Career Trends: Special Effects Artists and Animators

Multimedia artists and animators create animation and visual effects for television, movies, video games, and other forms of media.

Multimedia artists and animators held about 64,400 jobs in 2014. A little more than one-half half of workers were self-employed.

Most multimedia artists and animators need a bachelor’s degree in computer graphics, art, or a related field to develop both an impressive portfolio of work and the strong technical skills that many employers prefer. 

Employment of multimedia artists and animators is projected to grow 6 percent from 2014 to 2024, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Projected growth will be due to increased demand for animation and visual effects in video games, movies, and television.

This occupation supported 68,900 jobs in 2012 and 64,400 jobs in 2014, reflecting a decline of 6.5%. In 2012, this occupation was projected to increase by 6.2% in 2022 to 73,200 jobs. As of 2014, to keep pace with prediction, the expected number of jobs was 69,700, compared with an observed value of 64,400, 7.6% lower than expected. This indicates current employment trends are much worse than the 2012 trend within this occupation. In 2014, this occupation was projected to increase by 5.7% in 2024 to 68,300 jobs. Linear extrapolation of the 2012 projection for 2022 results in an expected number of 74,000 jobs for 2024, 8.3% higher than the 2014 projection for 2024. This indicates expectations for future employment trends are much worse than the 2012 trend within this occupation.