writers are one of the most essential parts of your animation studio, as their work establishes the tone of any animation project you are working on.
During production, scriptwriters will collaborate closely with editors, directors, and animation clients to generate story concepts and offer them as a screenplay. Storyboard artists and directors use the screenplays written by scriptwriters to determine the project’s visual aesthetic because of how descriptive their writing is.
5. Character Designer/ Developer
When opening a 3D animation studio, a character developer or designer is another crucial position to fill. Character creation for your upcoming project is the job of this person.
As they will be involved in the animation process from concept generation to modelling, character designers or developers are equally important.
Therefore, the person you hire must possess a keen sense for developing memorable, distinctive characters that can be modified to the extent that animation needs.
6. Storyboard Artists and Assistant
Storyboard artists are important for creating visuals of the script, and turning them into a story. In order to achieve this, the storyboard artist sketches out every shot in the script exactly how they want it to appear in the animation.
To organize the photos and provide consistency between them, storyboard artists create a series of panels of images. In order to ensure that the story, tempo, action and continuity all work together cohesively and make sense, this method will serve as the basis for the animation projects.
7. 3D modeler
3D modellers are in charge of building digital characters, objects, and environments in three dimensions. Modellers create their models in accordance with the ideas and references presented by the design team, and then they hand them over to animators so they start to move them.
Modelers turn character and environment designs from concept drawings into animated-ready models.
8. Model Rigger
The hiring of riggers is important since they play an important role in the animation process. This is because they are responsible for making the 3D skeletons so that animators can create characters.
For 3D animated characters, riggers design digital bones. Riggers test rigs and receive feedback from animators, who then update 3D models as needed. Riggers and animators will continue to iterate on the models until they are happy with them.
9. Animators
Animators are the backbone of your studio and come in different varieties depending on which type of animation they specialize in.
Common types of animators you may find in studios are 2D computer animators, 2D hand-drawn animators, 3D computer animators, stop motion animators, and the assistant animators who help them.
If your studio has expanded to the point that you are unable to satisfy the demands of your animation clients, hiring more animators to help with some of the workloads is a good idea. Also, you will have more time to concentrate on running your animation studio as the owner.
10. Voiceover Artists
The voiceover artists bring life to the animated characters with unique voices and personalities by following the instructions of the scriptwriter and character designer.
Voiceover artists are mostly freelancers who switch between jobs. Having a network of skilled and reliable voice-over actors is therefore an excellent idea.
11. Sound Designer
To build the audio environment for an animation, sound designers work in post-production. Having a sound designer working in your animation studio is essential to delivering top-notch animations. It is because it contributes to the production of the appropriate ambience in a particular animation project.
The sound designer is in charge of all audio-related aspects of the project. This comprises, among other things sound effects, mixing and soundtracks.
Usually, sound designers will find the music for animation, but occasionally, if an animation client also works for a particular score for their film, they will also work as a composer.
12. Compositor
Compositors are in charge of putting together the final image for a frame, shot, or sequence. The compositor is ultimately in charge of taking all of the production materials and transforming them into the final animation as specified by the animation client.
Additionally, this is the last stage in assuring consistency among all of the artwork from various sources and artists.
Before the animation is transmitted to the animation client, compositors also check for any minor errors that might have happened along the production pipeline and make sure they are fixed.
13. IT Specialist
It’s important to have an expert on staff if your business relies on computers to provide animation services to your clients.
While you may be proficient with computers and can solve simple difficulties, an IT professional may be more equipped to deal with more difficult challenges.
The IT specialist will be in charge of maintaining the server and network of your animation studio, as well as your website and any hardware and software that your staff members commonly use.
14. Administrative/ Virtual Assistant
Many people view administration as an unpleasant task that frequently detracts from the clients and services provided by animation. You will be able to assign jobs that occupy your time away from more important areas of your animation studio by hiring an administrative assistant or virtual assistant.
Conclusion
Keep in mind that the scope and complexity of the projects your studio will take on, determine the size of your team and the exact responsibilities you require. To guarantee a smooth workflow, it is important to promote collaboration and excellent communication among team members.
By filling these positions, your animation business can expand rapidly and improve its production pipeline, both of which will help it succeed in the long term.
FAQs
How many people do you need to start an animation studio?
If you are creating your own animation studio, you have to hire experts. A script writer, two animators, and two illustrators could make practically any idea come to life. For movies, video games, commercials, or anything else, animators create visual effects.
Do animators work in a team?
Animators work in large groups, they are able to maintain a consistent visual aesthetic. They work for TV production businesses, animation studios, or film studios. Animators can also be freelancers.
Which training is required to be a 3D animator?
Most of the animators hold a degree of bachelors in animation, graphic designing, arts or computer science. Companies hire the animator with at least 5 years of experience.
Who works at an animation studio?
Most of the animators hold a degree of bachelors in animation, graphic designing, arts or computer science. Companies hire the animator with at least 5 years of experience.