Special Effects Artists and Animators
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.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Writing
- Active Learning
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Monitoring
Key knowledge
- Computers and Electronics
- English Language
- Design
- Communications and Media
- Customer and Personal Service
- Sales and Marketing
- Telecommunications
- Engineering and Technology
What the work involves
- Design complex graphics and animation, using independent judgment, creativity, and computer equipment.
- 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.
- 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.
- Assemble, typeset, scan, and produce digital camera-ready art or film negatives and printer's proofs.
- Script, plan, and create animated narrative sequences under tight deadlines, using computer software and hand drawing techniques.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Artistic, Realistic, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (52.8% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (53.5%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (35.2%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Special Effects Artists and Animators is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 72% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Higher on dealing with the public than 58% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 70% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 64% of occupations compared | 71% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 89% of occupations compared | — |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 89% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 89% of occupations compared | 67% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Higher on consequence of error than 57% of occupations compared | 28% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 12.88%
- Occasional contact with others: 0.18%
- Contact with others about half the time: 13.01%
- Contact with others most of the time: 15.81%
- Constant contact with others: 58.14%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0.68%
- Fairly important: 29.5%
- Important: 14.83%
- Very important: 17.41%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2019
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0.17%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0.12%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2019
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 0.95%
- Some freedom: 71.19%
- A lot of freedom: 27.86%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2019
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 3.83%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2019
Conflict situations
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: 26.16%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 15.17%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 19.96%
- Every day: 0.01%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 12.98%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 66.92%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 0.31%
- Every day: 1.78%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2019
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 13.41%
- Fairly serious: 27.67%
- Serious: 16.57%
- Very serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely serious: 25.1%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2019
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O*NET-SOC 27-1014.00 · SOC 27-1014 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8