A Comparison Between Animator Career Environment in the US and the UK

Animators are in high demand in today's world of visual graphics. The job of an animator is an extremely important one because they breathe life into characters, inanimate objects; make an average story outstanding or an average video game hugely popular. In short, the kind of animation team you're working with often determines whether your product is a hit or not.

UK

Thus, animators can charge high salaries based on a lot of conditions

1. The freelance animators have the freedom to charge different salaries based on their skill and experience. In the UK, Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematographic and Theatre Union has a reference for different rates, but freelance animators, conform to these guidelines only when they are starting out! Newbies charge about 70 to 140 pounds a day, but senior animators, who have gained a lot of experience over the years in the industry, can make up to a six figure salary.

2. Animators who join corporate firms or have jobs have a starting salary ranging from 12,000 to about 15,000 pounds. These are for jobs in advertising mainly. For animators who design video games, the starting salaries are slightly higher, going up to 18,000 pounds per year. This of course rises really fast along with the experience and the skill of the animator in question.

3. Many animators work for free in the initial stages in order to acquaint themselves with the ways of the industry and develop connections and links. After all, having friends in high places never hurt anyone!

USA

In the USA, animators are also in high demand.

1. 3D animators especially are in high demand; they get starting salaries ranging from $40,000 to about $60,000 a year. This is simply because 3D animation is in practically every field of the entertainment industry- movies, video games, commercials etc.

2. Experienced 3D animators end up with six figure contracts, much like the animators in the UK.

3. The Median salaries of 3D animators range from $33,790 to about $61,120. This is as per the data collected by the Department of Labor in the year 2002. Now the median salaries are much higher. In 2007, entry level median salaries ranged from $47,041 to 61,391.

4. As is pretty obvious, game design 3D animators earn much, much more than their industry counterparts. The average annual salary for these animators range from $47,041 to $70,000. Lead animators and creative directors draw in a much higher salary in the studio environment - $65,000 to $80,000.

5. Animators can even go on to become supervisors after they gain enough experience. They may also become project managers, where their annual salaries may be $130,000 and upwards!