Career Overlap Occupation record
RecordJob

Where a special effects artist can go next

5 destinations recorded, ranked by how much of the target role a special effects artist already meets. The closer to the top of Table 1, the less there is to learn.

Special effects artists create illusions for movies, videos and computer games. They use computer software.

Also known as senior special effects artist, digital effects specialist, special effects technician, special effect image designer, special effects animator, special effects specialist, visual effects artist, digital effects artist.

Professionals 35 skills on file 5 career moves 3 above 60% overlap Closest: animator, 80%

Fig. 2 · Career map 5 nearest · ESCO v1.2.1
animator 80% covered animation layout artist 67% covered animation director 63% covered stop-motion animator 54% covered storyboard artist 44% covered special effects artist You are here
  • 70% and above · short step
  • 50 to 70% · real move
  • Below 50% · substantial retraining
The 5 nearest destinations from special effects artist, each one a link to that move’s record. Distance from the centre is how much retraining the move takes; the figure on each is how much of that role a special effects artist already covers. All 5 are listed in the tables below.
Table 1

Table 1 · Within reach

Table 2

Table 2 · A bigger jump

Possible, but expect real retraining rather than a sideways step.

Table 3

Table 3 · What the job itself asks for

A special effects artist needs 18 required skills and areas of knowledge. These 10 are the ones fewest other jobs share, so they say the most about the work.

Required skill Area
  • digital arts arts and humanities
  • digital compositing arts and humanities
  • create moving images communication, collaboration and creativity
  • motion graphics arts and humanities
  • provide multimedia content working with computers
  • develop animations communication, collaboration and creativity
  • study media sources information skills
  • computer equipment information and communication technologies (icts)
  • computer graphics information and communication technologies (icts)
  • design graphics communication, collaboration and creativity
Table 4

Table 4 · Jobs that lead here

The reverse view: occupations whose skills already cover much of what a special effects artist does. The figure is how much of this job each one brings.

Index

Look up another occupation

Special effects artist is filed under Professionals, ISCO major group 2. The full index lists all ten groups.

Note

How these figures were compiled

Overlap is how much of the target role is already part of a special effects artist’s work. It is directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. Every entry above opens the full comparison for that move: what carries over, what is missing, and where to start. The full method.