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.
Also called: 3D Animator (Three-Dimensional Animator) · 3D Artist (Three-Dimensional Artist) · Animator · Artist · Digital Artist · Graphic Artist
Median pay (national)
$99,800
$57,220–$174,630 (10th–90th)
Employed (US)
21,280
BLS OEWS, May 2024
Outlook 2024–34
+1.6%
~5,000 openings/yr
Typical entry
Bachelor's degree
What the numbers say
Refit analysis ·Pay for special effects artists and animators shows an unusually wide range: the top 10% earn $174,630 versus $57,220 at the bottom 10% — 3.1x. The median of $99,800 leaves roughly 75% of headroom to the 90th percentile, which is where seniority, specialization, and the skills below tend to pay off.
Refit analysis ·Employment is projected to change +1.6% from 2024 to 2034 — slower than the 3% all-occupation average. Even so, BLS projects about 5,000 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who retire or change careers.
Refit analysis ·Where you work moves the number a lot. Across the 33 states with released data, California pays the most for this role (median $128,360, +29% vs the national median), while New Mexico sits lowest at $50,250 — a 155% spread for the same job title.
Refit analysis ·O*NET rates Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking as the highest-importance skills here — so a resume aimed at this role should lead with evidence of those, not a generic skills list. On the tools side, O*NET flags Adobe After Effects, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign as in-demand technologies for this role.
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Top skills employers ask for
Ranked by O*NET importance for this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Writing
- Active Learning
- Monitoring
- Learning Strategies
- Mathematics
- Science
What they actually do
Core O*NET tasks for this 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.
- Assemble, typeset, scan, and produce digital camera-ready art or film negatives and printer's proofs.
- Create pen-and-paper images to be scanned, edited, colored, textured, or animated by computer.
- Implement and maintain configuration control systems.
- Script, plan, and create animated narrative sequences under tight deadlines, using computer software and hand drawing techniques.
Tools & technology
- Adobe After Effects
- Adobe Creative Cloud software
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Premiere Pro
- Autodesk Maya
- Canva
- Cascading style sheets CSS
- Figma
- Hypertext markup language HTML
- Maxon Cinema 4D
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- SideFX Houdini
Knowledge areas
- Computers and Electronics
- English Language
- Design
- Communications and Media
- Customer and Personal Service
- Sales and Marketing
- Telecommunications
- Engineering and Technology