Digital games designer to 3D animator
A digital games designer already meets 55% of what the 3D animator role asks for. The move turns on 5 required skills not yet in the profile.
45.8/ 100
1 How much of what a 3D animator is expected to do is already part of a digital games designer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the 3D animator role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A 3D animator role treats 10 of its required skills as things a digital games designer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- 3D lighting
- 3D texturing
- animate 3D organic forms
- apply 3D imaging techniques
- augmented reality
- computer graphics
What stands in the way is 5 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 10 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A 3D animator role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a digital games designer background worth leading with.
- already held principles of animation arts and humanities
- already held 3D texturing arts and humanities
- already held animate 3D organic forms communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held create 3D environments communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held create 3D characters working with computers
- already held 3D lighting arts and humanities
All 10 carried skills, including the 10 the 3D animator role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 14 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn discuss artwork required
- still to learn render 3D images required
- optional, not held create animated narratives optional
- optional, not held create storyboards optional
- optional, not held maintain an artistic portfolio optional
- optional, not held select illustration styles optional
- optional, not held develop creative ideas optional
- optional, not held draw design sketches optional
- still to learn particle animation required
- still to learn holography required
- still to learn rig 3D characters required
- optional, not held use scripting programming optional
- optional, not held receive appropriate permissions for use of recorded audiovisual examples optional
- optional, not held manage schedule of tasks optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a 3D animator role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 10 skills that carry over
- already held 3D lighting knowledge
- already held 3D texturing knowledge
- already held animate 3D organic forms skill
- already held apply 3D imaging techniques skill
- already held augmented reality knowledge
- already held computer graphics knowledge
- already held create 3D characters skill
- already held create 3D environments skill
- already held operate 3D computer graphics software skill
- already held principles of animation knowledge
9 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held create animated narratives optional
- optional, not held create storyboards optional
- optional, not held maintain an artistic portfolio optional
- optional, not held receive appropriate permissions for use of recorded audiovisual examples optional
- optional, not held select illustration styles optional
- optional, not held use scripting programming optional
- optional, not held develop creative ideas optional
- optional, not held draw design sketches optional
- optional, not held manage schedule of tasks optional
86 held skills the 3D animator role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role ABAP knowledge
- not needed by the target role AJAX knowledge
- not needed by the target role APL knowledge
- not needed by the target role ASP.NET knowledge
- not needed by the target role Agile development knowledge
- not needed by the target role Assembly (computer programming) knowledge
- not needed by the target role C# knowledge
- not needed by the target role C++ knowledge
- not needed by the target role COBOL knowledge
- not needed by the target role CoffeeScript knowledge
- not needed by the target role Common Lisp knowledge
- not needed by the target role CryEngine knowledge
- not needed by the target role DevOps knowledge
- not needed by the target role Erlang knowledge
- not needed by the target role Frostbite (digital game creation systems) knowledge
- not needed by the target role GameSalad knowledge
- not needed by the target role Gamemaker Studio knowledge
- not needed by the target role Groovy knowledge
- not needed by the target role Haskell knowledge
- not needed by the target role Havok Vision knowledge
- not needed by the target role HeroEngine knowledge
- not needed by the target role ICT performance analysis methods knowledge
- not needed by the target role ICT security legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role Java (computer programming) knowledge
- not needed by the target role JavaScript knowledge
- not needed by the target role Lisp knowledge
- not needed by the target role MATLAB knowledge
- not needed by the target role ML (computer programming) knowledge
- not needed by the target role Microsoft Visual C++ knowledge
- not needed by the target role Objective-C knowledge
- not needed by the target role OpenEdge Advanced Business Language knowledge
- not needed by the target role PHP knowledge
- not needed by the target role Pascal (computer programming) knowledge
- not needed by the target role Perl knowledge
- not needed by the target role Project Anarchy knowledge
- not needed by the target role Prolog (computer programming) knowledge
- not needed by the target role Prototyping development knowledge
- not needed by the target role Python (computer programming) knowledge
- not needed by the target role R knowledge
- not needed by the target role RAGE (digital game creation systems) knowledge
46 further entries not listed here
2 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn particle animation required
- still to learn holography required
Other moves recorded from digital games designer
- numerical tool and process control programmer 68% covered · moderate
- computer-aided design operator 64% covered · moderate
- 3D modeller 63% covered · moderate
- user interface designer 56% covered · substantial
- software architect 46% covered · substantial
- digital games developer 45% covered · substantial
- embedded system designer 45% covered · substantial
- ICT system architect 44% covered · substantial
Common questions about this move
Can a digital games designer become a 3D animator?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A digital games designer already covers 55% of what a 3D animator is expected to do: 10 skills carry over, 10 of which the 3D animator role treats as required.
What skills does a digital games designer need to become a 3D animator?
5 required skills are missing, plus 9 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is particle animation.
How hard is the move from digital games designer to 3D animator?
Its learning distance is 45.8 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.